Shane Beamer sees a Florida defense that will present plenty of challenges for his South Carolina offense in Saturday’s SEC East showdown.

Beamer assessed the UF defense on Wednesday’s SEC teleconference. He was complimentary of all 3 units, noting size in the trenches, athleticism in the linebacking corps and top talent in the secondary. Florida is in the top half of the SEC in the major statistical categories and No. 41 nationally in FEI efficiency ratings.

“They are really big up front. They’re hard to move on the interior of their defensive line, and then on the edges they have a combination of size and length,” Beamer said on Wednesday’s SEC teleconference. “The 2 linebackers for them are really rangy and athletic, sideline to sideline players. Then defensively they have elite players, elite recruits that everybody in the country wanted that are playing for them in the secondary.

“So, really talented group and they present a lot of problems, particularly when you get to 3rd down. Lot of volume in their defense and they’ve been really good on 3rd down defense this season already. We’re going to have to play really well up front on the offensive line and tight end to be able to try to get some runs going and protect our quarterback.”

As Beamer noted, the Gators have been better at getting off the field this season. UF has allowed opponents to convert 26.47% of 3rd downs, which ranks third best in the conference.

While the Florida defense has been stingy at home, the Gators have had road woes. Utah connected for a 70-yard passing touchdown on its first play against UF, setting the tone for a 24-11 victory. In Florida’s other loss, Kentucky’s Ray Davis ran for 280 yards, carrying the Wildcats to a 33-14 blowout that dropped the Gators out of the AP Top 25.