Brendan Bett believes Florida needed the humbling experience it received during a 45-17 loss at Missouri.
The veteran defensive lineman said complacency crept in following the Gators’ 4-0 start, allowing weaknesses to remain hidden behind victories. He challenged the team to respond with greater maturity while refusing to blame the secondary for Florida’s defensive struggles.
Bett also discussed the defensive line’s search for a dominant performance, the challenge South Carolina’s rushing attack presents and the intensity he expects from Florida’s practices this week.
Here’s everything Bett had to say.
How would you characterize the defensive line’s performance against Missouri?
I feel like we came out with the right mindset and the right motor. Before the two big runs, they only had, I think, about 40 rushing yards.
We didn’t
get as many sacks as we would have liked, but I think we came out with good effort and made a good attempt to attack.
Was the Missouri loss a humbling experience?
Absolutely. It definitely was a humbling experience. I think people got a little complacent. In my opinion, I’m kind of glad it happened because we got to see where our true weaknesses were. Now, we can go and build off that.
Is it easier to grow from a loss than a win?
Absolutely. Like Coach says, when you win, our weaknesses get masked behind the victory. You really don’t get to see everything because, “Hey, we got the win.” But when you lose, all of that gets exposed. That’s when you can go make corrections.
What is your role as a leader following the loss?
Mainly, it’s keeping my guys hungry but humble at the same time and telling them that we can always play much better.
In my opinion, the defensive line hasn’t had a dominant game yet. That’s what we’re striving for — to go out and have a dominant game. Regardless of whether we win or lose, I want us to have a dominant performance.
What challenges does South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers present?
We’ve played quarterbacks who can get loose, so I think the approach is always the same: Go get after him. But he can put it in the air, and he can move. They have a pretty good, strong running back.
This will probably be one of the most physical offenses we play. Coming off a loss, I think we have the right mindset about what we need to do.
How important is improving the team’s maturity?
To be an absolutely good unit all around, you have to have maturity. It isn’t just on game day. It’s in the small details, starting today. How do we approach today? How do we do the things we need to do today, tomorrow and Wednesday that lead into Saturday?
What did you like about Sumrall’s response to the loss?
The main thing Coach told us as soon as we entered the locker room was, “I love you guys. No matter what, I love you guys.”
That’s a great feeling. But, at the same time, he let us know that he’s always going to hold us accountable. Obviously, that was nowhere near the standard we wanted. He made sure to let us know that.
He does a really good job of not just yelling and screaming. He coaches and makes corrections. He doesn’t just tell you what you did wrong. He explains how you can do it better.
How is the defensive line supporting Florida’s secondary?
I told them, “This is never just on y’all. We could have gotten more sacks. We could have put more pressure on the quarterback.”
It’s not just on them. What we need to do better is play together and understand that we’re always going to be with each other.
We have those guys’ backs. We let them know, “No matter what, we’ve got your back. Keep your heads up. We’re going to get this right, and we’ll be just fine.”
Was Jeramiah McCloud’s clapping penalty an example of the defense needing greater maturity?
I know he didn’t mean any harm with that penalty. It just happened. We told him, “Remember, you can’t clap. We’ll get a delay of game for that.”
Before the play, he was pumped up because it was third down. He told me, “Hey, let’s go,” and he clapped. We made the correction, and he knows now that he can’t clap.
How did complacency develop during Florida’s undefeated start?
We were coming off our fourth win. We had been rolling and doing pretty well. You can become complacent, not necessarily by feeling like you’re just going to roll into a win, but by starting slowly.
I feel like that’s what we did. We didn’t start as fast as we normally do. When that catches up to you, it’s hard to play from behind. That’s where the complacency rolled in.
Will it be difficult to address that complacency this week?
I don’t think it will be that hard. It’s going to be addressed, of course. After the game, we had to soak it in and sit in it. But the thing I love about this team is the chemistry we have.
Everyone understood, “Hey, bro, that wasn’t it.” Everybody took ownership of their performances. Nobody was pointing fingers. We all understood what it was.
Even today, we came out with the mindset that it happened and we’re going to put it behind us. Moving forward, we’ve got to go. We understand what we have to do now.
What was the tone at Monday’s practice?
I feel like it was probably one of our best Monday practices. Was it maybe because of the loss? Probably. But it was also because everybody understood that we can’t be complacent.
Everybody was rolling today. The defensive line was intense during individual drills. The secondary was going through seven-on-seven, and it was pretty intense.
That’s a great way to stack our days. Coach always preaches going 1-0, but it doesn’t just start Saturday. It starts today. Go 1-0 Monday. Go 1-0 tomorrow. Go 1-0 Wednesday. Then, when we get to Saturday, go 1-0 as well.
What do you expect from Tuesday’s practice?
I’m hoping it’s super intense. I’m hoping it’s probably one of the hardest practices we have. You need those days. You need those hard practices to endure and to get your mind and body right.
How would you feel about playing in rainy, muddy conditions?
I love that because they’ve got to run the ball. I like that they’re not going to throw the ball as much. I consider myself a run-stopper, so I prefer for them to run the ball and for me to make tackles, tackles for loss and stuff like that.
Hopefully, it gives us a little bit of an advantage as well.
What is the challenge against South Carolina’s running game?
They’re pretty physical, and they have a really good back. Since SEC play started, they’ve been averaging almost 200 yards per game.
We’ve got to go out there and assert that they’re not going to be able to run the ball. The key is to stop the run. That’s when you generate sacks.
Did Florida defend Missouri’s rushing attack well before the two long runs?
Yes, sir. People who just look at the stats will see that he had 200 yards.
But when you know the full story, he didn’t have those yards until the two big runs. Those runs should have never happened, and we’re making corrections on that.
Beforehand, they had almost 50 yards going into the fourth quarter — 47. I feel like we did a pretty good job before those plays.
How have you improved at processing adversity?
The blessing is that I’ve been in worse situations.
I’ve gone through situations where I learned how to overcome adversity. With something like this, I’m able to maintain a good mindset for myself and help my teammates the best way I can without dwelling on it.
We’ve just got to keep moving forward. We have an opportunity to perform Saturday. That’s where my mindset is, and I think that’s the team’s mindset as well.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Brendan Bett says Florida needed humbling loss at Missouri
