Early Look at Florida: Up-and-down offense, questionable defense

Texas took their first loss of the season this weekend, losing to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl. Now, they turn the page to the Florida Gators, a team that was a talk of the nation just a few weeks ago. Since then, they’ve dropped two straight and their offense, which dominated teams early in the season, has gone anemic. The Gators enter Austin desperate for a win with the talent level to upset the Longhorns and put them in dire straights.

Florida Gators Offense

This offense was one of the biggest storylines in the country through four weeks. They scored at least 44 points in each game and topped 50 points three times, including a 52-28 win over Ole Miss in the Swamp. Since that win, they’ve scored just 36 points over two games, with Missouri and South Carolina stonewalling Buster Faulkner’s unit.

As for the personnel, it’s some of the best in the country. Aaron Philo leads them at QB and is the prototypical “game manager” who can execute the gameplan at a high level. The playmakers outside are highlighted by Dallas Wilson, who had a great day against Texas last season. Vernell Brown hasn’t played the last two weeks but could be back for this weekend. Bailey Stockton, TJ Abrams and Eric Singleton Jr. fill out one of the stronger WR units in the country.

The star is Jadan Baugh, the Gator RB, has 672 yards and 12 scores through six games, but has just 27 carries for 72 yards(2.7 yards per carry). Missouri and South Carolina gave Texas the blueprint to slow down the Doak Walker Award leader. If Texas can slow Baugh, they can slow the Florida offense.

Florida Gators Defense

The Gators ranks 113th in the county when it comes to PPG allowed. They are allowing 124 yards per game on the ground(161 per game on the road). The pass defense is struggling much more, giving up 268 yards per game passing(305 yards per game on the road). The run defense ranks 46th in the country while the pass defense is sitting at 131st in the country. Arch Manning should have openings to take advantage of this weekend.

The personnel for Florida is still very talented on the defensive side. Myles Graham, Aaron Chiles and Jayden Woods lead a very talented LB unit. The secondary and DL are struggling but S Bryce Thorton and DL Emmanuel Oyebadejo are playmakers at both spots. Despite the talent, they are struggling to find any consistency on the defensive side of the ball. Texas’ struggling offense has a chance to find their footing against this defense this weekend.

Florida Gators Overall

This is a very talented but flawed team. Early in the season, the offense was high-flying and looked near impossible to slow down. Now, it looks like a unit that has a rather straightforward formula to stop: slow down Jadan Baugh and the run game. Texas sits at 20th in the country defending the run, giving up less than 100 yards/game, so it seems to be a great matchup for the Texas defense.

All that said, this team is more than capable of elevating in this game. They have game-changing players at every position and it’s far from easy to slow them down. For the Texas offense, this should be a moment where they can find a rhythm. That said, the Texas offense should’ve looked in rhythm against UTSA. In summation, this is a game that sets up well for the Longhorns, as long as they can do what they haven’t this season: get out of their own way.

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This article originally appeared on Longhorns Wire: Early Look at Florida: Up-and-down offense, questionable defense