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By ANTONYA ENGLISH
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 24, 2001
GAINESVILLE -- Three games into the season, second-ranked Florida may finally find out this week how good it really is.
The Gators went to Starkville last fall ranked No. 3 in the nation and left humbled after a 47-35 loss to unranked Mississippi State.
The Bulldogs snapped Florida's 72-game winning streak against unranked teams, the nation's best at the time. The 47 points were the most by an SEC team against Florida since 1971, a 49-7 loss to Georgia.
The Gators also finished with the worst rushing total in school history, minus-78 yards.
"Our defense ended up giving up a lot of yards but we also forced seven punts and got three turnovers and normally that's a pretty good defensive effort right there, forcing seven punts," coach Steve Spurrier said. "What happened, each team had about 16 or 18 possessions, each team had a lot of chances and we messed up most of ours."
This season it has been a statistical reversal.
Last year Florida was seventh in the SEC and 39th nationally among Division I-A teams in rushing defense (133.1). The Gators were 10th in the SEC, 91st nationally in rushing offense (110.5).
This season, Florida is second in the SEC and sixth nationally in rushing defense (59.3), 12th nationally in total defense (244.3). Earnest Graham and Robert Gillespie are sixth (73.7) and 10th (64.7) in the SEC in rushing yards per game, each more than 5 yards.
In 2000, UF had 3.7 yards per rush -- second-worst in the SEC.
It sounds impressive, but the reality is this season's numbers have come against Marshall, Louisiana-Monroe and Kentucky. Despite its loss to South Carolina Thursday night, Mississippi State should be a better barometer.
The Bulldogs gained 351 yards rushing against Florida last year, the most since 1990, aside from Nebraska's 524 in the 1995 Fiesta Bowl. The entire backfield returns.
Spurrier doesn't think the numbers lie: "We're a lot stronger defensively because our players know what to do better. Maybe we're coaching a little bit better but we're in position, we're not out of position so much. It seems like we're getting better effort up inside also with our defensive line and our linebackers."
Opponents have converted just six of 42 third downs, a 14.3 percent efficiency, best in the SEC. The defense's one glaring shortcoming is creating turnovers. The Gators don't have an interception and have recovered just two fumbles. They led the nation in forced turnovers with 40 last season.
"We're getting them off the field right now on three-and-outs, but we need to continue to stress the need for turnovers," defensive coordinator Jon Hoke said.
ODDS AND ENDS: Cornerback Lito Gaffney (groin) and receiver Jabar Gaffney (cramps) left in the second half, but Spurrier said both are expected to play Saturday. ... Florida leads the nation in passing offense, averaging 419.7 yards. ... The nation's top 12 teams in rushing defense are a combined 30-4.