Monday morning, Urban Meyer was still beaming about the play that changed the course of the game and perhaps preserved Florida’s undefeated season (Gators are 10-0) and 20-game winning streak. Asked at his Monday press conference to describe the play, Florida’s head coach explained, “First of all if it was the pressure. It was very good coverage by Markihe Anderson. He’s the one who deflected the ball. Brandon Spikes got in the vision of the quarterback. A guy tried to cut him and he came back and got back on his feet and he led the convoy. Major Wright hit the receiver so if the ball had been caught it would have been a tough catch. You saw white shirts all over the place [leading the convoy].”
The play didn’t happen by accident. Knowing what to do after an interception is something they practice every single day during the spring and August drills. Once the season begins, it’s part of the Tuesday routine. You see one redundant drill after another all with the same goal --- get the entire defensive unit to get on its feet and relentlessly run to the football. The pursuit drills might be monotonous, but they ingrain in the mind of every Florida defender that you never give up on a play and if the ball changes hands, you transform from defender to blocker instantly.
“We do pursuit every Tuesday on the practice field and you saw that,” Meyer said. “It’s a little bit like you see our kickoff right now. It’s what you teach. It’s what you practice and our guys have bought into it.”
