On a hot and bright afternoon in the The Swamp, cornerback Loucheiz Purifoy saw an opportunity he had been waiting for all week.
Florida and South Carolina were in pre-game warm-ups, and he finally got within range of Gamecocks receiver and punt returner Ace Sanders.
“Better hold it high and tight,” Purifoy shouted. “We gonna get it. You gonna be a violator today.”
A violator? Sanders had no idea what that meant. He smirked at Purifoy and yelled something back as he returned to jogging around the field.
He was unaware his name was on an unwritten list circulated in Florida’s meetings and practices during the preceding days. Early in the week, the coaching staff told the players about a handful of Gamecocks who showed poor ball security on video.
Some carried the ball casually near their gut. Some held it carelessly away from their body. All of them are “violators.”
They are outlaws in a land where UF defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is the sheriff and Purifoy is one of his many deputies. The Gators have executed justice in the form of eight forced fumbles this season, and defensive tackle Omar Hunter said they know of three or four violators as No. 3 Florida goes into Saturday’s game against No. 12 Georgia at EverBank Field in Jacksonville (3:30 p.m., CBS).
It might be tough to find them given that the Bulldogs have committed only 10 turnovers, making them one of the 32 safest teams in America.
“We ain’t identified all of them,” Purifoy said guardedly.
Then he smiled and added, “Their running backs.”
Last week, Sanders did not know why he would be called a violator, but, “he knows now,” Purifoy said. In the second quarter, Trey Burton popped the ball out of his hands on a punt return to give Florida’s offense a short field.
By the time Burton made that play, Purifoy had already issued citations to two other lawbreakers: Bruce Ellington on a kick return and quarterback Connor Shaw on his first snap. Shaw never saw Purifoy blitzing from his right, and Purifoy literally punched the ball from his hand. Lerentee McCray recovered it at the 2-yard line, and the Gators scored three plays later.
A few days ago Florida coach Will Muschamp carefully avoided insulting Shaw’s ball security when explaining the play call. Purifoy cut through the coach-speak: “He was their No. 1 violator.”
Shaw’s fumble was among several South Carolina disasters in the Gators’ 44-11 victory. That win put Florida (7-0, 6-0 SEC) in position to clinch the SEC Eastern Division on Saturday, but Georgia (6-1, 4-1) can steal control of the race with an upset.
That the Gators have this chance is stunning. A year ago they were 7-6 overall and finished four games out of first place in the East, the farthest back they have been since the SEC established divisions in 1992.
Of all the plausible explanations for the transformation, turnover margin has to be near the top of the list, if not first. Florida was one of the eight worst in the country last year with a minus-12 differential. This season, the Gators are plus-11, tied for No. 8 nationally.
The current top 10 in that category has a 71-5 record, including seven unbeaten teams.
Florida already has more takeaways (15) than it had all of last season (14). The offense, full of its own violators in 2011, had 26 giveaways in 2011, but has limited the leakage to just four this year.
“We’ve spent a lot of time working on it,” said Muschamp, who acknowledged there also is an element of luck in turnovers. “What you emphasize is what’s important. And you can’t just talk about it. You have to drill it.”
One way of pounding it into his players’ brains is using a word like “violator.” Quinn introduced the term late last year and stressed it throughout the recent off-season. It is a simple device, and it instantly triggers images of what players saw in footage during the week and sparks their aggressiveness.
“It was one of those things that started as a buzzword and kind of took off,” Quinn said. “I think sometimes those buzzwords are just like cues. Those things are just a little reminder. I think that’s why they stick.”
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