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Can USC's defense slow Florida's surge?

Led by bruising QB Tim Tebow and a set of speedy skill players including Percy Harvin, Florida has flooded opponents with points

Florida receiver Percy Harvin

Florida receiver Percy Harvin

/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Written by JOSEPH PERSON

jperson@thestate.com
Posted on 11.12.08
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How will USC vs. Florida play out?

Fastest team in America?

That is Florida coach Urban Meyer’s goal, and he has 12 players who have turned in a 40-time of 4.4 or less. Of the Gators’ 51 touchdowns, 31 have been scored by players among those 12. Five are on defense: Markihe Anderson, Joe Haden, Dorian Munroe, Justin Williams and Wondy Pierre-Louis. The seven speedsters on offense are:

Jeff Demps, running back | His average of 9.6 yards per carry leads the nation.

Percy Harvin, wide receiver | Had 13 catches for 186 yards against Mississippi.

Brandon James, wide receiver | Has returned two punts for touchdowns.

Kestahn Moore, running back | Averages 4 yards a carry.

Louis Murphy, wide receiver | Has caught a pass in 22 consecutive games.

Chris Rainey, running back | Second on team in yards per carry with 6.0 average.

Deonte Thompson, wide receiver | Averages 12.2 yards a catch.

Preparing to face the defending Heisman Trophy winner is tough enough.

But line up a number of speed freaks alongside Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in the Gators’ spread offense, and South Carolina defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson faces the prospect of a long week.

“We’ve had other teams with these same philosophies, but they don’t have the talent surrounding them that Tebow does,” Johnson said Tuesday. “He’s very strong; he can run the football; and he’s got a little durability to him. At the same time, he can throw the ball and he’s got so many good wideouts and skill people. It just makes it really difficult.”

Saturday’s game in Gainesville matches the SEC’s most prolific scoring offense against the conference’s top-ranked defense.

Something has to give.

Vegas believes it will be the Gamecocks’ defense: Odds-makers installed the Gators as 22-point favorites when the betting lines opened.

Florida beat USC by nearly that margin, 51-31, in Columbia last year. Tebow likely won over any undecided Heisman voters by rushing for a school-record five touchdowns and throwing for a career-high 304 yards and two scores against the Gamecocks’ injury-depleted defense.

USC has stayed healthy this year — and stayed atop the SEC’s defensive statistics. But the Gamecocks have yet to face a team as fast and versatile as the high-flying Gators, who have averaged 51.3 points a game during the last month.

“They’re so talented at every position,” Johnson said. “That’s the thing that makes ’em so good. There’s not a weak link anywhere on the field.”

There aren’t many slow players in the Gators’ offensive huddle, either.

Of the 12 Florida players timed at 4.4 seconds or faster in the 40-yard dash, seven are on offense, including receivers Percy Harvin and Brandon James and running backs Jeffrey Demps and Kestahn Moore.

The Gators’ speed patrol has scored 31 of the team’s 51 touchdowns.

USC coach Steve Spurrier said Florida might have the fastest team in the country. Johnson did not disagree.

“They’ve got a couple of kids that are exceptionally fast, but none of them are average,” Johnson said. “All of them can run.”

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Tebow can do a little bit of everything. Last year Tebow became the first player in NCAA history to both run and pass for at least 20 touchdowns.

Though Tebow was content to spread the ball around this season, he has looked to run more often in recent weeks. He has two or more rushing touchdowns in each of the past three games.

The Internet is filled with video clips of SEC defenders who failed to take Tebow to the ground.

“What makes him so good is he can shake a one-arm tackle, and those guys run in there and hit him and they almost bounce backwards,” Spurrier said. “So he’s hard to sack and a lot of his runs come from just a drop-back pass or a pass play and there’s nobody open. He’ll just take off and run for 8 or 10 yards. That’s what makes it tough on defenses.”

Last year, Gamecocks middle linebacker Jasper Brinkley was on the sideline following knee surgery when Tebow ran over, around and through the USC defense. But Brinkley hit Tebow in the 2006 game in Gainesville and does not subscribe to the theory that tackling Tebow is like tackling a tight end.

“Until I can see different, by contact with him and what not, he’s still a quarterback to me,” Brinkley said.

Johnson, who never faced Tebow when he was Mississippi State’s coordinator, said the key to slowing down the Gators will be limiting their big plays and quick scores, forcing a couple of turnovers and hoping the USC offense can run some clock and keep Tebow on the sideline.

When told Tuesday about Florida’s group of 12 sub-4.4 speedsters, Brinkley came back with a less quantifiable but equally important fact about the Gamecocks’ defense.

“Hey, we got 11 guys on the defensive side of the ball that love to get to the ball and make contact,” Brinkley said. “I think that can kind of even out.”

Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.

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