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Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Gators have a problem, and coach Will Muschamp is going to great lengths to try to solve it.

With 8.3 penalties per game, Florida is the most penalized team in the nation — not the kind of title Muschamp was hoping for in his first year in Gainesville.

“We’ve emphasized it as much as we can,” Muschamp said Monday. “We’re exhausting every measure we can (to fix the problem).”

The team pumps crowd noise into practice every day and uses hard counts against the defense “probably once every two to three snaps,” but Muschamp is also getting creative to try to curb the Gators’ penalty woes.

He said the team has made shirts with the phrase “Hard Count” printed on them to emphasize staying onside. Coaches are even sending text message to players to ingrain the mantra into their minds.

“We’re trying everything,” Muschamp said. “We’re just trying to emphasize it a different way. That’s all we’re trying to do.”

While the national ranking in penalties hasn’t altered since the calendar turned to November, the Gators have shown signs of improvement. In two November contests, Florida has committed three and five penalties against Vanderbilt and South Carolina, respectively, for a total of 47 yards. UF has decreased its average number of flags by one per outing in November. The team’s average penalty yards per game has dropped from 70.88 after the loss to Georgia, which put UF at 115th nationally, to 61.4 — tied for 93rd.

Although the numbers are down considerably from earlier in the season, the Gators are still committing penalties in crucial situations, like defensive tackle Dominique Easley’s offside penalty on third-and-2 late in the game that extended the Gamecocks’ clock-killing drive.

Defensive end Sharrif Floyd attributed the problems to a lack of focus, but Muschamp said it also has to do with Florida making such mistakes before, giving other teams film to try to prepare and make the Gators force the same errors.

“We’re going to continue to do a better job; we’re not doing a good job, obviously,” Muschamp said. “When you see us jump offsides, everybody else says, ‘That’s a pretty good idea, let’s try that.’”

Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.

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