UF defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin said Wednesday that he wants to use Neiron Ball more in pass-rushing situations this year.
Heading into Saturday’s season opener against Eastern Michigan, the redshirt senior linebacker had just one sack and three tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
But in the first half of the Gators’ 65-0 rout of the Eagles, Ball made his presence known in the backfield — recording two sacks for a loss of 13 yards, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry.
Ball finished the game with a team-high-tying six total tackles.
"Neiron’s a very good football player," coach Will Muschamp said. "He’s a guy that can really play well in space as far as a linebacker’s concerned. He’s got good off-the-ball instincts. … If we can get him into some matchup situations — people are probably going to slide over to Dante (Fowler) — and create some one-on-ones with Neiron."
Ball was just one of several standouts from a Gators defense that limited the Eagles to 125 total yards of offense and forced five turnovers.
"We needed this game, especially not being able to play last weekend" said Fowler, who logged three tackles. "Just having all that rage, that fire, built up and you finally just let it out on Eastern Michigan. It felt good."
The Gators’ defense was stout throughout the first half, forcing seven three-and-outs and not allowing the Eagles to earn a first down until the second quarter.
Florida rotated 10 players along the defensive line, allowing the linemen to remain fresh during their reps on the field, which has been a goal Muschamp and Durkin set for the season.
That depth resulted in the Gators recording nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of 30 yards.
"There wasn’t one time that I went on the field that I was tired," Fowler said. "So being able to have 10 guys rotate in … that’s always a plus."
But despite Florida’s success on defense — limiting Eastern Michigan to just 2.3 yards per play and only allowing the Eagles to reach the Gators’ side of the field once — Muschamp knows improvements need to be made.
"Defensively, I thought we did OK. I think there were some things they missed, a couple things in the secondary especially," Muschamp said. "We’ve got to get that cleaned up."
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Redshirt senior Neiron Ball tackles an Eagles player during Florida's 65-0 victory against Eastern Michigan on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
