Missouri, South Carolina shed light on how they stopped Florida run

ATHENS — Kirby Smart and the Georgia defense have the blueprint for stopping Florida’s run game, but the trick will be in the execution of it.

The No. 3-ranked Bulldogs play the No. 17 Gators at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in a matchup featuring SEC championship and College Football Playoff implications.

Smart has essentially come right out and said Georgia will have its ears pinned back in an attempt to stop Florida tailback Jadan Baugh, who spearheads the Gators’ ground attack with 109 yards rushing per game at a 5.7 yards-per-carry clip.

Missouri and South Carolina handed Florida its only two losses of the season, largely on the strength of their ability to stop the run game.

Baugh had just 13 yards on 12 carries against the Tigers and 59 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries in the loss to the Gamecocks.

“We were able to set edges and track down the back side on the outside zone (run),” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said on the SEC coaches teleconference on Wednesday, when asked how his Tigers held Florida to just 42 rushing yards.

“I think we were violent on their counter (run) scheme.”

Drinkwitz said that stopping the run was a big part of the equation because of the unfavorable down-and-distance situations it created for Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, whose play-calling wizardry is most effective when the Gators are operating on schedule in down-and-distance situations.

“The most important thing with Florida is not allowing them to be in an advantageous down and distance,” said Drinkwitz, whose Tigers rolled to a 45-17 win over the Gators.

“You have to win first down — if you don’t win first down, I think their coordinator (Faulkner) has play designs, and his ability to have plays off of plays really becomes challenging, because you don’t know what’s coming next; run, pass, screen (or) trick play.”

Beamer, whose Gamecocks held the Gators to 120 yards rushing on 38 attempts (3.2 per carry), indicated his staff learned much from the Missouri game film.

“We saw Missouri on tape playing Florida the week before we played them, and watching that tape, Missouri played really, really hard and were in the right gaps and set really good edges and kept the ball from getting outside.

“And then they tackled well, and that’s what we had to do,” Beamer said. “We needed to be able to load the box and adjust to their formations, and really, just play with great technique and fundamentals.”

Beamer said that even with the right scheme, Baugh and the Gators will be hard to stop.

“That’s a big challenge. It’s easier said than done,” Beamer said. “Jadan Baugh is one heck of a running back, they’re good on the offensive line and they’ve got a dynamic group of receivers.

“It’s a challenge, plus the problems the formations and motions and everything else they present makes it hard to deal with.”

Former Georgia assistant and current Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp found that out the hard way when the Gators rallied for a 27-24 win over the Longhorns with 158 yards rushing on 46 attempts (3.4 yards per carry).