The Gators have yet to fall behind in a game this year, much less face serious adversity. That could change Saturday, when No. 12 Florida takes on No. 3 Alabama.
The coaches don’t know for sure how their players will respond to getting punched in the mouth, though coaches have tried to simulate those types of situations in practices.
Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said he will track how his unit is performing during scrimmages and tell his players whether they are winning or losing.
“You always pull from those experiences from a practice where you had to go against the offense,” he said. “And sometimes you have to create it a little bit, as a coach, so we’ve done that.”
Also, players said the Gators are better prepared to play in tough games because the team chemistry has improved from last season. Coach Will Muschamp put an emphasis on team bonding this summer, and the team entered training camp talking about a sense of unity they did not feel in 2010.
Junior safety Josh Evans said Florida fell apart against Alabama last season after an interception on the team’s first drive. The Crimson Tide kept attacking, and the Gators failed to rally.
“That’s when a team comes in,” Evans said of playing tough games. “Everybody (is) staying together and helping a teammate, picking them up and letting them know that if you’re down we can pick it back up, the game’s not over.”
That did not happen last year, as Alabama cruised to a 31-6 win.
More talking: Quinn said his players are getting better at communicating when opposing offenses line up.
In particular, he praised sophomore safety Matt Elam, who is tasked with calling pre-snap adjustments for all the defensive backs.
“There were two or three times in the Kentucky game where it showed up and we thought, ‘That was cool,’” Quinn said. “He’s taken the next step as a player.”
Elam said he is more confident, as are all of Florida’s young defensive backs. In addition to Elam, three other underclassmen are seeing significant playing time in the secondary. Evans is the only upperclassman in the rotation.
“Now that they’ve had a few games together, you see a little more of that familiarity where it’s just a look or a hand signal to say, ‘Yeah, I understand what you’re saying now,’” Quinn said.
Fake FG alert: On its opening drive last Saturday, Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron tossed a 37-yard touchdown after the Crimson Tide originally lined up in a field-goal formation.
“Any given day they can run a fake, so we’ve definitely been watching film and seeing the type of style of fake field goals they’re running,” said Evans, who is on Florida’s field-goal block unit.
Evans said certain members of the unit have been instructed to stay back instead of rushing the kicker, just in case McCarron pulls the ball back.
Simple but effective: Quinn said the Crimson Tide’s running attack isn’t complex. The talent, however, will prove to be a significant challenge.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a function of a lot of styles of runs,” he said. “When they do the run and certain schemes they run, they do them at a really high level.”
Contact Tyler Jett at tjett@alligator.org
Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn (left) said safety Matt Elam, who is responsible for the defense’s pre-snap adjustments, has taken the next step to becoming a great player
