Brendan Bett has no interest in allowing another loss to Georgia to spoil Florida’s season.
The veteran defensive lineman acknowledged the frustration of falling short against the Gators’ biggest rival, but he believes a first-year coaching staff and a developing defense must keep trusting the process. With four regular-season games remaining, Bett sees a considerable difference between limping to the finish and making a meaningful postseason push.
Bett also discussed Florida’s defensive improvement, Vernell Brown III’s recovery, freshman Stive-Bentley Keumajou-Yondui’s emergence and Urban Meyer’s upcoming Ring of Honor induction against Oklahoma.
Here’s everything Bett had to say.
How does Florida avoid spiraling after another emotional loss to Georgia?
Understanding that they’re a pretty good team. It does suck. Every
year, that’s the main game we’re trying to get, and coming up short again doesn’t feel too great.
But, at the same time, you have to understand that this is the first year with a new coaching staff. Pretty much everybody is getting a grasp of everything.
It’s about trusting the process and knowing our time is going to come when we will be victorious against those guys.
What technique goes into batting down a pass at the line of scrimmage?
We had just worked on matching the hand the day before, on Friday, so seeing it applied in the game was really cool.
We worked on pressing the blocker. Then, once the quarterback gets into his throwing motion, you match his hand to get that pass.
How does Florida push forward with a winning record and plenty left to play for?
In my mind, there’s a huge difference between going 5-7 and going 9-3. The goal is that we have a lot more ball to play. Finish out strong. Finish strong.
You never know what college football brings you. Especially this year, people have been losing all over. You never know where we can end up as long as we keep our heads up and finish strong.
What has changed for Florida’s defense recently?
I feel like we’ve been trusting each other a lot better than we have in the past. In the past, it felt like everybody was playing out of sync in a way.
But these past few games, I think we’ve locked arms and really trusted each other to compete, execute and do our jobs at an elite level.
What do you like about Florida’s defensive scheme?
It’s aggressive. We’re starting to get more aggressive in the things we do.
There have been a lot of times when you can isolate people, put people in bad spots and allow our playmakers to make the plays they need to make.
What can Florida take from containing Arch Manning and Gunner Stockton in its matchup with John Mateer?
With Arch, we knew he could move if he needed to. We were mainly worried about him using his arm because he has a pretty good arm on him.
Being able to contain him and limit them to doing one thing makes the job a lot easier.
Did you face Oklahoma while you were at Baylor?
No, I’ve never played against them. They were in the Big 12, but I didn’t get to play against them when I was at Baylor.
What have you seen from Vernell Brown III as he works to return?
Injuries always suck. Nobody ever wants to go through that. Seeing him constantly working to get back right and then fall short, I feel for him because he’s doing everything he can.
All we can do as his teammates is keep motivating him and keep having his back. Even when we were down at halftime against Georgia, he came in and talked to the team. Him always having that leadership role. Even though he isn’t on the field, he’s still showing great support and doing what he can.
We’re trying to make sure we have his back and let him know, “We’ve got you. Don’t rush back, but we do miss you.”
How difficult is it for an injured player to block out speculation and criticism?
It definitely can be tough. People try to say, “We don’t listen to it,” but it’s kind of hard to escape. It’s there.
You have to make sure you have a strong support system. I think that’s what helps — knowing you aren’t alone and that we’ve got your back.
We try to tune out anything that isn’t within us. It can be hard at times, but when you have a great support system around you, it makes things a lot easier.
What has Stive-Bentley Keumajou-Yondui done to earn playing time?
He’s been doing great. He was on the scout team at first, and then he moved over. He has been trusting his process, working with Coach Chatman extra and trying to get his technique down.
He started in the nickel package against Texas. When we went nickel, he was the guy who came out there because the kid is twitchy. He can pass rush, and he has been showing those little explosive spurts.
In my opinion, I feel like he’s a bigger version of Jeramiah McCloud in a way. He has been showing what he can do. I think Coach Chatman has seen that and trusted him enough to get him onto the field a lot more.
What is your message to Florida fans before Oklahoma’s first trip to the Swamp?
Go ahead and tune in. We’ve got to give them a nice little welcome, and it isn’t going to be too pretty for them.
How important is Jeremy Patterson to Florida’s defensive line?
He’s absolutely important. Everyone knows Coach Chatman. He’s the coach and coaches the defensive line. But within the defensive line, we have Coach Sax and Coach Jeremy Patterson as well.
Coach Sax works more with the edges and field ends. Coach Patterson works with us on the interior. He’s constantly working with us. He makes the film-watching sessions a lot easier and helps with technique.
He played under Coach Chatman, so when there are times when we might not be connecting with Coach Chatman, it’s easier to connect with him because he has been in our shoes before. He makes the job a lot easier, and I think that goes very underappreciated.
What do you expect from Florida’s first home environment in nearly a month?
I’m hoping Gator Nation shows the same love it has always shown and comes out to support us, which I know it will be like that. I’m just glad to finally be back. Road games are fun and all, but there’s nothing like the Swamp. I’m glad to be back.
What has it been like having Urban Meyer around the program?
It’s great having a legend like that walking around and being able to ask him for advice. That’s the thing I love about Florida. You can look back, and it feels like centuries. There’s going to be a legend almost everywhere you look.
It’s a great feeling knowing you attend a school where there has been nothing but greatness.
Does Meyer’s Ring of Honor induction provide extra motivation against Oklahoma?
Most definitely. I feel like this game will be devoted to him in a way. It’s like, “Let’s go put on for Coach Meyer.”
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Brendan Bett refuses to let Georgia loss define Florida’s finish
