Breaking Down Every Third Down for the Gators Defense vs. LSU

Florida's third-down defense is, statistically, the worst in the FBS. We broke down every third down play by the Gators' defense against LSU to assess the unit's struggles.

Photo: Mason Taylor and Jaydon Hill; Credit: Alex Shepherd

LSU's 67 percent conversion rate and 120 yards gained via three explosive plays on third down against Florida on Saturday night was a microcosm of the Gators' consistent defensive struggles seven games into the 2022 season and Patrick Toney's young tenure as UF's defensive coordinator.

Whether the Tigers were three or 15 yards away from the yard to gain, they reached it or got close enough to convert on fourth down with relative ease.

Head coach Billy Napier recognized the Gators' shortcomings on third down after the game, admitting that "statistically, we're not very good" at stopping offenses from converting on these crucial plays while also crediting the Tigers and quarterback Jayden Daniels for their performance. Florida ranks dead last in the FBS with a defensive third-down conversion rate of 52.6 percent.

"I don’t know that was one of our better days from a tackling perspective," Napier admitted. "Individual match-ups, you know, they won their fair share tonight. We got the guy and rolled over the guy a lot of times and the guy outruns us or breaks the pocket.

"I think when we look at it we’re going to see a combination of things, right? We’re going to see a lot of things that we can do better schematically, we’re going to see things that we can do fundamentally better, and I think there’s going to be opportunities for guys to make plays, it’s going to be a combination of all those things. I do not think it’s one thing or the other." 

We've analyzed every third down the Gators' defense was on the field against the Tigers below. From our observations, Napier is correct, the blame for Florida's third-down woes can't be pointed at one player or factor.

Without direct knowledge of Florida's defensive play calls, we made our best attempt to identify Florida's defensive fronts and coverages in order to correctly break down each play. Positions are labeled to the side of the defense in which the player was on, such as a right defensive end lining up against a left offensive tackle.

* denotes an explosive play given up by Florida's defense

Drive 1 (first quarter)

*3rd and 8, LSU27, 12:51 at the snap

Florida dropped eight defenders and only sent three rushers Daniels' way on LSU's first third down of the night. Linebacker Ventrell Miller hovered near the line of scrimmage appearing to spy Daniels, while safety Rashad Torrence II played a robber role in the intermediate middle of the field. Post-snap, Tre'Vez Johnson and Trey Dean III dropped back in two-high coverage with cornerbacks and linebackers playing man underneath.

Dean, aligned to the weak side of the formation, bit on a dig route in front of him by the outside wide receiver that cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. had manned up and Torrence was in the vicinity of to double-cover. 

Dean hovered over the in-breaking route and began to step downhill in the receiver's direction, allowing receiver Kayshon Boutte to slip behind him on a deep crossing route and get wide open in Dean's zone. Dean realized the opening when Daniels looked his way and attempted to get back into position, but it was too late, and Boutte hauled in the pass for a 40-yard gain.

Result: Dean misdiagnosed his coverage responsibility, leading to an explosive play and third-down conversion for LSU.

3rd and 6, UF29, 11:02

ESPN labeled this play as a 3rd and 5, but we used the official game log to determine down and distance.

Florida disguised its rush plan by stacking six defenders on the line of scrimmage, with two five-techniques, two three-techniques (Gervon Dexter may have been a 4i at left defensive end) and two one-technique linebackers standing over the shoulders of the center. LSU was in 11 personnel with a tight end in-line and three receivers to the right side of the formation. 

Every member of UF's secondary was in off coverage and on the other side of the first-down marker. Cornerback Jaydon Hill was closest to the line of scrimmage, seven yards removed from it at the snap.

Four of the players in the tackle box rushed immediately while Miller (right one-technique) and Brenton Cox Jr. (right five-technique) stepped back at the snap. The duo immediately broke into pursuit to the opposite side of the field. as LSU had called either a delayed toss or toss option to the right (field side). 

