After Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray threw for over 400 yards last week against Cincinnati, all eyes are on Florida's young secondary heading into this weekend's Southeastern Conference opener in The Swamp.
Sophomores Justin Hunter, 6-foot-4, and Da'Rick Rogers, 6-foot-3, UT's top two receivers, each caught 10 passes against the Bearcats and have combined for over 500 receiving yards in the first two games of the season.
UF cornerback Marcus Roberson, 6-foot, and Cody Riggs, 5-foot-9, will be charged with matching up with the two big wideouts, but whether the Gators are able to slow down the Vols' passing attack doesn't completely fall on their shoulders.
Florida defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said it will be important to combine an effective pass rush that forces Bray to reset his feet before making a throw with deceiving coverages.
"When we have a really good rush, let's make sure our disguise is really good too," Quinn said. "Where it's not only mentally hard on the quarterback, but he's feeling the pressure in his face too."
Safety Josh Evans said it will be a team effort to contain UT's passing game, and the secondary plans to do their part by being physical with Hunter and Rogers.
"That's when you go to attack them early in the game and let them know that we're confident that our DBs can play them man-to-man," Evans said.
Quinn said each cornerback has a different style of dealing bigger receivers and there's no uniform plan of whether to jam them or play off them at the line of scrimmage.
For all his lack of size, Riggs has earned a reputation as being the most physical cornerback on the team. And senior wide receiver Deonte Thompson compared Roberson to former UF cornerback Janoris Jenkins.
"He's good at the line of scrimmage," Thompson said. "He's a good jammer just like Janoris was."
by Kyle Maistri
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