With all the controversy surrounding the Florida football program as backup quarterback Treon Harris is under investigation for an alleged sexual battery and a scuffle between Skyler Mornhinweg and Gerald Willis III, it seems off the field issues are the only things happening in Gainesville right now.
But Florida (3-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) looks to put the focus back to football Saturday as it takes on LSU (4-2, 0-2 SEC) at 7:30 p.m. in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Florida’s defense is coming off an impressive showing on the road at Neyland Stadium during a 10-9 victory over SEC East rival Tennessee.
Two weeks before that, the unit gave up a program-high 672 total yards against Alabama.
UF defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin said the turnaround wasn’t due to any major adjustments in the two weeks before facing Tennessee.
"It was us getting back to our fundamentals and basics of what we’re asked to do and doing it with great urgency and you know communicating with one another, being on the same page," Durkin said. "And I think refocusing on those things, just the fine details what we do, they saw the results of it."
True freshman cornerback Jalen Tabor, who stepped on campus in January as the No. 3 ranked cornerback in the 2014 recruiting class, had his breakout performance against the Volunteers, racking up four solo tackles and a sack.
Making his first career start, he caused and recovered a Justin Worley fumble late in the third quarter to give Florida the ball back on Tennessee’s 30-yard line. His one pass breakup on the day came in the end zone.
"Anytime a guy goes out there and makes a lot of plays, and he had a great pass breakup in the end zone there the one sudden change situation and got the ball off the quarterback and had another pass breakup on third down, he was productive, made some plays, keeping going and getting better." Durkin said.
True freshman Duke Dawson, who earned his first start at safety last week, had four total tackles. Durkin was pleased with his performance in the secondary as well.
"He was locked in, communicated well and was on the same page with his assignments," Durkin said. "I thought he played really well. I think he’ll gain a lot of confidence from that performance."
There has been no word on if both Dawson and Tabor starting at corner and safety will be a permanent change within the secondary moving forward.
LSU has not named a starting quarterback for Saturday. Sophomore Anthony Jennings started for the Tigers in the first five weeks of the season but did not start last week on the road against Auburn.
LSU’s starter last week was true freshman Brandon Harris, who in the week prior to facing Auburn led the LSU offense to seven touchdowns against New Mexico State.
Brandon Harris went 3-for-14 against Auburn, earning himself a spot on the bench in the third quarter.
Durkin said that both Brandon Harris and Jennings present similar challenges.
"Both guys have very strong arms. They’ve made a lot of big plays down the field," Durkin said. "Those are things we’ve gotta be cognizant of and aware of, I think they’re probably making they’re determination of who they feel can run the offense the best."
The Tigers’ receiving corps is led by Travin Dural, who is averaging an explosive 26.1 yards per reception and has five touchdowns.
Behind Dural the production drops a bit — Malachi Dupre has 10 receptions for 249 yards.
Durkin says one of the biggest problems that the receivers cause is gaining yardage after the catch, but they aren’t afraid to go up and catch the long ball, either.
"They’re going to take shots down the field, play action pass and hit it up top," Durkin said. "And so they have the guys that can go up and get it. They’re big, long receivers. So yeah it is when you look at that number yards per catch, it’s pretty astonishing."
Perhaps the most impressive statistic of Florida’s game defensively at Tennessee last week was stopping the run — it held the Volunteers to just 28 yards on the ground, the lowest rushing output for Tennessee all season.
The defense has its hands full going up against the LSU rushing attack, led by true freshman tailback Leonard Fournette, who was the No. 1 running back prospect in the country in last year’s recruiting class.
Fournette has 364 yards on 66 carries along with four touchdowns. Behind Fournette is senior Kenny Hilliard, who averages 51.5 yards on the ground per game.
Follow Morgan Moriarty on Twitter @Morgan_Moriarty
Florida's Duke Dawson (7) covers Tennessee tight end Ethan Wolf during the Gators' 10-9 win against the Volunteers on Saturday at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.