Justus Boone (left five-technique), all alone in space as the tight end climbed to the second level to seal Miller, read the play like an option and first shot towards Daniels. 

Daniels immediately pitched the ball to running back Josh Williams, and with receivers to block in front of him as well as Florida's defensive backs removed from a run play pre-snap, marched untouched five yards down the field and launched forward through a tackle to gain seven yards and a first down.

Result: This play isn't as easy to pinpoint on an individual player or unit. Boone was put in an undesirable position with the threat of an option run to his side, left to take it on one player against two. He had no help available from the second or third level with the inside linebackers showing a blitz look and the defensive backs seven or more yards deep.

The play call appeared designed to prevent a pass and disguise where pass-rush pressure was going to come from. It didn't seem to take the possibility of a run play into account, an oversight provided Daniels' dynamic rushing skill-set. Toney takes the blame for this one.

3rd and 15, UF27, 9:23

Cox sacked Daniels on 1st and 10 which led to LSU's longest third-down attempt of the game on this play. Cox's first-down efforts were ultimately wasted, as a 14-yard third-down gain placed LSU in the red zone and set up an easy fourth-down try.

LSU deployed 11 personnel and motioned its tight end across the formation from the left slot to the right slotback. Amari Burney followed him, seemingly in man coverage, across the formation and through the play as the tight end ran a boundary wheel route up to the first down marker.

Florida rushed four and dropped Miller into a middle zone, one of six players seemingly in zone while Burney was in man. Tyreak Sapp, technically a defensive tackle on this snap, was a late drop to act as a spy on Daniels. The secondary appeared to play Cover 3 with Dean playing flatfooted at the line to gain on the boundary side of the field.

A skinny post took Marshall, the boundary corner, deep in his zone. With Burney holding down the wheel route just to his right, Dean kept his eyes in the backfield on Daniels and once again did not see Boutte take his dig route from the opposite side of the field just behind him. Dean made a late turn as Boutte was coming open, and Daniels squeezed in a pass as Burney recognized the opening and tried to fly in last second to make a play.

Boutte made the catch in traffic, setting up a 4th and 1 at UF's 13-yard line.

Result: Florida was successful in preventing a third-down conversion here, sure, but it was still a disaster of a result as LSU was able to convert the 4th and 1 and found the end zone two plays later.

Similar to the Tigers' first third-down conversion, Dean is the culprit here. He did not maintain zone responsibility and the combination of Daniels and Boutte took advantage of that opening.

Kayshon Boutte somehow hung on to this pic.twitter.com/O5G15puMWC

— Joe Broback (@joebroback) October 15, 2022

Drive 2 (first and second quarter)

3rd and 2, LSU41, 1:10

It took the Gators, most noticeably defensive tackle Desmond Watson and the linebacker unit, a little extra time pre-snap to communicate the play call and get lined up. Four players got into their stances in the tackle box while LSU's offensive line was already set and Daniels was preparing to signal for a receiver motion.

LSU ran an option to the left against a 4-2 front. Right defensive end Princely Umanmielen crashed the running back in the A-gap and Daniels rolled left with a pulling tight end in Mason Taylor pulling in front of him. 

Florida cornerback Jaydon Hill tackles LSU tight end Mason Taylor on third down / Alex Shepherd

Miller, on the play side, struggled to get off of his block in pursuit of both Daniels and Taylor to the defensive right side of the field. Daniels pitched the ball in space to Taylor, who upon turning around had crossed the first-down marker and spun through a tackle by Hill for additional yardage. 

The Gators' defensive backs were once again in off-coverage with Hill and Torrence well beyond the line to gain, meaning with Miller held up, Daniels and Taylor had ample room to operate within.

Result: Florida respected the threat of a run in this third and short situation, but not enough with the defensive backs once again far removed from a potential run play. Only Johnson, aligned at STAR, was within five yards of the line of scrimmage, and he was on the opposite side of the field. 

