Opponent Film Review: Florida's Defense
When South Carolina's offense takes the field against the Florida Gators on Saturday, they'll face a defense that isn't stacked to the gills with superstars at all three levels but makes up for that with good execution and coaching. What will the Gamecocks have to contend with on this side of the ball on Saturday?
Fundamental Defensive Line Play
The Florida Gators don't have many total game wreckers on paper outside of Princely Umanmielen, but when watching their defensive front, it's easy to see why they possess one of the better first and third-down defenses in college football. This position group doesn't beat themselves very often, playing with leverage and maintaining separation in rush defense while keeping their rushing lanes concise in pass rush. This doesn't always result in havoc plays (Sacks and tackles for loss), but it puts more pressure on an opposing offense to avoid making mistakes in high-pressure situations.
Variance In Coverage
Florida's new defensive coordinator, Austin Armstrong, understands that he's working with a secondary with a rich history of pumping out NFL talent, and that's evident in how he calls his coverages. Most teams lean more toward either man or zone coverage, but not the Gators. They'll run a mix of zone and man coverage at any given point, softer versions of man coverage, press opposing receivers at the line of scrimmage, and run all zone coverage on the back end. Florida's coaching staff puts a great deal of trust in these Gator defensive backs due to the multiplicity in their coverage assignments.
Simulated Pressures
This will be familiar for Spencer Rattler and South Carolina's offense on Saturday, as they dealt with this against Mississippi State and Tennessee in their last two games. For those who don't know what simulated pressures are, it's when you get a particular defensive alignment from the opposing team, but one of the pass rushers comes from an unconventional spot while one of the original defenders showing a pass rush stance backs out into coverage. The offensive line, especially playing in front of a home crowd this weekend, should be better prepared to deal with this concept this time around.
If South Carolina's offense can win most of their one-on-one battles on Saturday afternoon, they'll have a chance to take advantage of the lack of star power the Gators possess at certain spots.
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