Coming into the LSU game, it looked like the Florida Gators were going to get a big boost on defense with the return of Caleb Banks. The DT missed the first two games of the season before making his debut on Saturday.
He played 29 snaps before having to leave with a foot injury that appears to be a longer-term issue that will keep him out for quite some time.
For the Gators, it means an injury to one of the few players they could ill afford to lose in 2025.
Caleb Banks to miss extended time
The issue with Banks getting hurt is the same issue we brought up when the topic of whether or not Billy Napier would suspend Brendan Bett after his spitting incident against USF:
The Gators don't have enough depth at defensive tackle.
On the surface, one might look at the Gator defense and say things are just fine. After all, they are 23rd in the country in rushing yards allowed per game and 26th in points allowed per game.
The defense is not the reason the Gators are 1-2 on the season.
However, those defensive numbers are skewed by the performance against LIU, and when you examine games against just FBS competition alone, the Gators rank 84th in yards per rushing attempt against and 102nd in opponent yards per play.
And now without Banks, Florida is going to have to hope the rotation of Jamari Lyons, Jeramiah McCloud, Joseph Mbatchou, and Bett can hold up.
To give an idea of what the Gators are going to have to replace, Banks has taken 862 snaps in his college career.
The four guys who are going to make up the rotation moving forward have a combined 603 snaps.
Florida will now have two true freshmen in its rotation, a result of the gamble Napier took by not securing additional depth through the transfer portal this offseason. Bett only came to town because D'Antre Robinson left at the end of spring.
And given the struggles of the offense, the only hope Florida has right now is for the defense to hold the fort, which just became a lot more difficult.