LSU freshman left tackle Will Campbell's key block on Miller made this play possible. It was a slightly grabby block, but not enough for a referee to call a hold. At the end of the day, credit goes to the Tigers for a good play design and to Campbell for his block resulting in this conversion, rather than any blame on Florida's defense. 

You have to wonder, though, if there were any communication errors pre-snap that led to the conversion due to the visible confusion of several defenders before lining up.

3rd and 8, UF17, 12:51

LSU was in a spread-out 11 personnel while Florida utilized a 4-2 front again. UF blitzed, sending five rushers and dropping Boone back into zone coverage post-snap. Four defensive backs stood in front of the line to gain, a change from previous third down looks, with Dean in single-high coverage.

The Tigers kept running back John Emery Jr. in pass protection, awarding LSU a six-on-five advantage against the blitz. Still, Miller was able to shoot the A-gap and was in Daniels' face as he released his pass.

Florida was in off-man coverage with cornerbacks in position to jam receivers a couple of yards into their routes and Johnson, at STAR, six yards deep over the right slot receiver. The slot ran a rub-route concept with outside receiver Jaray Jenkins, and Hill got caught in the traffic of the route combination working outside-in.

Jenkins hauled in the pass right after breaking into his dig route, with Hill trailing behind him, for a gain of 13. LSU scored a touchdown two plays later.

Result: It's tricky to determine who was at fault for this conversion. In a vacuum, it's easy to say Hill was beaten in man coverage, but the route combination was designed to take advantage of his alignment, with the slot receiver ultimately setting a no-contact pick that set Hill a step back.

The result begs the question: Does Florida ask its nickel and outside corner to swap responsibilities against rub routes in man coverage? If so, Johnson would have needed to play closer and crash the dig route with Hill remaining outside and taking away the slot's out-route. However, that is not information we are privy to.

LSU deserves credit for another strong concept on this play. Daniels stood in the pocket and delivered a well-time throw with a blitz coming his way, and the receivers ran their routes perfectly to put Hill in a tough spot.

Drive 3 (second quarter)

*3rd and 10, LSU25, 7:35

Florida's defense got off to a great start on this series and was in position to force a three-and-out. Freshman safety Kamari Wilson stopped a Daniels rush for no gain on first down, and cornerback Avery Helm broke up a second down pass against a curl route. 

Then LSU identified a great one-on-one matchup on third down to generate an explosive play.

It was a pretty simple play. In 11 personnel again, LSU flipped its receiver formation pre-snap to create a three-by-one split with the right field being the strong side. The Gators lined up in a 4-2 front again with two-high safeties and cornerbacks in off-man coverage.

Tight end Kole Taylor motioned from right to left slot, forcing Miller to shift from the tackle box into a one-on-one coverage situation. The ball was snapped quickly, preventing Miller from re-setting his pre-snap base, and he took one too many steps outside as a result. 

Taylor broke into a slant route after freshman linebacker Shemar James stepped up to spy Daniels, and Daniels threw the ball over his head. Taylor hauled in the pass with a couple of steps on Miller and a wide-open middle of the field in front of him, taking his reception for 26 yards and a first down.

Result: Daniels recognized the Gators were in man coverage and identified a favorable matchup quickly upon motioning Taylor across the formation. Miller has been one of Florida's best defenders this season, but a soft spot in his game has always been one-on-one coverage situations. Daniels knew it and took full advantage.

Drive 4 (second quarter)

*3rd and 8, LSU46, 2:33

This play was doomed from the start.

Members of every level of Florida's defense, from the defensive line through the secondary, were visibly confused by the play call (or potential lack thereof) the unit had received. 

Miller and Dean raised their arms, seemingly in question, toward the sideline up until Dean lowered his at the 16-second mark on the 40-second play clock. Defensive tackle Jalen Lee, Dexter, Miller and James were still figuring out where to align up to one second before the ball was snapped, even though LSU did not shift formations or motion players. 

