Gators shed ‘DBU’ talk with the hopes of improving in the defensive secondary
By John Hollis
Published:
Remember all that preseason talk about Florida being “DBU,” or Defensive Back University?
Well, it’s been just that so far, with little results to show for it two games into the season. The unit that hyped itself as the nation’s best defensive secondary finds itself ranked a dismal 87th nationally in pass defense as it heads into Saturday’s SEC opener against host Kentucky and its “Air Raid” offense.
The decision to shelve all talk about DBU was the result of a players-only meeting on Sunday that was called with the intent of righting the ship. You have to earn that kind of moniker first.
“You heard all the Twitter talk and social media talk about us being DBU and the best in the country,” said junior free safety Keanu Neal, according to the website Gatorbait.net. “Well, in the first two games, we didn’t show that.”
The Gators will enter Commonwealth Stadium yielding an average of 241 yards per game through the air against two non-Power 5 conference schools in New Mexico State and East Carolina.
Not exactly the stuff from which legends are made.
To be fair, the statistics are somewhat skewed because Florida’s first two opponents have managed a total of 51 yards rushing, so passing on nearly every down was their best offensive option.
More disconcerting, however, was watching Pirates quarterback Blake Kemp shred the Gators defense by completing 34 of 54 attempts for 333 yards, three touchdowns and a lone interception last week.
But there’s plenty of reason for optimism among the Florida faithful.
Florida has yet to play a game in which it had its entire allotment of projected starters. Neal will be making his debut in Lexington this weekend after finally mending from a bothersome hamstring injury, while strong safety Marcus Maye was suspended and forced to sit out the New Mexico State game.
All-American cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III (knee) is also expected back as well after missing the ECU game. Hargreaves, who also returns punts, returned to practice in a limited capacity on Tuesday and practiced with the first team on Wednesday. He is officially listed as probable.
The return of Hargreaves and Neal couldn’t come at a better time against a potent Kentucky offense led by Patrick Towles, the junior quarterback who has spread the ball around to nine different receivers in the Wildcats’ surprising 2-0 start.
But the one thing that Neal said he made clear in the players-only meeting was that coverages need to be tightened up regardless of who’s playing.
Neal said the unit was starting from scratch in the hopes of doing things right the rest of the way. That means losing all the DBU talk for now until they’ve earned that right.
“That meeting was to come back to a platform where we need to be, start from the ground up and work our way up, instead of having this pedestal,” Neal said, according to the website. “Just going back and figuring what we need to do better.”
They’ll have their hands full on Saturday night as the Wildcats are averaging a modest 7.1 yards per pass, meaning new offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson prefers the shorter, higher-percentage routes such as quick hitches and crossing routes that come with less risk. To the Gators’ credit, they’re only allowing 5.5 yards per attempt, good for fourth in the SEC despite facing pass-happy offenses.
Still, Kentucky poses a tougher test and the Gators secondary will have to be aggressive in playing Kentucky’s receivers and be sound in their technique as well.
They’ve talked the talk, but now it’s time to walk the walk.
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
