The Gators put their undefeated Orange Bowl record on the line tonight against Virginia. No. 9 UF can secure its first 11-win season since 2012 with a win. No. 24 Virginia would finish with 10 wins for the first time since 1989 and for just the second time in program history with a win.
Here’s a look at each team’s offense and defense ahead of their clash later today at 8 p.m. in Miami Gardens.
Florida offense
UF has catered to its strengths this season, leaning heavily on the pass and straying away from the ground game. The Orange Bowl will be junior quarterback Kyle Trask’s final game with the deep receiving corps he has benefitted from having at his disposal this season.
Most notably, seniors Van Jefferson and Freddie Swain, No. 2 and 3 in receiving yards on the team, respectively, are playing in their last game. But Swain and Jefferson, along with tight end Kyle Pitts and co. are a part of Florida’s No. 16 passing offense, its best in recent history.
Trask has thrown at least 30 times in his past seven games, despite handily beating its last three opponents. During that streak, he’s thrown 19 touchdowns to just four interceptions.
Behind Trask is Emory Jones, who has benefitted from Florida’s big leads in the past three games by playing and, more importantly, throwing more than he had in the previous three games.
Jones offers a change of pace for the Gators offense, which benefits running back Lamical Perine, whose rushing numbers have dipped this season. But Perine’s receiving numbers have soared with the offensive shift. He’s caught more passes this season than his first three years at Florida combined.
UF has a top-40 scoring offense averaging an even 33 points per game.
Virginia offense
Cavaliers quarterback Bryce Perkins is the team’s leading rusher with 745 yards, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a threat in the passing game. Perkins, a junior-college transfer, threw for 3,215 yards this season, the third-most in the ACC behind only UNC’s Sam Howell and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence.
But his dual threat play-making ability sets him apart from most other quarterbacks the Gators have faced. He leads the team in rushing attempts by a wide margin and has found paydirt on the ground 11 times this season.
Wayne Taulapapa, UVA’s top running back, leads the team with 12 rushing scores. Taulapapa, however, has less than 500 yards on the ground, so Perkins is the clear primary rushing threat.
Where UF has a more evenly distributed passing offense, Virginia’s top three receivers account for nearly 70% of the team’s receiving yards. Hasise Dubois leads the team with 979 receiving yards on the year and is just over 15 yards per catch. Terrell Jana and Joe Reed are Perkins’ other go-to targets, with Reed’s 70 catches leading the team.
The Cavaliers’ offense averages 32.4 points per game and has eclipsed 50 twice this season. However, against its two top opponents (Notre Dame and Clemson) it combined for just 37 points.
Florida defense
The Gators boast one of the top defensive units in the FBS. UF’s 46 sacks are the fifth-most in the country and linebacker Jonathan Greenard leads the team in that front with 8.5 on the year despite missing two games with injuries. UVA’s Perkins, though a good runner, has been sacked 38 times this year.
Florida is also in the top 10 in the country in interceptions and top 20 in total takeaways. Perkins has thrown 11 interceptions this season with four coming in losses to Notre Dame and Clemson.
UF is down its best corner in C.J. Henderson, who has declared for the NFL Draft and is sitting out, but maintains a top-20 defense against the pass. Defensive backs Marco Wilson, Shawn Davis and Donovan Stiner all have at least three interceptions this season.
Defensively, this season has been the most dominant for Florida since 2016. The Gators blanked three opponents in 2019 and allow just 14.4 points per game.
Virginia defense
The Cavaliers are one of the few teams that can hold a candle to the Gators’ sack and tackles-for-loss numbers. UVA only has one fewer sack than UF and three fewer tackles for loss, putting it in the top 10 and top 20 in those two categories, respectively, alongside the Gators.
Linebackers Jordan Mack and Noah Taylor have a combined 14.5 sacks and are among six players on the team with at least four sacks.
However, that pressure up front does not translate to the team’s secondary. Virginia’s pass defense is ranked No. 70 nationally.
UVA’s rush defense is No. 30, but their strengths and weaknesses do not bode well against those of the Gators, who rely heavily on the pass and have all but abandoned the run at times as the season has progressed. Florida ran the ball 30 or fewer times in the final five games of the season.
The Cavaliers allow 26.5 points per game, which was inflated by Clemson’s 62-point performance against UVA in the ACC Championship Game.
Contact Kyle Wood at kwood@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @Kkylewood.