After finally getting into a five-man front with Miller as a standing three-technique, Umanmielen jumped offside. A lack of pressure was created on the free play, allowing Daniels to survey his options from left to right before uncorking a deep ball from the left hash to the right sideline with Jenkins a step ahead of Hill in coverage.

The defensive backs and James were in man coverage with two-high safeties. Torrence had to clarify something with James just before the snap, perhaps altering his focus, as he proceeded to shadow the dig route James was covering instead of dropping deep to give Hill help over the top of the go route.

The pass was perfectly thrown, with Jenkins making the grab in front of Hill and breezing into the end zone for 54 yards and six points. 

Result: You can't blame any individual player for this touchdown, even considering Torrence's coverage lapse and Hill getting beat one-on-one. 

LSU's offensive line was set and Daniels was surveying the field pre-snap at the 18-second mark of the play clock, while UF's entire defense was still looking at the sidelines for a play call. Miller and the defensive line continued to shift, despite a lack of offensive motions, to get into position for the next six seconds. James got his eyes back to Daniels less than a second before Umanmielen jumped offside.

This one is on Toney and the Gators' defensive coaching staff. It was clear that the unit did not understand or was not given a play call until the Tigers were ready to go. It almost looked like Daniels gave UF additional time to line up so he'd better understand the coverages he was about to face.

Florida's defense figuring out where to line up against LSU's offense on 3rd and 8 in the second quarter / ESPN SkyCast

Drive 6 (third quarter)

3rd and 6, UF46, 5:13

LSU didn't get to third down on its opening drive of the second half. A 50-yard rush by Williams set the Tigers up nicely for Daniels to end the drive three plays later on a nine-yard rushing touchdown.

The next third down came more than halfway through the third quarter, at midfield not long after back-to-back 19-yard completions from Daniels to Malik Nabers and Boutte.

Against a spread-out 11 personnel look again, UF set up a five-man front with Miller acting as a standing 4i-technique. Burney was the lone off-ball linebacker, a couple of yards behind Miller's inside shoulder. Miller lunged forward on a fake hike from Daniels, showing blitz and causing Daniels to audible the play. 

Mason Taylor was sent in motion from right to left slot, which pulled Dean down from a two-high safety look to man Taylor up. The Gators were in Cover 1, with Wilson acting as the single-high safety. The corners were in off-man coverage three yards removed from the line of scrimmage. 

Florida did blitz, sending five rushers including Miller and Dexter on a stunt rush. Daniels looked at Taylor breaking into a post to pull Dean to the middle of the field before ripping a throw Kyren Lacy's way at the left boundary. 

Hill, in coverage, had his head turned back to Daniels preparing for Lacy to go deep. He did no such thing, quickly breaking into a curl route with the ball already approaching. Lacy made the grab for 13 yards and a first down.

Result: Did Miller's foreshadowing of a blitz prompt Daniels to check into a man-coverage-beating play? There's no way of knowing for certain, but that seemed to be the case. 

Daniels previously connected with several receivers when targeting Hill, and trusted Lacy enough to beat the Gators' cornerback in coverage that he unleashed this pass three yards before Lacy turned around at the top of his route.

Hill gave up the reception and yardage for LSU to convert, but he should probably split the blame with Miller considering the linebacker revealed UF's incoming blitz.

3rd and 3, UF16, 2:30

The Gators grew to respect the threat of a run play in third and short situations as the game lingered on. On this 3rd and 3, UF put seven defenders in the tackle box with STAR corner Miguel Mitchell lining up as a right outside linebacker. This was likely a result of LSU lining up in 12 personnel with an inline tight end to the left and a slotback to the right.

LSU still opted to run the ball, calling an option once again with Daniels taking it upon himself to get the necessary yardage.

Boone, the right defensive end, crashed the handoff option to Emery Jr., forcing Daniels to keep the ball and scoot left. Mason Taylor, the slotback, pulled across the line to serve as Daniels' lead blocker but was knocked off his path after Boone rocked Kole Taylor off the line. 

