Colleges

UF's front props up secondary

Defensive line tallies six sacks as secondary riddled for 415 yards.

By BRYAN JONES, Times Correspondent
Published October 21, 2007

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Florida's pass rush finally showed up, and the Gators are fortunate it did.

Despite sacking Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson six times, the Gators still yielded 37 points, as Woodson threw for 415 yards and five touchdowns in picking apart a youthful secondary.

If not for some key sacks and pressure from Florida's defensive line keeping Woodson off-balance, the game could have had a different ending than a 45-37 win.

"The outcome would have been terribly different," senior defensive tackle Javier Estopinan said. "No quarterback likes to get hit, not even our quarterback that runs the ball every single down."

With the score tied at 7 in the first quarter, back-to-back sacks by defensive ends Derrick Harvey and Jermaine Cunningham pushed Kentucky back from the Florida 16-yard line to the 29. That forced the Wildcats to attempt a 48-yard field goal, and kicker Lones Seiber missed left.

Freshman Justin Trattou sacked Woodson to end the first half, as the quarterback was looking for a quick strike to set up a field goal.

With the Gators leading 38-24 in the fourth quarter, a Cunningham sack on first and 10 from the Kentucky 49 stalled the Wildcats drive and forced a punt for just the second time in the game.

"Our defense had to make a play to win," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "We've had two losses where we didn't make those plays to win the game."

The performance by the defensive line was unexpected, as the oft-criticized unit had just 11 sacks heading into the game. Meanwhile, Kentucky did not allow a sack the previous week against LSU's vaunted defense.

"LSU's a great team, and if we do better than them, that means you are doing a pretty good job," Trattou said.

But while the game proved to be a coming-out party of sorts for a defensive line that struggled to create pressure on the quarterback all season, it may have also been a telling sign of weakness in the Gators' defensive backfield.

Woodson went 35-for-50 with no interceptions, and the Gators' secondary looked helpless at times.

When cornerback Wondy Pierre-Louis was pulled with a shoulder injury early in the game, the Wildcats took advantage of his replacement, Jacques Rickerson.

The sophomore was beaten badly on several plays, including a 33-yard touchdown pass to Kentucky's Dicky Lyons that opened the scoring.

Despite playing a defensive style predicated on limiting big plays, the Gators allowed three touchdown passes of 28 yards or more, including a 50-yard touchdown by Lyons in the third quarter.

"As a cornerback, you have to have amnesia," Rickerson said. "We're just not disciplined enough yet because we're kind of young."

[Last modified October 20, 2007, 22:53:37]