Can Ron Roberts make the Florida defense fearsome once again?

For the Florida defense to show improvement it will take a big year from Shemar James (UAA Photo)

Four fewer first downs and seven fewer points per game. It may not sound like much, but over the course of a college football season it’s huge.

Four fewer first downs per game could mean as much as a 12-play swing – 12 fewer plays for the defense and 12 plays in which the offense could put a scoring drive together. Less wear and tear for the defense, more wear and tear the offense inflicts on the opposing defense. If the average play lasts 30 seconds, then four fewer first downs could be as much as a six minute advantage.

Another way to think of it is a potential 14-point swing, seven fewer points allowed by the defense and possibly seven points scored by the offense.

Last season the Florida Gators finished 11th in the Southeastern Conference in total defense. The Gators gave up 382.3 yards and 27.6 points per game, which was actually a significant improvement over 2022 when the Gators allowed 411 yards and 28.8 points per game.

Four fewer first downs per game means a minimum of 40 fewer yards. At 342 yards per game the Gators would have finished sixth in the SEC in 2023, eighth in 2022. Seven fewer points and the Gators would have finished fourth in scoring defense a year ago, fifth in 2023.

With just the modest improvement of four first downs and seven points per game, the Gators could have won 10 games in 2022, perhaps nine in 2022. If the Gators are 19-6 the last two seasons instead of 11-14, you can bet the ranch the Las Vegas over/under for UF wins in 2024 would be significantly higher than 5.5 and nobody would be talking as if Billy Napier sits on a very hot seat.

It’s worth bringing up four first downs and seven points per game because that’s how much Ron Roberts improved the Auburn defense a year ago. Former coach Bryan Harsin left such a mess that the Tigers were predicted to finish among the SEC bottom feeders but Hugh Freeze put Roberts in charge of the defense and the results were quite impressive. Auburn went 6-6 and was a play away from beating Georgia (finished 13-1, ranked fourth), Ole Miss (finished 11-2, ranked ninth) and Alabama (12-2, ranked fifth).

When the Gators went through significant turnover in the defensive coaching staff after the 2023 season, Napier turned to Roberts to be the difference maker. Napier’s defensive coordinator at Louisiana in 2018-19, Roberts improved the Cajuns by 64 yards and 15 points per game in year two, or from 97th nationally to 47th. Louisiana went from 7-7 in year one to 11-3 in year two.

Roberts left for Baylor after the 2019 season, but the Cajuns improved to 10-1 in 2020 and 13-1 in 2021.

“As a head coach I would tell you when we’ve won games, we’ve been good on defense,” Napier said Monday evening. “I think if you look at years two, three and four at Louisiana we were 25th, 18th, and 11th in the country on defense.”

Offense hasn’t been the problem the last two seasons and it certainly won’t be in 2024. The Gators have scored enough points to win most of their games the last two years. They have the personnel to light up the scoreboard this year. Only one quarterback in the nation has more experience than Graham Mertz (43 career starts), whose 72.9 percent completions ranked third nationally in 2023. The Gators have one of the more talented stables of running backs in the country led by Montrell Johnson, who has more career rushing yards (2,496) than any back in the SEC. A year ago, Ricky Pearsall was UF’s only deep threat until November when Tre Wilson had mastered the playbook. Wilson knows the playbook now and he should be one of the nation’s most exciting playmakers. There is no shortage of speed either because the Gators can send multiple receivers vertical every single play.

With that kind of offensive potential, the Gators need only modest improvement defensively to win seven or eight games in 2024. That’s where Roberts and his creeper defense becomes the key element for improvement. The basic concept of the creeper is to bring the blitz from so many different angles and with so many different people that opposing quarterbacks start seeing ghosts. Just ask Lane Kiffin, whose quarterbacks were sacked 10 times by Roberts blitzers in the 2021 Sugar Bowl. They still haven’t figured out where the blitz is coming from.

To make the creeper work for the Gators, Napier brought in defensive line coach Gerald Chatman from Tulane and secondary coach Will Harris from the Los Angeles Chargers. The holdovers are co-DC Austin Armstrong, who doesn’t get enough credit for improving the defense in 2023, and former Gator and Pro Bowl linebacker Mike Peterson.

