Redshirt junior Luke Del Rio will start Saturday against Vanderbilt, McElwain said, one week after he replaced former starter Feleipe Franks mid game at Kentucky and led the No. 21 Gators to a 28-27 win.
Like Franks, Del Rio won’t have much room for error in his first game as he goes up against a premier passing defense. While Franks began the season by battling a Michigan secondary that currently ranks No. 8 in the nation in passing yards given up per game (134), Del Rio’s first start of the year will come against the best pass defense in the SEC, as the Commodores are giving up just 116.8 yards per game through the air.
Gators coach Jim McElwain recognizes the challenges Vanderbilt’s defense brings. In his two games against the Commodores since he’s been at UF, McElwain’s teams have never scored more than 13 points. And in each game, Vanderbilt has held Florida’s quarterbacks to under 160 yards. Figures like those can be credited to a defensive-minded coach in Vanderbilt’s Derek Mason.
“The discipline in which they play with, the gap control, eye discipline and the way that they disguise in the back end, you can tell (Mason’s) fingerprints are all over it,” McElwain said Wednesday.
While Florida comes into Saturday after escaping two close games with back-to-back memorable wins, Vanderbilt will enter The Swamp looking to forget its 59-0 loss to Alabama last weekend. But even in the loss, the Commodores held Alabama’s offense to 181 yards passing.
Now as Mason’s team gears up for a noon start in Gainesville, he said the Commodores are ready to get back to looking like the team that knocked off a No. 18-ranked Kansas State team in Week 3.
“One game doesn’t define you,” Mason said. “We can’t let one become two.
Containing Vanderbilt RB Ralph Webb
Gators defensive end Jordan Sherit knows just how dangerous Ralph Webb can be.
“I’ve had the opportunity to play him four years in a row now,” Sherit said. “If someone gets out of their gap, he will find it.”
Webb, Vanderbilt’s starting halfback who went to Gainesville High, has had little trouble exploiting holes in UF’s defense over the past three years. He’s averaged more than five yards per carry over three games against the Gators, rushing for at least 110 yards in two of them.
“He’s just a hard runner and he runs with a chip on his shoulder,” UF senior safety Nick Washington said.
Luckily for the Gators, Webb’s struggled to find a rhythm this year. He’s averaging a career-low 2.6 yards per carry and has yet to break off a single run for more than nine yards. Mason said Webb’s lack of production is, in part, a result of inexperience and inconsistent play along Vanderbilt’s offensive line. But he’s not using that as an excuse.
“We have to find a way to get the run game going,” Mason said. “Ralph is looking forward to the challenge.”
You can follow Matt Brannon on Twitter @MattB_727, and contact him at mbrannon@alligator.org.
Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio throws the ball during UF's 24-7 win over Massachusetts on Sept. 4, 2016, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
