Billy Napier calls for improvement in Florida passing game

Early in the college football season there are always a handful of stats that jump out, but one that is truly jarring? No. 20 Florida doesn’t have a single touchdown pass through the first three games of the season.

The Florida passing game has been a bit of a disaster the last two weeks, which is especially surprising given how competent starting quarterback Anthony Richardson looked in a 29-26 win over then-No. 7 Utah in the season opener. Coach Billy Napier is still grappling with what’s going on with his passing attack.

“I think that we need to improve in the throw game, and that was one of the points of emphasis with the offensive players yesterday is precision in the throw game,” Napier said on Monday. “I think settling into some lineups. Obviously figuring out what we do well, what can we do well, what’s the quarterback comfortable with, all those things that go into that.”

Richardson went 17-of-24 passing for 168 yards in that Utah game and didn’t throw an interception. He made some seriously high-level throws.

Since then, though, Richardson has gone just 24-of-53 (45.3%) passing for 255 yards. He hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass and he’s been picked off four times.

What’s wrong with Anthony Richardson, Florida passing game?

In fairness to Richardson, three of his four career starts have come against ranked teams. That said, the Gators aren’t going to make much noise in Napier’s first season in charge unless he starts playing significantly better.

Napier, though, is as much focused on what’s happening around Richardson as he is the sophomore signal-caller himself.

“When I say that, I’m talking about protection,” Napier said. “I’m talking about detail and the steps and depths of the route, the aiming points, and the quarterback progression and decision-making. So all 11 players contribute, and I think we need to be more precise and more detailed in that part of our football team.”

The good news is Florida’s run game has been pretty good so far. The Gators rank No. 32 nationally in rushing offense, averaging 212 yards per game.

However, that likely won’t be enough to make up for a poor Florida passing game as the team gets into the heart of its SEC schedule. Up this week is a road trip to take on No. 11 Tennessee with ESPN’s College GameDay in the house.

Richardson will have to be better.

But Napier also isn’t in full-on panic mode just yet. He pointed out the lack of touchdown passes also coincides with relatively few red-zone trips for the Gators. Florida has had just eight trips inside the red zone this season, which ranks 114th nationally.

“We’ve been able to run it and haven’t gotten into many of those four-point plays where we’ve had to throw it,” Napier said.