GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- In the wake of Saturday's 42-21 loss at No. 3-ranked Alabama, Gators safety Keanu Neal knew what was coming when the team met Sunday night to review game film.
"We're going to be very critical," Neal said.
The loss at Alabama was a team effort as the Gators struggled both on offense and defense.
For a team coming off a 4-8 season, losing on the road to the Crimson Tide after being tied 21-all in the third quarter normally doesn't set off alarms.
However, the Gators stepped onto the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium expecting to play much better than they did regardless if they pulled off the upset or not.
That wasn't the case, which has set an urgent tone for a team that has a bye week. Florida's coaching staff was busy Monday recruiting and the players had the day off. The Gators return to practice Tuesday focused on one word: improvement.
"The meat of our schedule is coming up," Florida head coach Will Muschamp said. "Obviously [Alabama] was a game we really pointed to and we felt good about going in. We've got to execute better offensively, play better on defense, coach better as a football team.
"Everything is still in front of us as far as the SEC East is concerned. We've got a good football team. We didn't play that way Saturday. We need to coach better, play better, and we will."
Since the loss, much of the media attention and fan frenzy has centered on Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel and the offense's struggles in the Gators' fourth consecutive loss to Alabama since beating the Crimson Tide in 2008 in the SEC Championship Game.
A fourth-year junior, Driskel is healthy after missing most of last season due to a broken leg suffered against Tennessee, Florida's next opponent on Oct. 4. Coming off a career-high 295 yards passing in the Gators' 36-30 triple-overtime win against Kentucky, Driskel was 9 of 28 for 93 yards at Alabama.
Meanwhile, his counterpart, Alabama's Blake Sims, looked more like Peyton Manning than a guy in his fourth career start. Sims threw for a career-high 445 yards and four touchdowns, the third-best passing performance in history against the Gators behind Manning's 492-game in 1996 and Charlie Ward's 446 yards in 1993.
Sims' outburst came a week after Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towles threw for 369 yards, the most passing yards allowed by the Gators under Muschamp.
As the Gators turn their focus on improving before the Tennessee game, Muschamp hinted at possible personnel changes after the game and during his Sunday TV show.
Driskel said Saturday's offensive performance was attributed to a lack of execution more than anything.
"It has nothing to do with schemes we haven't seen," Driskel said. "We didn't make the plays when they were there and they did. At the end of the day we didn't play well enough to win against a good team."
The Gators managed only 200 yards offensively while Alabama rolled up 645, the most surrendered by a Florida defense.
The Crimson Tide nearly matched Florida's offensive output on just two plays -- an 87-yard touchdown pass from Sims to running back Kenyan Drake on their first play from scrimmage, and a 79-yard pass from Sims to Amari Cooper when Cooper was left wide open down the field due to busted coverage.
The performance has Florida ranked 12th in the SEC in total defense, giving up an average of 406.7 yards per game, very unlike what the Gators have done defensively since Muschamp took over.
"We gave up too many plays defensively, and didn't make them earn it," Muschamp said. "It comes down to the fact we couldn't get off the field defensively on third down. Too many big plays, too many explosive plays given up. Offensively, we can't stay on the field and maintain drives. We've just got to find ways to be more efficient offensively, and defensively, we've got to get some things fixed, especially on the back end."
Clearly dejected, senior center Max Garcia vowed in the locker room afterward that the Gators will bounce back from their subpar performance.
"We're going to put this behind us and grow," Garcia said. "I believe in this football team. I believe in this offensive line. I believe in the coaches. I believe in the defense. We're going to be better."
The Gators have plenty to play for in what appears to be a wide-open SEC East. Every team in the division has already lost a game.
When the Gators return to practice Tuesday, it won't be your usual bye-week atmosphere.
"We're going back to training camp-like practices," Muschamp said. "We've just got to evaluate where we are. Are we doing too much defensively? You can't bust a coverage and let Amari Cooper run down the middle of the field. That can't happen. That's on me as a coach. In that situation, are you asking your players to do too much? We've got to get those things corrected."
