Florida football defense generates takeaways, gives up big plays in spring game – The Palm Beach Post

The Florida football defense had an up-and-down performance during the Orange and Blue game at The Swamp on Saturday, April 11.
The Florida Gators recorded three turnovers, all on interceptions from safety DJ Coleman, safety Cam Dooley and cornerback Onis Konanbanny.
But UF’s secondary also surrendered a handful of big plays, including a 75-yard TD pass from quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. to receiver Micah Mays Jr. and a 38-yard TD pass from Jones to receiver Eric Singleton Jr.
“You never want the ball to go over your head,” Florida defensive coordinator Brad White said. “This game is about explosive plays, especially the last two minutes there of the second quarter, hey listen, you’ve got to get the ball down.”
On the three picks, Coleman made an excellent read on a throw from quarterback Aaron Philo and jumped the route. Dooley made a good adjustment on a tipped ball and Konanbanny was solid in man coverage and played the ball at the right time to pick off freshman quarterback Will Griffin.
“That shows where our ceiling will be,” Coleman said. “We still have some bonehead plays we got to clean up, but when we’re playing with the right technique and how our coaches teach us, the ball’s right there for us.”
Florida got the push inside it was looking for from its defensive front. Sophomore Joseph Mbatchou had a big day on the interior of the defensive line with seven tackles in a sack, while freshman edge rusher KJ Ford had a big sack on the edge on a third-down play in the red zone in the second quarter.
Overall, Florida finished the game with five sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
“Early, you felt the line of scrimmage, you felt the physicality,” Florida football coach Jon Sumrall said. “We’ve got good length and size up there.
I think the D-line is a spot where I was maybe uncertain coming into spring. I feel more confident in it leaving the spring. I’m excited about that group.”
Sophomore linebacker Myles Johnson wound up with 11 tackles and one tackle for loss, while UCLA transfer Kanye Clark had 11 tackles and a tackle for loss from the star position.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do in summer and fall camp,” White said. “I’m glad the first game is not tomorrow. I’m glad we’ve got to wait but times to evaluate spring, sit down with the players, talk about what they did well, what they need to do better going into summer. What they need to work on individually and what we need to work on as a unit. We’ll just keep one foot in front of the other.”
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.

source