Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham responds to questions about job security
The Florida Gators are gearing up to take on the Georgia Bulldogs after a much-needed bye week. Before the bye, they faced the LSU tigers and lost 49-42 behind a monumental collapse on the defensive side of the ball. This week as they gear up to take on the Bulldogs Gators, defensive coordinator Todd Grantham was asked about his standing with the team.
Grantham, whose contract expires at the end of the season, did not mince any words when speaking about his current status with the team.
“I’m confident with where we are. Leading up the (LSU) game, we were playing pretty well. You look at SEC stats, and we’re second or third in most major stats.”
Florida was ran over by LSU
The Gators had one of the best run-stopping defenses in the SEC. In their loss two weeks ago at the hands of Kentucky, they held the conference’s leading rusher, Chris Rodriguez, to under 100 yards rushing on the game. Giving up 321 yards on the ground to an LSU team who has struggled to find a run game is beyond comprehension. The leading rusher for the Tigers, Tyrion Davis-Price, came into the game with 220 yards rushing on the season. He left the game with more than double that as he rushed for a new school record of 287 yards. LSU did show signs the previous week of the running game heading in the right direction. However, nothing signaled that they would run over the Florida defense so easily.
Head coach Dan Mullen defended Grantham in the team’s postgame conference after the LSU loss. Mullen also gave his point of view on the situation as the Gators before their bye week.
“Nothing changes my perspective on [Todd Grantham], we’re always evaluating things throughout the course of the season in everything we do. It’s a long season. We’re at the middle point of our season going into the bye week.”
The Gators’ offense needs some work, too
The Florida Gators failed to slow down the Tigers’ offense. LSU did not commit a single turnover but forced four interceptions on defense, winning the turnover battle 4-0. Starting quarterback Emory Jones and backup Anthony Richardson both threw a pair of interceptions. Neither’s productivity through the air in terms of yards was anything of note, but Richardson did throw three touchdowns on the game.
Making matters worse for their turnover problem was the absence of the Florida running game. As a team, the Gators rushed for 138 yards. However, they did not have a single player rush for more than 50 yards in a game for the first time this season.
This week’s matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs will be the Gator’s toughest challenge of the season. It will be the Gator’s second matchup against a team ranked No.1 in the country.
Florida will need to bring the same energy and intensity they brought when playing Alabama to have a chance in this game. And if they can do that on the defensive side of the ball, Florida can pull off the upset behind Grantham’s highly capable defense.