Here is what Roberts and the new staff will be charged with improving:

Yards per rush allowed: 4.84 (111th nationally)

Yards per pass attempt allowed: 8.3 (119th nationally)

Yards per play allowed: 6.44 (122nd nationally)

Interceptions: 3 (dead last nationally)

Fumbles recovered: 4 (110th nationally)

Sacks: 22 (101st nationally)

Turnovers forced: 7 (dead last nationally)

With Chatman playing such a significant role in the Tulane defense, the Green Wave had 36 sacks (27 by the D-line), allowed 3.55 per rush and only 6.8 per pass attempt. When Harris coached the secondary at Washington in 2021, the Huskies allowed only 142.9 yards per game and 5.1 per pass attempt.

For the last two years, the Gators have ranked among the most inexperienced defenses in the country and it has shown on the field. For 2024, the Gators have significantly upgraded the talent while adding much more experience. The Gators go into the 2024 season with a combined 238 starts among their defenders.

In Florida’s two scrimmages in August, the Gators have looked much better than at any time in either of Napier’s first two preseasons. Last Saturday’s scrimmage saw turnovers and pressure on the quarterback. Communication has been better and it’s obvious that there is more depth.

With the Gators starting game prep for the season opener with Miami today, the focus will shift to getting each room on the defensive side ready to go for August 31.

“Now it’s about the attention to detail, it’s about the urgency, and it’s about being able to do your job consistently,” Napier said. “Can you have the self discipline to show up and prepare the right way when the game plan changes and the opponent changes? One week at a time I think your ability to take the information, to study the opponent, and then get yourself ready to prepare when it matters, and to do that week in and week out. I do think we have more experience, more competitive depth, and I think the coaches have done a good job.”

On paper, the Gators should be much improved, but for this team to have more than a break-even season, the improvement only has to be modest. Just the improvement Ron Roberts brought to Auburn last year would mean the Gators have a shot at an eight-win season.

Four fewer first downs allowed and seven fewer points allowed each game might be enough to turn the Gators into one of the nation’s most improved teams.

Defensive personnel

Linemen

Joey Slackman (20 starts, 29 games)

Desmond Watson (10 starts, 28 games)

Cam Jackson (24 starts, 45 games)

Caleb Banks (11 starts, 18 games)

Jamari Lyons (1 start, 15 games): Injured, out for the season

Kelby Collins (12 games)

Freshmen, redshirts with ZERO experience: Michael Boireau, D’Antre Robinson

EDGE (10)

Ja’Markis Weston (37 games)

Justus Boone (2 starts, 15 games)

George Gumbs Jr. (7 starts, 24 games)

Quincy Ivory (10 games)

Tyreak Sapp (11 starts, 24 games)

Jack Pyburn (1 start, 16 games)

Kamran James (12 games)

TJ Searcy (12 games)

Freshmen, transfers with ZERO experience: LJ McCray, Brien Taylor Jr.  

Linebackers (9)

Derek Wingo (3 starts, 46 games)

RJ Moten (16 starts, 36 games)

Shemar James (12 starts, 21 games)

Grayson Howard (11 games)

Deuce Spurlock II (5 games)

Jaden Robinson (1 start, 12 games)

Freshmen with ZERO experience: Myles Graham, Aaron Chiles

Corners

Jason Marshall Jr. (32 starts, 38 games)

Devin Moore (12 games)

Sharif Denson (12 games)

Ja’Keem Jackson (11 games)

Cormani McClain (4 starts, 9 games)

Dijon Johnson (12 games)

Freshmen with ZERO experience: Jameer Grimsley, Teddy Foster

Safeties

Asa Turner (28 starts, 44 games)

Trikweze Bridges (17 starts, 39 games)

DJ Douglas (13 starts, 38 games)

Jordan Castell (11 starts, 12 games)

Bryce Thornton (4 starts, 11 games)

Aaron Gates (4 games)

Freshmen with ZERO experience: Gregory Smith III, Josiah Davis