Florida’s defense looked like a completely different unit when it came out of the locker room for the second half against Towson on Saturday.
Throughout the first 30 minutes of play, the Tigers — ranked No. 10 at the FCS level — found a surprising amount of success on the ground.
They had 61 rushing yards with most of them coming from quarterback Tom Flacco. He broke several long runs, including a 22-yard scamper on Towson’s first play from scrimmage. The Tigers were 5 for 8 on third down and out-possessed the Gators by more than a minute.
But UF (5-0) shut the Tigers’ rushing attack down in the second half, only allowing four more yards on the ground. It got Towson’s offense off the field, only giving up conversions on 3 of 7 third downs, and preserved the 38-0 shutout.
Coach Dan Mullen said after the game he was pleased with the adjustments from defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.
“I think everybody knows Todd (Grantham) is a great defensive coordinator, a great defensive coach,” he said. “He does a great job with in-game adjustments. Our guys have come out and played hard in the second half.”
That’s been true all season, as well.
Of UF’s five wins, two were shutouts against FCS teams, and another came by 31 points against a drowning Tennessee squad.
But in the other two matchups — against Miami and Kentucky — UF trailed at halftime.
It outscored those teams 39-14 in the second half in comeback wins.
The halftime adjustments haven’t just been felt on the defensive side of the ball, either.
Florida ran for 60 yards in the first half against Towson, but totaled 100 in the second, largely thanks to a 37-yard touchdown from sophomore Dameon Pierce.
Pierce said the difference in the second half was in run blocking.
“Getting blocks that we didn’t make in the first half, just executing, that’s what it comes down to,” he said. “We just executed better, and we had calmed our nerves a bit.”
Mullen said he told the team to clean up its effort at halftime.
“I just challenged them on missed assignments,” he said. “That doesn’t help our cause. That has got to improve.”
Mullen is no stranger to issuing less-than-friendly halftime messages. He did it in the game against Tennessee-Martin, and he said he did it again Saturday.
Center Nick Buchanan said that Mullen’s message was simple but effective.
“His message was we need to play to our standard,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who our opponent is, we’ve got to play to the best of our abilities.”
Follow Tyler Nettuno on Twitter @TylerNettuno. Contact him at tnettuno@alligator.org.
Running back Dameon Pierce led the team in rushing with 84 yards and a touchdown on six carries (48 of those coming in the second half).
