Florida defensive coordinator Brad White saw plenty to like from his unit at Texas. He also saw enough left on the field to know the Gators still have another level to reach.
After allowing scores on Texas’ first two possessions, Florida settled in and kept the Longhorns off the scoreboard the rest of the way. The Gators became more aggressive as the game progressed, leaned into their pressure packages and received impactful performances from several young defenders.
Now comes a different challenge. Georgia brings a physical running game, heavy personnel packages and quarterback Gunner Stockton, whom White praised for his toughness and ability to make plays with both his arm and legs. Florida showed flashes of what White believes it can become against Texas, but he wants the complete performance this week.
Here’s everything White had to say ahead of Florida’s matchup with Georgia.
On Florida’s defensive performance against TexasProud of those guys. Obviously, it wasn’t the way we wanted to start in the first two drives. It was kind of the reverse of the season. Usually, it’s a good first quarter and we’ve struggled to sustain going forward. This one, we just sort of didn’t start great, and then they turned it on and played really well throughout.
Proud of those guys. We’ve got to build off that. We’ve got to try to take the good things. Again, it still wasn’t perfect, not even just the first two drives, but some things after that that we can get clean and we can do better. But it’s something we can build on.
On Florida becoming more aggressive with pressureLike anything else from a game plan adjustment, as you go and you feel like something’s working, you’re going to keep sort of pushing on that until they have an answer. We leaned into that fairly heavy going forward.
Each game is going to have its own little variations. Whether that’s going to sort of become our identity or it’s going to be a part of who we are, we’ll see.
But that’s just one of those things in a game that you feel. It’s no different than an offense. If they’re running the ball good, the head coach might say, hey, just keep running the ball until they stop you. Until they prove they can stop you, you sort of just keep doing a certain thing. If they do, then you’ve got to adjust from there.
On Ty Jackson earning a larger roleTy, over the last couple of games, had some built-in, more reps coming on the back end of South Carolina, and you sort of felt him at the end of that game. So he got more reps and made plays, obviously, in the Texas game.
Continuing to build his role, he’s got a chance to make game-changing plays. That’s what we need. We need some players that can alter the momentum of a game.
He made the huge fourth-and-one stop. Earlier in that drive, the sack. The one he wishes he probably had back was the fourth-and-seven when he was that close and just kind of stumbled. I think he was expecting a little bit more contact and the back kind of missed and whiffed.
If you’re going to miss, miss on the opposite side of the quarterback because you had Jayden coming around the other edge. But some of those things happen. That’s football. The fact is that he put himself into that position to make plays. He’ll continue to grow within this defense.
On Jackson’s athleticism and developmentHe’s got great speed. It’s not just speed, but he’s got really good balance. He’s smooth. He’s not rigid. He’s a smooth mover. He’s got a little six-inch snap to finish.
Really, he’s always been somebody we’ve been really high on, but you just sort of have to grow and you have to develop. The more you understand, this is a perfect example of a young man that sometimes needs time in practice and then gets in the game when he’s ready.
Sometimes if you get thrust into a game and you’re not ready, but you just get thrust in because of talent, then things don’t go your way and you start to lose confidence. It’s hard to get that guy back.
You have to build that confidence, continue to build it, grow through it, get your small packages, get your small reps and then those things grow. For Ty, it really started on special teams. He made some really good special teams plays. Then he makes those couple plays in South Carolina. Boom, bigger package in Texas. He’s making the most of that.
As his package grows, he gains confidence. That’s how you build.
On what stands out about Gunner StocktonHe’s a winner. He’s tough. I had to face Stetson Bennett for all those years. Very similar in terms of nothing rattles them.
Some quarterbacks, after the Auburn game, they’ll be rattled from some of the turnovers. They’ll be mad at themselves. You have no doubt that he’s going to be able to put that behind him. Everybody on that offense believes in him and that he’s going to make the right decision.
That’s what you want as a quarterback. You can sense it when you watch the film. He takes a big hit, but he throws a deep ball down for a touchdown. The offensive linemen all run and grab him. He’s jumping up. They rally around him.
