Florida’s passing game looks set up to attack an FAU secondary that comes with plenty of question marks.
The bigger storyline for Saturday is how Florida handles FAU’s fast tempo on offense, but the matchup that could really tilt the game is out on the perimeter. If the Owls line up the way current projections suggest, the Gators’ wideouts should have a clear edge.
Based on OurLads and CFB Update, FAU’s projected secondary is a group with limited proven production and several players carrying real concerns in coverage and tackling.
Damarius McGhee, listed at cornerback and wearing No. 4, is a former four-star prospect from Pensacola who signed with LSU and barely played there. After a stop at Kansas, he finally found a role at FAU last season and logged more than 400 snaps. He was solid enough in coverage and finished with four pass breakups, but his tackling remains an issue, with a missed tackle rate above 20%.
Across from him, FAU could turn to JK Johnson, No. 23, a former top-50 recruit in the class of 2021. Johnson began at Ohio State and saw more than 400 snaps in 2022, but he struggled in coverage, transferred to LSU for a year, and spent last season at Oklahoma State. On paper, he looks like the softer target of the two corners, and his college resume includes just two career pass breakups in four seasons.
At nickel, Damon Allen, No. 0, is another young piece with limited polish. The unheralded three-star was thrown into the fire as a freshman last season and played like it, finishing with a bunch of missed tackles and only one pass breakup.
Safety is just as unsettled. Tyson Rooks, No. 19, is in his fifth season of college football after starting as a three-star wide receiver at Illinois before switching to defense.
He rarely saw the field beyond special teams before arriving at FAU, and although he’s listed as a DB, depth charts suggest he may be positioned at safety. The Owls list only one specific safety on their roster.
The other safety spot appears to belong to Jayden Sweeny, No. 22, a lower-tier three-star from the class of 2022 who started at Liberty before transferring to FAU last year. Sweeny played 515 snaps a season ago, but like several others in this group, he paired that workload with a high missed tackle rate and limited overall impact.
Put together, it’s a secondary with experience in spots but not much certainty. For Florida’s receivers, that creates a chance to make Saturday look a lot more comfortable than the tempo battle might suggest.
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Florida Suddenly Faces A Bigger Question Than One Bad Loss
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Even with the blowout, Florida is still viewed as a team with real upside and a path to the College Football Playoff conversation. But games like this tend to raise a different kind of question: if Baugh is the engine of the offense, how quickly can the Gators answer when an opponent takes him away? That issue may matter more in the weeks ahead than the score in Columbia did on Saturday. [Read more 🡒]