Boone made a strong impact on the play, but aside from Mitchell, no defender was in position to catch Daniels rushing to the left. The Tigers' interior offensive line maintained blocks well and Miller was caught up in that crossfire after attempting to shoot the B-gap.

Mason Taylor was able to regather his footing and get in between Daniels, who wanted to get past the block before cutting upfield, and Mitchell. 

But Taylor's delay made that impossible, forcing Daniels to stop and look upfield in between the hashes. From a two-high safety look, Wilson crashed down on Daniels but widened his angle to avoid Kole Taylor. This created a backside opening for Daniels, who cut right, followed Kole Taylor up the C-gap, and fought through traffic for a six-yard gain.

Result: All things considered, this was a sound play call schematically and the key defenders did their jobs. 

Boone forcibly took away the handoff option and altered the blocking scheme for the quarterback keeper, and Mitchell, a true freshman, forced Daniels back into a clogged area before crossing the line of scrimmage. And while he didn't make the critical tackle for loss that he could have, Wilson, another true freshman, helped Mitchell in redirecting Daniels' run back inside. 

If an inside defender were able to stop Daniels before the first-down marker, the trio of freshmen would have earned plenty of recognition in defensive meetings for their impact on the play.

Still, Daniels avoided several tackles and managed to clinch the first down anyway, so we don't want to get too carried away in praise for Florida's young defenders. 

There's a chance a slightly adjusted angle from Wilson would have resulted in a tackle for loss. Remember that the defensive line, aside from Boone, was blocked well at the beginning of the play, and that didn't change while Daniels paced around the backfield. Only Burney was able to get off of a second-level block, but his angle toward a cutting Daniels was a bit off as well.

Daniels ended up crashing into Dexter with forward-falling momentum and converted the third down. He made something out of nothing, because aside from a couple of good-not-great tackling angles, Florida's defense played this run well.

Drive 7 (fourth quarter)

3rd and 3, LSU45, 13:18

Finally, a positive third down play by Florida's defense. It wasn't the result of an impact play or anything special schematically, but hey, it was refreshing to revisit a forced punt amid this film breakdown.

UF lined up in a 4-2 front against a spread-out 11 personnel, with the linebackers and all but one defensive back five yards down the field, two yards past the first done marker. Dean was the lone deep defensive back at single-high safety.

Daniels motioned Emery out of the backfield and to the right, prompting Marshall to step up at left outside cornerback, Torrence to drop back at strong safety on the left and Dean to step up closer to the line to gain on the right. 

Daniels liked Boutte's matchup with Dean out of the slot, as Jadarrius Perkins, the STAR, had crept up to blitz. Dean was still about ten yards away from the line of scrimmage at the time of the snap. 

But Daniels delivered a missile, slightly underthrown from where Boutte expected the ball to be in order to prevent Dean from making a play on the pass. Boutte bobbled the ball as Dean flew in to make a tackle, and the pass ultimately fell incomplete.

Result: One might think Florida was lucky that Boutte dropped the pass, but that only happened because of Dean's influence on the throw, and his presence at the catch-point was a result of UF's defense correctly adjusting to LSU's personnel shift in a timely fashion. 

All in all, this was a good third-down stop by the Gators. Better late than never, right?

Drive 8 (fourth quarter)

3rd and 8, UF34, 4:08

Florida utilized a six-man front again on this third and long, with defenders manning the same techniques as the 3rd and 6 at the 11:02 mark in the first quarter. Four coverage defenders hovered just above or below the line to gain, and Dean was in deep coverage to the weak side of the field. 

Daniels motioned Mason Taylor in-line to serve as an additional blocker, even with Emery Jr. in a pass-protecting role out of the backfield. Florida ended up only sending three rushers and dropping — from the defensive right to left — Cox, Miller and Umanmielen into coverage. 

Umanmielen quickly tried to chase an underneath crosser by Boutte, opening a massive window for Brian Thomas Jr. to break into a four-yard dig route. Marshall kept near the first-down marker, giving Thomas plenty of cushion to break into the route in addition to the space vacated by Umanmielen.

