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Florida Football: Disastrous defense thwarts another Gators season

By Benjamin Henderson

Nov 25, 2022; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier gestures during the second half against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 25, 2022; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier gestures during the second half against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports /
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Billy Napier has like 500 people working for Florida football, or at least it feels like it. We can grumble all we want that one those 500 should be in Napier’s ear to remind him how timeouts work, or how running the ball is a better option than throwing a screen, or that you are allowed to be aggressive with less than a minute to go in the half.

But in retrospect, these all minor critiques looking to spread the blame around for a second straight 6-6 season for the Florida Gators. The downfall of the 2022 season has to start with Patrick Toney and his defense.

Florida Football: Right back where we started

We’ve previously touched on just how bad the third down defense for Florida has been this season. After the LSU game, Florida was dead last in the country at getting stops on third down.

If you want a positive spin, they did improve to fourth worst, ahead of Colorado, Arizona State, and Oregon. So there’s that.

There are more not fun stats for the Florida football defense however:

  • 101st in points per play
  • 119th in punts per play
  • 82nd in Redzone scoring percentage
  • 89th in sacks per passing play
  • 106th in passing yards per attempt
  • 108th in rushing yards per attempt

We could keep going but you get the point. This defense was not good and it cost Florida any chance at a good season.

Consider this, in their six losses the Gators surrendered no less than 26 points in a game. In three of their defeats, the Gators scored more than 30 points (Tennessee, LSU, and FSU).

For perspective, James Madison is 24th in the country with 33 points per game.

So while Napier got pass happy to start the second half against FSU and Florida football went three-and-out three straight times, the reality is that 38 points should be enough to win a football game.

When Toney was brought on to be the defensive coordinator, most Gator fans were just so happy to be done with Todd Grantham that we assumed the only place the defense could go was up.

About that.

Toney only had the Grantham leftovers to work with and in time as recruiting continues to be solid there will be a new batch of players starting with a blank canvas.

But there is also a very real question to ask of Toney:

Who actually improved on the defense this year?

Trey Dean made all the same mistakes, Jason Marshall looked like he regressed, Amari Burney was invisible for most the year after the Utah game, Gervon Dexter was quiet for most the year, and even Ventrell Miller looked like a shell of himself when he finally did come in against FSU.

The defensive meltdowns became exhausting to watch all season. Third-and-long was more stressful to watch than first-and-ten.

With any defensive resistance this year, Florida football beats Tennessee, LSU, and FSU. The Kentucky loss was on Richardson, Florida was never going to beat Georgia, and everyone shares the blame for Vanderbilt.

And thus the Gators are entering bowl season in the same place they entered bowl season last year, 6-6.

Is the foundation much better compared to this time last year? 100%.

But the Gators lost every track meet it entered this year, and it will fall on Napier to get it fixed for next year.

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