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On Tuesday, offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, defensive coordinator Brad White, senior STAR Kanye Clark, junior kicker Patrick Durkin, and sophomore running back Duke Clark spoke about the win over FAU, the improvements they can make, and looked ahead to Saturday against Campbell.
Faulkner on his unit’s performance
Faulkner said his unit did some good and bad things, but he said he was impressed with how the players competed. He also said he was disappointed to see senior wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. go down with an ankle injury.
“There was probably not anybody as sick as I was in the stadium when he went down, just saw the way it happened, just all the hard work the kid put in,” Faulkner said. “He’s had a great camp, unbelievable spring.”
He said he wants the offense to remain ahead of the chains and be more efficient on first downs. Faulkner said junior quarterback Aaron Philo played well in his first start, and the confidence and poise he played with wasn’t a shock. He said there are still areas for Philo to improve heading into week two.
“We want to continue to tame some of the throws, but for the most part, he did he did good,” Faulkner said. There’s a few plays that he’d like to have back, we’d like to have back, and he’d tell you the same thing.”
He said he was impressed with junior running back Jadan Baugh, as his performance was “As good as advertised.” To stay level-headed about the result, Faulkner said they have to take it one week at a time.
White on how his unit can improve
Defensive Coordinator Brad White immediately said the defense didn’t play how he would’ve liked to see them perform on Saturday against FAU. He wants to see improvement from the defense, for them to reach the standard they are setting.
“In every game, there’s going to be good and there’s bad,” White said. “In the moment, immediately after the game, the whole deal, you’ve got that that pit in your stomach because you know we could have played way better; that was not the standard and the bar that we want to set for to how to play defense around here.”
He said effort wasn’t the issue for them, but awareness and dealing with FAU’s tempo were the biggest issues from the opening game. White said the defensive backs playing off on third down wasn’t by design, and the issue comes from awareness on the field.
“We need to take a significant step forward in terms of our mentality and how we play and then awareness on the football field,” White said.
White did say the defense showed some positives, as he said the takeaways and performance on first and second downs were things they can build off. The pass rush, however, is something White said the defense can improve on.
“It never felt real clean,” White said. “It didn’t feel like we were getting a ton of clean wins.”
He said senior defensive tackle Brendan Bett used “strain to finish” on the fourth and goal stop in the fourth quarter, and the play was a defining moment for the character of the team.
In practice, the urgency has been raised defensively to make the players aware of every situation they’re in.
“I’ll stop a drill and say OK what was the down, the distance, what was the personnel, I’ll ask and if they don’t know everything about it, the whole defense is doing three up-downs,” White said.
Kanye Clark on his performance
STAR Kanye Clark thought he performed well, but like most of the defense, he thought there were areas he can improve on.
“I think I played good,” Clark said. I think there’s a lot of areas where I can improve on it and continue to learn and grow from, but it was still a good performance overall.”
He said getting more snaps was valuable for his growth and development.
“It’s an opportunity for me to continue to grow and learn from my reps that I got and to continue to make plays on the field,” Clark said.
He said FAU’s tempo was challenging to deal with, and communicating effectively is challenging in a packed stadium, but he knows that’s how they can make improvements in dealing with Campbell, who still plays fast.
Patrick Durkin on kicking in The Swamp
Kicker Patrick Durkin said kicking a 53-yard field goal in his UF debut was electric, and clutch kicks are what he wants.
“We’re always gonna want to go for those big kicks,” Durkin said. “We always want the big moments, the clutch kicks and for it to be a 53-yarder, first one in The Swamp, it was electric.”
He said he has met former Florida kicker Trey Smack, and he has worked out with him and absorbed knowledge from him. Kicking in The Swamp is something Durkin embraces, and he is able to focus despite the noise.
“I love the big environments,” Durkin said. “The more people, it’s weird for me when I get into those environments, my mind kind of just shuts off and I’m able to zone in.”
Durkin said he lifts with the team, mentioning Baugh and sophomore JACK Jayden Woods, and he competed against them in the gauntlet. He added he won the matchup against Baugh. Duke Clark also said he had a hard time going against Durkin in the gauntlet, saying he’s quick and jittery.
Duke Clark on his touchdowns and the offense
Running back Duke Clark said his receiving touchdown was a product of him staying with the play until the whistle blows, and he said it was a huge moment since he wasn’t able to score last season.
“I’ll just staying the course with a play and never let the play end until the whistle blows,” Clark said. Just keep going, and then he threw me the ball, and the rest is just history, just trying to score.”
Clark said Faulkner’s offense was explosive, and they’ve learned 10,000 plays throughout the offseason. Since the ball is spread out in the offense, he said his versatility, as he played wide receiver in high school, helps him.
“We’ve been doing for months now so it’s been getting easier,” Clark said. “We did 10,000 plays all together, so I’ll say his repetition is all that is.”
He said Faulkner being demanding of execution has helped the offense grow as a unit. Even though he said the running back room is competitive, he said Baugh has been a mentor for him in the film room.
“I pick a lot of things up from him,” Clark said. “We go back and watch film, and be like, ‘You could have made that cut, I know you got it.’”
Clark will get a chance to build off his performance on Saturday, when Florida (1-0) takes on Campbell (2-0) at 5:30 pm.
Videos courtesy GatorVision on YouTube
