Dan Mullen shares what led to Florida’s defensive improvements against Missouri
By Jake Rill
Published:
Florida expects to play better defense than it did in its first three games of the 2020 season. The Gators expect performances like this past Saturday’s, when they held Missouri to 248 total yards and forced two turnovers in a 41-17 win.
“We looked more like a Florida defense on Saturday night,” Gators head coach Dan Mullen said during his Tuesday press conference.
Over its first three games, Florida averaged 495 total yards allowed per contest. Then, the Gators went two weeks without playing a game due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
What improvements were made on defense upon their return?
“When you watch the difference between that and the first three games, you see a distinct drop in missed tackles, you see a massive improvement of 11 guys running extremely hard to the football,” Mullen said.
“Those are things that we can control.”
Mullen also noted that his defensive coaching staff “did a good job of making some tweaks within the scheme to put guys in position.”
If the Gators can keep up this level of defensive play, then they could be set for a low-scoring matchup this Saturday against Georgia, which has relied on its strong defense this season. But if the Gators’ defense also plays well, that could be a key to them earning a victory.
Florida and Georgia are set to kick off Saturday in Jacksonville at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