Unbothered by a three-man rush, Daniels placed a pass high and inside to avoid Marshall closing from the outside, which Thomas leaped to grab before falling forward for a seven-yard gain. This set up another 4th and 1 that LSU would go on to convert.

Result: The coverage scheme on this play isn't something we can absolutely determine. If it was a zone concept, then Umanmielen may be at fault for chasing Boutte out of his zone with the back of his head to the quarterback, creating a wide-open space for Thomas to make a crucial catch. 

Understanding that the majority of the secondary was in prevent at the line to gain, it would be tough to blame Marshall for giving up the catch even though it was in his zone. He still made the tackle behind the sticks, and Umanmielen's presence in zone could have prevented Thomas from being targeted.

If this were man coverage, then perhaps Marshall shouldn't have provided Thomas with such an elongated cushion. That isn't something we can state as a fact, though.

However, it must be asked: Why was Umanmielen, a defensive end, dropping into coverage on a conversion down? He only had six coverage snaps (out of 207 in total this season, per Pro Football Focus) entering the game and primarily serves as a run defender or pass rusher in this scheme. 

Whether Umanmielen was in zone or man, why would a defensive end replace a typical coverage defender on such a critical play? An incompletion or short gain would have extended the fourth down attempt or forced LSU to attempt a long field goal. The Tigers' lead was only seven at this point, and a missed 51-yard field goal if Daniels threw an incompletion on third down could have changed the outcome of the game.

Toney and the defensive coaching staff take the blame for this play considering its coverage design, which allowed LSU to extend its drive and, eventually, the lead to ten. 

3rd and 12, UF27, 2:04

The Gators' defense ended its night with its second legitimate third-down stop, thanks in large part to back-to-back false starts by LSU on what began as a 3rd and 2. 

UF faced spread-out 11 personnel from a 4-2 front again, with Marshall (left outside corner) and Johnson (STAR) in off-man coverage a few yards removed from the line of scrimmage. Helm appeared to create a deep Cover 3 look with Torrence and Dean as two-high safeties pre-snap.

Mason Taylor ran a fake motion from the inside slot into the backfield and then back to his original position, causing Dean to creep forward on the left side of the field then back to his starting spot. Umanmielen dropped in coverage to cover Taylor out of the slot, potentially in man coverage like Johnson and Mitchell were underneath.

Daniels tucked the ball and ran after a one-step drop, likely a designed QB draw, against a four-man UF rush with Miller replacing Umanmielen in the rush plan. Dexter drove the center back with a bull rush, tripping Daniels up before splitting a tackle for loss of two with Miller.

Result: Again, we aren't sure why Umanmielen was dropping into coverage here, but that did not end up factoring into the result of the play. LSU may have called the draw to re-adjust its field position for a field goal, and Dexter made a big play to ensure the field goal was from a decent distance.

Still, Damian Ramos would trot out and nail the field goal from 47 yards away, re-establishing a double-digit lead that the Tigers would not squander.

Final thoughts 

LSU finished having converted 8-12 third downs, going six-of-nine on third-and-long (six or more yards). The Tigers were also 100 percent on two fourth down attempts, both being 4th and 1s set up by Florida giving up a chunk of yardage on third-and-long. 

Daniels completed seven-of-eight passes for 157 yards and his touchdown to Jenkins on third downs. 

As Napier indicated, there was a mix of player, scheme and communication errors that allowed Daniels to tear Florida's third-down defense to shreds, and a lack of great respect for the run on these downs didn't come until the third quarter.

Napier is correct, these struggles aren't the result of one thing or the other. They are, however, single-handedly losing Florida football games. The Gators' offense did more than enough to win the game on Saturday, and their defense was solid enough on first and second down to complement the offense's efforts.

The unit needs a drastic overhaul in its approach to defending third downs. Napier would be wise to demand drastic changes from Toney and the unit during Florida's bye week before the Gators face the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs on Oct. 29.

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