He can make all the throws. I don’t think people give him enough credit for how good he is with his legs and how many plays he makes. It really comes alive in the red zone, short-yardage situations. But if you don’t do a good job with the pocket, he’ll be able to scramble and make some things happen.
It changed the course of the Arkansas game. They’re in third-and-two with two minutes left in the half and he has the big 60-something-yard run that breaks that game open. It’s 14-0 and Arkansas has a chance to get the ball back, and his legs put them in scoring position.
Really impressed with what he is. I was able to face him last year. I know what he can do. Big challenge.
On the talent surrounding StocktonI don’t know if we’ve got a long enough press conference.
I think the running back group is really, really talented. You look at Phillips and Frazier, and if Chauncey comes back, depending on what his injury situation is. Then you look at that tight end group, and I think the wide receivers don’t get enough credit for how talented they are.
We faced Texas last week and they’ve got sort of known-name wide receivers. I don’t think people quite know the names yet of these wideouts, but they will. They’re talented. They’re fast. They’re all willing to block. They understand the scheme. They understand their role. It doesn’t matter which one’s in, and they go deep. It’s not just two or three of them.
We’ve got our work cut out for us. Obviously, the O-line is always big and physical up front. Across the board, run game, they’re No. 2 in the country in yards per carry in the run game, averaging six yards a carry. We’ve got our work cut out for us there.
They can get explosive both in the run game and the pass game. They’re averaging 470 yards on 61 plays a game. That’s crazy.
On evaluating how quarterbacks handle pressureAll of that plays a part. How does this team handle pressure? How does the quarterback handle pressure? How does the quarterback handle getting hit?
Some guys get rattled. Some guys, their game elevates. A guy like Diego Pavia, the more you hit him, the more it amped him up. You kind of just have to let him play.
You have to go through all those scenarios. What about the running backs? What about the tight end? What about the O-line? Do they like movement? Do they struggle with you being stagnant? All of those things come into play as you put the game plan in.
Then, as the game goes, do you see that coming to fruition? If not, you might have to make a change. You’re going to have to do it sooner than later. A lot of times you can’t wait until halftime. You’ve got to get it done on the sideline.
On Stive-Bentley Keumajou Yondui’s developmentHe’s a high-energy player. He’s got twitch inside. He’s got strength and twitch and energy. It’s been good to get, again, a young guy filtered in there and developing and continue to see his role expand.
Like any young player, the devil’s in the details. The more detailed we can get with him. But he’s bright. He picks up things quickly. He wants to be good, so he’ll put the time in. He’ll be in the building extra.
He’s a young man that obviously didn’t get here until late, and he’s been able to pick up the game fast. The effort, the strength and the twitch are really what’s helped him get on the field.
He is fun to coach. Again, the energy, the youthful enthusiasm is great. But again, he still needs to be coached because it’s the details of patterns, where to put your hand.
Right now, obviously, he’s carved a role a little bit more in passing situations. The more you get him on normal down and distances, how do I play a run block? How do I anchor? Those things are going to be really important.
On having more linebackers availableAll of those things sort of come into play. Can you play a little bit more three-backer defense? We were able to play a little bit of that against Texas, and some of the teams that we’ll play will play a little bit more 12 personnel. We can get into some bigger sets that way, and then you can have all four of them on the field at a time.
Then you can create different blitz packages. The other thing it does is it allows guys to be fresh. It’s a long season. It’s a grind.
Where guys don’t have to play 75% of the snaps, they can play fast and efficient in 60% of the snaps. We did a study when I was with the Colts with our outside backers, and once an outside backer played over 50 plays, it was diminishing returns.
He would get the same amount of production in 45 to 50 plays as he would in 65 to 70. When you show guys that, they’re like, OK, great, I would rather play fresh and fast and have 45 really good snaps as opposed to 65 snaps, but 20 of them are substandard because I’m tired or I’m trying to conserve.
The more bodies you have, the more you can roll some more.
