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On Tuesday, offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, defensive coordinator Brad White, senior tight end Lacota Dippre, and junior linebacker Aaron Chiles Jr. spoke about the ranked matchup against the No. 4 Ole Miss Rebels.
Faulkner on how his unit looks to have continued success
Faulkner said they want to keep junior quarterback Aaron Philo under a certain number of pass attempts, but he said Philo has been able to stay right around that number during the first three games.
He said the double pass trick play was something they had practiced, and the players executed it well during the game. He said the play was called “Uncle Jack” for seventh-year wide receiver Kahleil Jackson, and Faulkner told coach Jon Sumrall right before the play they were going to run it.
“Kahleil did a great job. Early that morning we practiced it that morning and he threw it about 25 yards past the guy up to the curtain at walkthrough; actually had to do it again,” Faulkner said. “But the players executed, did a great job. Amir (Jackson) did a great job running and going and getting underneath it.”
He said Philo was well-prepared for his first road start, and the equipment staff helped him prepare for the crowd noise. He said the environment, however, didn’t faze Philo.
“I thought he handled it the way we thought he would,” Faulkner said. “Went into the environment, really didn’t faze him, but again that’s kind of him anyway.”
Faulkner said sophomore wide receiver Vernell Brown III’s work ethic is what makes him stand out. He said if senior wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. is able to play, he will add his elite speed back to the offense.
He said they have challenged junior running back Jadan Baugh to be more explosive, and he has responded to the challenge.
“Like, ‘Hey, the word on you is there’s been no long touchdown runs,’” Faulkner said. And so, ‘Hey, let’s go score.’ Well, how do you do that? You practice scoring at practice, and that’s where it starts. He’s done a much better job, not where he needs to be, but he is practicing a lot harder.”
White on how to prepare for Ole Miss
Defensive coordinator Brad White said the pass rush improved against Auburn, and they will need to continue to improve on it to be successful.
He recognized the abilities of Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, saying he has unbelievable arm strength and a great ability to escape the pocket. He also said Chambliss is able to put good touch on his passes.
“He’s got great anticipation,” White said. “If he has to go deep, he’s got good touch on it, but anything intermediate, anything crossing, he can throw a 25-yard dart and just put it right on the facemask.”
He said they want to keep Chambliss in the pocket, but with their receivers, he said you still have to watch out for them creating separation. The secondary will have to be tight in coverage on the receivers, which White said needs to improve.
“Obviously we need to continue to improve; we need to get better,” White said. “It’s just the bottom line; we need to get better back there. We had a chance on Saturday to play better than we did, to close the game out.”
He said Ole Miss junior running back Kewan Lacy, who is a game-time decision for Saturday, is a game changer. He anticipates Lacy will play, and he said the defense will have to gang tackle him.
White said fifth-year defensive lineman Emmanuel Oyebadejo was able to record his 2.5 sack performance with almost no practice reps during the week.
He said they knew sophomore JACK Jayden Woods was going to have a breakout performance, as he also recorded 2.5 sacks against Auburn. He said Woods was able to condense the pocket, and he is always ready to play.
“He’s always dialed, that’s one of the great things about it,” White said. “You don’t ever have to worry if he’s going to be ready for game day. If you want him to play seven games in seven days, he’ll play seven games in seven days.”
Dippre on the offense and being at Florida
Senior tight end Lacota Dippre was immediately drawn to tight ends coach Evan McKissack and Jon Sumrall.
“They were teaching me like how he was going to use me, the technique I was going to learn,” Dippre said. “When I met Sumrall, I just saw the passion he had and everything, like the drive he has, I knew that’s someone I’d want to play for.”
He said Baugh is “different” as a running back, and he told him it’s a pleasure to block for him when he’s running the ball.
Dippre said he has “mad respect” for Philo because he puts his body on the line every play, and he praised Philo’s ability as a leader despite not playing much at Georgia Tech behind Haynes King.
On Baugh’s 53-yard touchdown rush in the fourth quarter against Auburn, Baugh was following him on the play. Dippre said he knew they had gotten the first down, but he hadn’t realized Baugh was going to score.
“Buster put a comment that said, ‘follow Dipp,’” Dippre said. So, when we call the play, I was like, all right, I got to make something shake. It just all worked out, like stuck my stuck my head into it and then I didn’t know we were going to score. Like, I definitely knew we were getting the 1st down, then I saw him running.”
Chiles Jr. on facing the Ole Miss offense
Junior linebacker Aaron Chiles Jr. said facing Chambliss and the Ole Miss offense will be a challenge, but that’s why you play in the SEC.
He said they struggled to finish last season’s matchup against Ole Miss, and they need to continue to improve on their ability to finish games. He said this is a mental struggle because they are physically capable of finishing the games.
“I think last year the main thing was just finishing games, and that turns into this year,” Chiles Jr. said. “Last week, I feel like we struggled a little bit with finishing. We went up three scores, and as a defense, we got to do a better job.”
Chiles Jr. said Chambliss is a great player, and he has the ability to make and extend plays with his speed.
He said having White and Sumrall as his coaches, both being former linebackers, is a dream come true. They also preach the importance of creating takeaways, which Chiles understands is important to the success of the defense.
“We preach every day the importance of turnovers, takeaways, and how it can win or lose you a ballgame,” Chiles Jr. said. “As a defense, we want to take the ball away as much as possible, score on defense, create positions for our offense and that’s a big factor to win games.”
Florida’s defense will look to generate turnovers against Chambliss and the Ole Miss offense on Saturday at 3:30 pm at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
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