Published August 13, 2012 - 1:10pm
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Yeah, I know Florida still has a quarterback battle going on, and they have very limited playmakers on offense at the specialty positions. Improvements need to be made in a short amount of time.
But the glaring stat from 2011 in Will Muschamp’s first season was the turnover margin.
And it didn’t help that John Brantley couldn’t bust a grape at quarterback, and that there was a noticeable absence – again – in the power running game, or the fact that it seemed Florida went three and out every other drive.
We all know the offense was just broken at times. But you can’t discount the defense’s inability to create many turnovers. Perhaps they were on the field too much. I can buy that.
“It’s really a minor miracle we won seven games,” Muschamp said. “You can’t win games turning it over and not getting turnovers.”
It really is a minor miracle, Coach. Florida committed 26 turnovers that led to 89 points for the opposition. The quarterbacks combined to throw 13 interceptions. Can you remember the last time that happened?
Urban Meyer’s teams lived and died on turnovers and turnover margin, and they usually found a way to be in the positive after every game.
Here’s how Florida stacked up against the rest of the SEC in turnover margin in 2011:
| Rank | Team | INT Taken | FUM Taken | INT Lost | FUM Lost | Diff |
| 1 | LSU | 18 | 12 | 5 | 5 | +20 |
| 2 | Alabama | 13 | 7 | 8 | 4 | +8 |
| 3 | Georgia | 20 | 12 | 14 | 11 | +7 |
| 4 | South Carolina | 19 | 13 | 15 | 12 | +5 |
| 5 | Auburn | 11 | 12 | 13 | 8 | +2 |
| 6 | Kentucky | 15 | 10 | 12 | 12 | +1 |
| 7 | Vanderbilt | 19 | 10 | 18 | 10 | +1 |
| 7 | Arkansas | 12 | 9 | 7 | 13 | +1 |
| 9 | Tennessee | 9 | 9 | 12 | 6 | +0 |
| 9 | Mississippi State | 12 | 8 | 13 | 7 | +0 |
| 11 | Ole Miss | 10 | 7 | 13 | 12 | -8 |
| 12 | Florida | 8 | 6 | 13 | 13 | -12 |
I’m sure a new offensive philosophy will help, along with more adequate play from the quarterbacks – either Jeff Driskel or Jacoby Brissett.
But this defense as a whole has to create more turnovers.
Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn reached out to several NFL teams that have had success in creating turnovers in the off-season.
Quinn created a points system based on certain actions – turnovers, forced fumbles and interceptions – to help the players in want to improve.
“It’s awareness for the players, and I emphasized it, and as Will said, if you can do the same thing you’ll get the same results,” Quinn said. “So we’re going to challenge, do some different drills for it, and we’re going to improve in that area.”
I know Florida has so many ways to improve in 2012, but creating more turnovers and being in the positive in turnover margin would be a huge improvement – and it would show in the win column, too.