On using bigger personnel against GeorgiaDepending on some of the personnel sets they get in, yeah, you’re going to have to. You can’t play small.
Again, we talked about their tight end group. They’re big. They’re athletic. They create some mismatches. They play heavy in 12 and they get into 13 personnel, so it’s hard to play with a small nickel.
They’ll just road-grade us. So you’ve got to get big to match some of that.
On LJ building off his performance against TexasAnytime a player has confidence or has a good game, it builds confidence. I think that was great for him from a confidence standpoint.
I think he has to realize that’s nothing but a stepping stone. That’s not the peak. He knows he still has to continue to improve in the run game to be that every-down guy. It can’t just be against the pass.
Obviously, the sacks and some of the plays he made last week were huge. But to be strong technically in the run game, same deal. I think there’s the play, the same play we talked about on the fourth-and-seven with Ty. If he really rushes off the edge like he had been the rest of that game, he’s getting the sack before the ball even gets off.
He kind of just eases off and he’s trying to feel his way through. Those are plays where, hey, look, yeah, we had a good game, but man, there was more that we left out there. We can get so much more.
On what Florida left on the field against TexasYou think about what that one play could have potentially done from a defensive standpoint where you’re like, man, you held them to 10 points on defense. You didn’t let them score after the second drive.
Listen, I couldn’t be more proud of the players, the staff, the way they performed and played. But you always have to look, man, we could have done that. That could have been a really special game, game-wise, for this defense.
Those are things that we’ve been leaning on through the bye week, and those are plays that we cannot miss this week. You miss the play, it’s going to be hard to get a W.
On the play of Florida’s cornerbacksI thought they played well. I thought they challenged. I thought they did a much better job in their disguises.
Again, they’re gaining comfort in terms of what we’re asking them. I think they’re gaining confidence in themselves. I think they’re gaining confidence in terms of, OK, when we call certain defenses, when does the ball have to get out?
It’s no different than a quarterback in a pass drop. He has to have that internal timer: OK, the ball’s got to get out. A corner, in his mind, if we’re calling a certain pressure, the ball needs to get out by this time.
If it’s not, that’s on the pressure. That’s not necessarily on the coverage. They’re starting to gain confidence and saying, OK, I can challenge more because I know the ball should have to be out at this point.
Again, I thought those guys did a nice job out there. Got another huge challenge this week.
On the growth he saw from the secondary during the byeYou hope it’s a lot for both sides. I thought both had a really good week in the bye week and this one. It’s as good a sort of spot as we’ve been in on both sides.
Again, I think it goes back to them gaining confidence. The more they’re gaining confidence, I think their practice habits have increased. I think in the building has increased. I think Coach Harris has done a great job with those guys and continuing to bring them along and develop them and bring them to where it’s like, hey, look, you can do this. You can be elite.
The difference between a good play and a bad play at corner is about that big. Those details matter. How you practice matters. How much film time you put in matters. How you hand in your test matters.
If you get your night-before test and it’s all wrinkled, that just says how important that test is. If you hand in a test the night before and there are no wrinkles, that’s perfect. You hand it in like that, that means you took time and that matters to you.
All of those things matter, and we all want them to happen like that, but it’s not. It’s a growth process. They’re growing, but they need to continue to grow. We’re not anywhere close to where we need them to be to be the defense that we need to be.
On personally wanting to beat GeorgiaI want to win every game we play. Quite frankly, I just want us to play good, sound defense.
Obviously, the Florida-Georgia game is huge. It’s different. Do I want to win? Absolutely. That’s one of the few teams in this league that I have not had a chance to put one in the W mark. That’s a huge deal.
But it’s not about me. I just want this defense to continue to grow because I know what they can be, and I want everybody to see what they can be.
They’ve only seen flashes. They can be a really good group. They’re fun to coach. I appreciate how they come in the building every day. I appreciate how the coaching staff comes in the building every day.
More than anything, I want it for them, to have one of those performances.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Brad White wants Florida defense to take next step vs. Georgia