Kyree Campbell, Zach Carter Duo Proving Deadly for Florida Gators

The Florida Gators have played lights out defensively over the past two games, and a certain combination along the defensive may be the key to why they've been able to pull it off.

While in the first three weeks of the season the dynamic duo of defensive linemen Zachary Carter and Kyree Campbell hadn't made its debut. Campbell, for undisclosed reasons, was made unavailable for the time being, unable to participate with his team.

However, Campbell has been available for two games - against Missouri and Georgia - and the Gators have played their best defensive football. One telling aspect of their performances, however, has been the play of both Campbell and Carter, the two simply were born to play next to each other.

Between two games, the Gators have given up just one touchdown - the touchdown against Missouri was a pick-six - when both players were on the field at the same time. In the first half against Missouri and the second half against Georgia. Due to a suspension, Carter was unable to participate in the second half of the Missouri game and the first half of the Georgia contest. Regardless, Carter sees the impact Campbell makes with the team, and on himself.

"Oh, man, Kyree’s my boy," Carter exclaimed during his post-practice press conference on Tuesday. "I’m happy he’s back, I think we play well together. Having Kyree move inside, that allowed me to go back out at [defensive] end and I feel like we’ve been effective."

With Campbell in the fold and Carter moving back outside, Carter's production as a pass rusher has grown, significantly. While he was able to net seven pressures against Ole Miss in week one, he was not able to net more than three in the four games that followed. Against Georgia, Carter produced six pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.

"Our pass rush, I think guys are working on it in practice, and it starts in practice. But I think as the season continues to go on, we’ll continue to get better at our pass rushing and continue to gel together as a group," Carter remarked.

Now that the team finally has its full assortment of players along the defensive line, they're able to truly gel as a collective unit, unbothered about replacing player's production at positions they may not typically hold due to someone being out. That much has been clear as the team has been able to move players back - like BUCK rush end Brenton Cox Jr. - to their more natural positions with Campbell returning to the fold.

Gators linebacker James Houston IV has taken notice, and it's been an exciting development.

"Man, the D-line going crazy," Houston said following practice on Tuesday. "All [of] them on the D-line, 55 [Campbell], 56 [TJ Slaton], 17 [Carter], 7 [Jeremiah Moon], all them boys. That D-line is tough to stop, no matter who you put in front of us. I don't care who, what blockers you put in front of us, you line 'em boys up and you've got the two linebackers in there, man, it's going to be hard to run the ball on us.

"It's really good, having the boys up there, they dominant, they're experienced, and they out there having fun. And I'm having fun watching them."

Gators defensive coordinator Todd Grantham has also witnessed what the two bring to the table as a dynamic duo.

They have the ability to set the edge in the run game, and win one-on-one blocks. They can be stout at the point of attack. They can command double teams which can free other people up with their movements. They can create penetration and, you know, make a play or they can spin it to another spot," Grantham said.

"So, you know, kind of like anything anytime you can put good players on the field it allows you to be successful, and those guys have done a good job for us and we certainly look forward to continuing to improve.”

This week against Arkansas, barring any injuries or suspensions, will be the first game that the Gators coaching staff, fans and observes will see the two players on the field at the same time for four quarters.

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