GAINESVILLE -- Much has been made about the Gators improving their play in the second half of games this season, and a big reason for the uptick in production has been the ability to rotate players in and out of the front seven on defense.

Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said Wednesday that the rotation up front has been by design.

“It’s been kind of part of the plan to build some depth and be able to have more of a rotation where we could go longer into the games and feel like at the end of the games, we could still have a chance to affect the quarterback,” he said.

The key word there is “depth.” Quinn said Florida now has nine players capable of playing on the defensive line compared to just seven last season. At linebacker, that number has increased from three to six. The results have spoken for themselves thus far, as UF has given up just six second-half points through two Southeastern Conference games this season compared to 16 last year.

“At the end of the game you really need those guys to go win the game at the end and I think it’s an important thing to have,” Quinn said.