The Gator Nation has been smiling all week following Florida’s 65-0 extravaganza against Eastern Michigan Saturday. But as any offensive line coach would say: the offense is only as good as the execution along the front five.
That notion holds true in the Southeastern Conference, which is truly a line-of-scrimmage league week-in and week-out.
This week, the battle in the trenches between Florida’s offensive front and Kentucky’s defensive line will be a key matchup to watch.
You want to score points? You better have an offensive line that can execute.
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Florida’s line took a hit in Saturday as junior left tackle D.J. Humphries went down with a bone chip in his ankle. Humphries is expected to be back in Week 6 of the season, when the Gators take on Tennessee in Knoxville.
Filling in for Humphries at left tackle is Chaz Green, who was Florida’s starting right tackle to begin the season.
Redshirt freshman Rod Johnson, who saw a lot of playing time in the opener after Humphries went down in the second quarter, will man the right tackle spot.
Green said this week the switch isn’t as difficult as it may sound, and the biggest adjustment is in technique.
"You’re used to having your left leg be your parallel leg," Green said. "On the left side (of the offensive line), it’s your right leg. It’s just body positioning and being more used to changing up your technique and everything."
Johnson, sporting a menacing 6-foot-6, 310-pound frame, came in from the 2013 recruiting class as the No. 30 ranked offensive tackle in the country. He has slimmed down from his high school days as well.
Running back Kelvin Taylor, who had 68 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday, feels confident in the youngster’s ability to step up.
"Rod, he’s going to do a tremendous job. He’s going to do a great job," the sophomore said. "So I feel like we’re not going to lose too much. But I mean, D.J., we’re probably going to lose a little, but Rod’s filling in pretty good."
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Kentucky’s defensive front is led by returning starters Za’Darius Smith and Alvin "Bud" Dupree, who both received All-SEC honors following the end of last season.
Smith and Dupree have combined for 15 total tackles in their first two games, while Dupree currently has 16 sacks in his career and needs just one more sack to tie for fourth most all-time in Kentucky’s program history.
"94 (Smith) is a physical long, can rush the passer. 2’s (Dupree) the same way, he’s very versatile for ‘em but he’s got a lot of length and a lot of power," UF offensive coordinator Kurt Roper said. "He can obviously, you know, get up field on pass rushing situations and do a good job."
Green, who has 21 starts under his belt throughout his career at Florida, has been mentoring the young Johnson throughout the game week, preparing him for his first start as a Gator.
"Me and him are real close," Green said. "I’ve tried to help him out with various things: what to expect going into a game, helping him out with the offense and his technique. He’s done a great job at this point."
Florida’s offensive line didn’t allow a single sack against Eastern Michigan, but with youth and inexperience rotating around the offensive line, that might change Saturday.
With Johnson and true freshman David Sharpe playing a majority of Florida’s season opener, the Gators have confidence the young linemen will be up to the test.
"I think they did good after they got their jitters out," said senior Trenton Brown, who started at right guard on Saturday. "I think they did good. I will say they did better than me in my first game in the Swamp. But I think they did a great job last week for their first game."
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On the flip side, Kentucky’s offensive line has done a poor job of holding off the pass rush, giving up five sacks in their first two games against Tennessee-Martin and Ohio.
Kentucky will not get a break this week as it is going up against one of the country’s most lethal pass rushes led by defensive ends Dante Fowler Jr. and Jonathan Bullard.
Linebacker Neiron Ball had an impressive outing last Saturday, tying with Mike Taylor for a team-high six total tackles — 2.5 of those being tackles for loss.
As a whole, UF had three sacks for 18 yards against Eastern Michigan while forcing 11 quarterback hurries and nine total tackles for loss.
"Obviously a sack is great, that’s the icing on the cake," said D.J. Durkin, UF defensive coordinator. "When you get a sack or a tackle for loss, that sets offenses off track, gets them in long-yardage situations. … But to me that’s a byproduct of how we’re affecting the quarterback and I think you can do that in many different ways."
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Florida-Kentucky has not been much of a series in a very long time. The Gators lost to the Wildcats since 1986 — before most of UF’s current students were born.
Despite the win streak and despite Florida’s dominance in the series as of late, Muschamp isn’t looking too deeply into it.
Instead of worrying about Florida continuing its win streak against Kentucky, the fourth-year head coach is looking to end one of the Gators’ streaks — its five-game losing skid in the SEC.
"That would be a good one, there’s no doubt about that," Muschamp said, "but this is the 2014 Florida team vs. the 2014 Kentucky team. I don’t know that any of those games in the history will (matter) on Saturday night. But there’s no doubt that we need to end that (losing) streak.’’
If the Gators want to make it to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game in December, they have to take the first step.
That step is simple: beat Kentucky.
Follow Morgan Moriarty on Twitter @Morgan_Moriarty
Florida left tackle D.J. Humphries blocks Kentucky defensive end Za'Darius Smith (94) during the Gators' 24-7 win against the Wildcats on Sept. 28 in Lexington, Ky.
Florida Buck linebacker Dante Fowler Jr. pushes past Eastern Michigan offensive lineman Campbell Allison during the Gators' 65-0 win against the Eagles on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
