It is hard to believe it but half of the college football season is now in the books — at least for most teams, like the Florida Gators. As they say, time flies when you are having fun.
Well, to be fair, it has not been all fun and games for the Orange and Blue this season, which faced one of the toughest schedules in the nation coming into the fall. Six games in, the Gator Nation has already seen peaks and valleys ranging from the victory over the Tennessee Volunteers to the defeat at the Kentucky Wildcats.
The latter loss was a significant gut punch to Billy Napier’s plans for the school’s first winning season since 2020. However, the team did bounce back last weekend in its homecoming game against the Vanderbilt Commodores.
That victory showed some improvements on both sides of the ball, but The Athletic’s Max Olsen is more interested in the defensive metrics. This season he has been analyzing teams using a novel metric he calls “stop rate” and has been tracking Florida along with the rest of the Football Bowl Subdivision.
What exactly are stop rates and how does a sports news website keep track? Olson explains it very well.
“It’s a basic measurement of success: the percentage of a defense’s drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs. This simple metric can offer a more accurate reflection of a defense’s effectiveness in today’s faster-tempo college football than yards per game or points per game.”
This week, the Orange and Blue is ranked No. 32 overall with a 69.2% stop rate while allowing 1.81 points per drive. That represents a solid improvement over last week’s numbers when they ranked No. 52 with a 65.9% stop rate while allowing 1.95 points per drive after the Kentucky loss.
Next up for Florida is a trip to Columbia, South Carolina, to face Spencer Rattler and the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, Oct. 14, inside William-Brice Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. EDT and the game can be watched on the SEC Network.
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