AUBURN, Ala. — Thirteen and a half quarters.
That’s how long it has been since Florida’s defense last got its hands on the ball.
For the third straight game, the Gators failed to force a turnover. And for the third week in a row, Florida found itself in the loss column, this time falling 17-6 to Auburn.
“It’s tough to win a game (when you lose the turnover battle),” coach Will Muschamp said. “That’s three games we haven’t gotten a turnover.”
Muschamp and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn preached the importance of turnover margin throughout preseason camp. But seven games into the season, the Gators are losing that battle big time.
Florida hasn’t forced a turnover in 203 minutes, as its last came in the Kentucky game on Sept. 24, when backup linebacker Michael Taylor picked off a Morgan Newton pass in the third quarter.
Now, three weeks and zero takeaways later, the Gators are tied with the Wildcats for the worst turnover margin in the conference at minus-7. During that span Florida has turned the ball over six times, including three Saturday against Auburn.
Freshman Jacoby Brissett threw an interception on the Gators’ second play from scrimmage for the first giveaway. Then Chris Rainey and Robert Clark each muffed a punt that was recovered by the Tigers.
Rainey’s turnover in the first quarter set up Auburn’s first touchdown, and Clark’s giveaway happened with three minutes left in the game to dash any hope the Gators had of beating the Tigers in Auburn for the first time since 1999.
While Florida had issues giving the ball away, Auburn was able to protect it like Alabama and LSU did against UF.
Part of UF’s problem the last three games has been that opponents have run the ball 135 times and passed it just 55. Florida has had trouble stopping the run and stripping the ball from carriers, but it has also struggled with a consistent pass rush and failed to capitalize on the few mistakes teams have made throwing the ball.
It was the same story Saturday, as the Gators failed to force a fumble against the Tigers, recorded just one sack and were unable to come through on at least two interception opportunities.
On Auburn’s first drive of the second half, Florida freshman cornerback Marcus Roberson was in the vicinity of an errant Clint Moseley pass, but Roberson slipped and was unable to corral the ball from his back.
Then in the fourth quarter, with Florida trailing 14-6, linebacker Jelani Jenkins jumped in front of a Moseley pass near midfield and dropped a sure interception that would have given the Gators prime field position with a chance to attempt to tie the game late.
“We haven’t created any turnovers,” defensive tackle Jaye Howard said. “Whenever we do create turnovers it looks good for the Gators. We’re putting our offense in good field position. We haven’t been getting it, and we have to get back to playing our style of defense and causing havoc and just disrupting the quarterback.”
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.
Linebacker Jelani Jenkins (bottom) dropped an interception in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 17-6 loss at Auburn. Florida hasn’t forced a turnover since the second half against Kentucky on Sept. 24.
