A defining characteristic of the great SEC defenses from the last two BCS National Championship games was the dominant play of the defensive line.  While much has been made (and rightfully so, in my opinion) of the maturity of this year’s defense as a whole, I am skeptical about the play of the defensive line.  Certainly, the entire front seven had to figure prominently in the way LSU’s rushing offense was limited (the last time we saw these Gators play).  But I don’t think we have seen anything resembling the dominant pass rush of 2006.

Before the season, due largely to his imposing figure and performance in the Orange and Blue game, Carlos Dunlap was hyped as the next great Florida defensive end.  While his numbers are decent- 3.5 sacks, 4 tackles for loss- from my memory, there haven’t been many times where, in watching the game, you are amazed by his play.  Jermaine Cunningham (4.5 TFL, 3 sacks) and Lawrence Marsh (5.5 TFL, 3 sacks) also haven’t been All-American level.  Indeed, all 3 of these guys have gotten virtually all of their numbers in the Hawaii and Miami games.

I think one of the main reasons is that we have not led by a lot until late in games, which has not forced the other teams to throw that much.  In the LSU game, we got one of our two sacks on a corner blitz.  So maybe the coaches are asking our line to take up space and blockers to stuff the run.  But we should still have talented enough athletes to generate a pass rush without blitzing.  I will certainly be watching for this on Saturday.

James is a guest contributor at gatorsportsnation.com, as well as a founder of gatorsfirst.com.