Florida Football: Report card for thrilling Week 0 win over Miami

The linebackers did both good and bad things for the Gators defense. The good things had to do with the pass rush. Whenever Florida blitzed, it seemed to work. The linebackers helped make plays in the backfield all game. However, there were still some concerns. In coverage, Miami got too much early. They got lost on some routes, and Miami’s scheme worked perfectly.

Florida just failed to tackle a lot all game, and that falls on just about every level of the defense. No matter how good the sacks were, you don’t like to see linebackers miss tackles on the outside and let big plays happen.

The brightest player in the linebacker room this game was Ventrell Miller. He tied for the lead in total tackles, and he led the team in sacks.

If Florida wants to improve upon this win, Miller will likely be the trend setter for the rest of the defense. If the linebackers continue to contribute this much on blitzes, there is a lot of hope for the group in general. However, they need to improve on both finishing plays and keeping with their assignments in coverage.

This is probably the toughest group to grade because their performances varied so much on the spectrum. I like what they did, but there’s another level of success for the Gators linebackers.