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Mississippi State ran all over Florida last season. The Gators hope to reciprocate today.
By ANTONYA ENGLISH
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 29, 2001
GAINESVILLE -- Don't ask Florida defensive end Alex Brown what went wrong with the defense in the 47-35 loss at Mississippi State last season.
In a game where the Bulldogs offense tallied 351 rushing yards and 517 total yards, what went wrong isn't the issue.
There's a better question.
"What went wrong? What went right?," Brown said. "Nothing went right."
That's not an understatement. When it was over, No. 3 Florida was upset by unranked Mississippi State, allowing the Bulldogs 47 points -- the most by an SEC team against Florida. It was UF's first loss to an unranked team under coach Steve Spurrier.
"They clobbered us last year pretty good, and we're going to try to play better this year," Spurrier said. "Last year a lot of things happened and we got beat. We missed all of our fourth downs in the first half, had a bunch of fumbles. Our quarterbacks fumbled on consecutive plays. And our defense gave up a lot of points, although we still forced seven punts and had three turnovers. We're just going to try to play better this year."
Spurrier insists the Gators never talk about revenge. Maybe not. But they realize a lot needs to be corrected from last season's debacle.
"They had 351 yards against us, so our main goal is to go out and stop the run," linebacker Andra Davis said. "That was real embarrassing. That's unacceptable."
There were many unacceptable moments for the Gators, including back-to-back quarterback fumbles to start the second half. Florida also had two snaps sail over the quarterback's head in the fourth quarter for a loss of 47 yards. The Gators had minus-78 rushing yards in the game.
"During that game you were just trying to hang on to your butt," UF defensive coordinator Jon Hoke said. "I think we played 49 plays at halftime and we still had the second half to go. We were just hanging in there, as it was, and as the game went on, it got worse."
In all the madness, Florida still had 35 points and set a school record with three quarterbacks -- Rex Grossman, Jesse Palmer and Brock Berlin -- throwing for more than 100 yards each in the game.
But it was the Gators' inability to stop the Mississippi State running game that was their undoing and has been the main topic of conversation this week. Tailbacks Dicenzo Miller and Dontae Walker combined for 328 yards on 44 carries.
"I'm sure they remember last year," Hoke said of his defense. "I think they'll be focused. I think they understand what we need to do better from last year. I hope they accept the challenge. And it will be a challenge because this is the first physical football game that we've really faced. The other three (opponents) didn't have a real big interest in running the ball. This will be an excellent test and a challenge to see where we are as a defense."
It will be a challenge for Mississippi State as well. The Bulldogs most likely will be without Miller, who sustained a high ankle sprain last week against South Carolina. Walker, who has had nearly the same number of carries as Miller, will get help from Fred Reid, a redshirt freshman out of Tampa King High School.
"I'm going into this game knowing I'm going to have to pick up the slack," Reid said. "I will have to play hard, focus hard and do whatever it takes to win. The offense last year played real physical against Florida and that's what we have to do again this year. We can't make it a footrace because they have tremendous speed. We have to come out and run the ball all game, and be real physical doing it."
Florida fullback Ray Snell played against Reid in high school and said he's capable of stepping in.
"He was the kind of back that can make things happen for himself," said Snell, a redshirt freshman out of Hillsborough High.
No matter who is in the backfield, UF insists it is more prepared to handle the Bulldogs.
"I think our intensity and running after the ball (have improved)," said defense tackle Ian Scott, who was injured early in last season's game and watched helplessly from the sideline. "We are tackling a lot better this year than we were at this point last year, and I think everybody's intensity has improved. Everybody is flying around and trying to play real fast and playing as hard as they can."
The numbers back Scott and his teammates.
Florida has the nation's sixth-best rushing defense, allowing an average of 59.3 yards. The Gators also are No. 10 nationally in scoring defense, allowing 30 points in three games.
That said, all the talk about last season will cease today.
"They had 351 yards and that's ridiculous," Brown said. "Against us? That's even more ridiculous. For them to come in here and do that (today), I don't think many things are impossible, but that's sure right next to it."