Florida Must Define 'Relentless Effort' Against South Carolina

The Gators have coined the mantra "relentless effort" this season. They have to define that phrase against South Carolina in order to remain in contention for the College Football Playoff.

Fresh off of a loss to a long-time rival and Top 10 SEC opponent, without their starting edge tandem due to ankle injuries, and showing no improvement in the run game as the SEC stretch of the schedule is underway - although Florida is still a Top 10 team in the nation and they control their own destiny in the SEC East, this feels like the low-point of the Gators' 2019 season.

The Gators have adopted the mantra of "relentless effort" all season, giving 100% of each and every play and focusing on even the smallest of details in order to perfect their craft.

However, their craft was impeded against the now-No. 2 LSU Tigers this past Saturday, as their regularly disruptive defense was all but that against Heisman candidate quarterback Joe Burrow and Co., and their issues on offense in the run game and in protection became more apparent as LSU started to pull away offensively. 

Pass protection certainly wasn't awful, but there were times when Kyle Trask relied upon what seemed to be a drastically improved feel for pressure in the pocket. And in crunch time, Florida gave up two huge sacks - one that pinned punter Tommy Townsend in the Gators' own endzone, resulting in a punt that gave LSU the ball near midfield and led to their lead-taking score late in the third quarter, and another on Florida's final drive.

The run game started out decent as running back Lamical Perine was averaging 4.88 yards per carry at halftime, but the second half was a different story as Perine accumulated 26 yards on seven carries (3.71 yards per carry). The momentum didn't persist, and when Florida needed the run game the most to balance the offense and remain competitive, it faltered.

However, the disappointment that stems from a lack of relentless effort really hailed from the defensive side of the ball. The 42 points allowed-performance earned the label "unacceptable" from cornerback Marco Wilson, and he's right.

Florida's elite pass rush, or so it was considered entering the game, recorded zero sacks and a measly seven QB pressures all night. Run fits were poor, which led to 218 rushing yards allowed on 9.1 yards per attempt. After Jonathan Greenard and Jabari Zuniga exited the game, containment of QB Joe Burrow became a lost cause. The quarterback also threw as many incompletions as he did touchdowns - three.

None of this feels like relentless effort. None of it looked like relentless effort. 

Florida has a chance to define relentless effort this week as they bounce back from what should be their only loss this year.

"Everybody has to do better," defensive tackle Adam Shuler said. "[Our] focus is just staying disciplined."

Correcting the miscues that were consistently apparent on defense will be priority No. 1 as Florida heads to Columbia this week. Small details in their run fits, ensuring containment despite potentially being without their starting defensive ends, and eliminating coverage busts are all musts for the Gators in order to avoid being upset on the road and falling into a stretch of losses.

"The bigger the game, and as the season goes on, the margin for error shrinks," head coach Dan Mullen told the media. "And when you’re in a game like that one guy misaligned instead of being 2nd and 4, it’s 2nd and nothing. That’s where the margin for error has to be so exact in those games."

Each player has to give 100% effort - relentless effort - in order to correct their mistakes, refrain from errors, and move forward rather than into a slump.   

Florida must define what relentless effort means this week in order to remain a contender.