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Florida’s 2019 offense, which featured the program’s most successful air attack in nearly 20 years, received a lot of praise during its 11-2 campaign last season. But the true anchor of the team was its ferocious pass rush and swarming secondary, which made life difficult for SEC quarterbacks not named Joe Burrow.
That defensive unit faces a challenge in UF’s 2020 opener against Ole Miss, who has the ability to put up points despite coming off a 4-8 season that resulted in the firing of coach Matt Luke.
Redshirt junior cornerback Marco Wilson, one of the veteran leaders on defense, talked about the matchup with the Rebels to the media.
“I’m excited,” he said. “The season got delayed, so it’s been a lot of practice against our own team, so we’re just excited to go against somebody else and start competing.”
Asked about his goals for the upcoming season, Wilson said he wants to lock down his fundamentals while having a greater impact on the game. He had 36 total tackles and three interceptions a year ago after coming back from a season-ending knee injury early in the 2018 season.
“Make sure I’m touching the ball every game, and just make sure my coverage is on point. I want to get more interceptions than I got last year, and that’s pretty much it. I just want to win.”
If Florida’s going to start off in the win column, it has to be prepared for not just one Mississippi passer, but two.
Coach Lane Kiffin is yet to announce a starter between sophomores John Rhys Plumlee and Matt Corral (a one-time Florida commit). Both quarterbacks split time fairly evenly last season, but Plumlee was much more productive in the ground game, rushing for over 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Both could see the field on Saturday, and Wilson said the defense is prepared to contain the dual-threat attack Plumlee could pose.
“We’ve just got to make sure we contain him,” Wilson said. “We’re aware that he’s a guy who can run, he’s a guy who’s fast, so we’ve got to make sure we keep an eye on that, don’t get lazy in our techniques up front, and make sure we hone in on that.”
Kickoff between the Gators and Rebels is set for noon on ESPN, and Wilson and the Florida defense will hope to spoil Kiffin’s debut in Oxford.
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