EA Sports is bullish on the Florida football defense heading into the 2024 season.
The video game company rated the Florida Gators as the 25th-best defense in the country for its upcoming College Football 25 video game.
UF struggled defensively under first-year defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong last season, particularly in the second half of the year, when the Gators lost leading tackler and starting linebacker Shemar James to a dislocated kneecap. Florida finished 11th in the SEC in total defense, giving up 382.3 yards per game.
The defensive downturn resulted in several staff changes, including replacing secondary coach Corey Raymond with Will Harris, defensive line coach Sean Spencer with Will Harris and linebackers coach Jay Bateman with Ron Roberts.
Perhaps EA Sports is anticipating improvement based off those staff changes or off the fact that Florida is returning six starters off of its defense, including James and cornerback Jason Marshall Jr., who have earned preseason All-SEC honors.
EA Sports is not as high on UF’s offense, which it didn’t rank in its Top 25, despite the return of eight starters, including quarterback Graham Mertz, running back Montrell Johnson Jr. and wide receiver Eugene Wilson III. Florida finished sixth in the SEC in total offense last season, averaging 409.1 yards per game.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football ranked at 25th best defense in country in EA Sports College Football 25 video game
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ea-sports-college-football-25-201342646.html
Author : The Gainesville Sun
Publish date : 2024-06-27 20:13:42
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