Florida Football: Defensive collapse derailing the season once again

Prior to the start of the 2023 season, the pathway for Florida football to win games was going to start with an improved defense. The unit was a liability under Patrick Toney and wound up as one of the worst units in the country by the end of the season.

Fast forward a year later, and despite some early promise from the unit, the Gators are again losing games because the defense can no longer get stops.

Florida Football: This looks familiar

Many pundits in the offseason mused, “How could Florida lose seven games despite having a QB that was the number four pick in the NFL Draft?” It’s easy: in six of their seven defeats, the Gators gave up at least 30 points. In three of those defeats, Anthony Richardson and crew also scored at least 30 points.

We are on a three-game losing streak where the Gators have given up no less than 39 points in each of their last four games, and the same helpless feeling is back.

Austin Armstrong appeared to have this unit in a much better place early in the season. The explosive plays were high, but the Gators were getting stops at a much better rate compared to last season, even when factoring in the opponent. Let’s not forget that under Toney, the Gators couldn’t stop USF. And if one longs to have Todd Grantham back, his unit gave up 52 points to Samford.

Between the injury to Shemar James, the lackadaisical play of Jason Marshall and Jalen Kimber, the disappearance of Kamari Wilson forcing Florida football to play two true freshmen at safety, and a defensive line that is getting pressure but not sacks, the defense is once again a unit that one can’t have faith in.

We knew LSU would score points; that’s what they do. But giving up a program record of 701 yards points to a deeper-rooted concern. Tiger’s QB Jayden Daniels became the first FBS QB in the sport’s history to have at least 350 yards passing and 200 yards rushing.

Ever.

Even if Florida lacks depth across the board on defense, they are not so untalented that we can shrug off an FBS record and go, “Just wait until the reinforcements come in.”

For all the noise about Billy Napier needing an offensive coordinator, and he still does, the Gators have lost back-to-back weeks where it scored 33 points and 35 points in regulation.

So if Napier needs an offensive coordinator, a special teams coordinator, and we now once again have to ask questions about the defensive coordinator, the vision to get the Gators back on top of the mountain becomes increasingly foggy.

We said last week that losing to Arkansas in itself wasn’t the issue; it was the ineptitude at handling the end-of-game scenario that was the concern.

Likewise, losing to LSU isn’t the issue. Giving up FBS and program records is.