Billy Napier shares takeaways from Vanderbilt loss
From the Utah victory to the Vanderbilt loss, it’s been a wild season for Florida during Billy Napier’s first year on the job.
Nevertheless, it won’t be understated how disappointing the loss on Saturday to the Commodores is for Gators faithful. However, Napier stated that there was some things to build on for his team moving forward.
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“Turnover on special teams, we had a few injuries there at returner over the last couple of weeks. We had a short-field turnover that led to a touchdown, so really 14 points there in a matter of minutes,” started Napier. “Two red zone opportunities early where we had to settle for field goals. Not just missed opportunities from a point standpoint, but also momentum. Also think that the penalties were a major factor. For the first time since I think we’ve been here, penalties had a significant impact on the game. Three third downs where they get earned first off of penalties. We had two explosive runs that got called back as a result of penalties. So those are five significant plays in the game. One of the runs is down to the four-yard line. Then we were 0-for-2 on the two-point conversions, we missed a PAT. The hidden yardage was a disadvantage in the game.
“A couple of weeks in a row there we did what was required to win, we did not do that Saturday.”
Regardless, Florida has achieved bowl-eligible status in 2022, and will look to end their regular season with a bang against Florida State this weekend. If the Gators can upset the Seminoles, last weekend’s loss will feel a little less dire than it does now.
Paul Finebaum questions what’s changed at Florida, how things got to this point
Alas, Florida suffered a devastating upset loss this weekend, losing on the road to Vanderbilt 31-24 after entering the game 14-point favorites. The Gators have had some ups and downs this year in their first season under head coach Billy Napier, and college football analyst Paul Finebaum spoke about them with ESPN’s Matt Barrie following this weekend’s action of college football.
“It was a year ago today Matt that we came back about two hours after we recorded the podcast and added the insert on Dan Mullen’s firing, which came after losing to Missouri, so I’m sure Dan’s not remembering that as fondly as we are,” Finebaum said following Barrie’s remarks about being with Mullen this weekend.
Finebaum questioned if there was a difference between Mullen’s last season at the helm compared to Napier’s first this year, saying that some close-call victories could have changed the perception of this season for the Gators.
“But what has changed down there, and I mean you scrub away that interception I think of (Cameron) Rising at the end of the Florida Utah game and they’ve got some real problems, they pulled another game or two out,” Finebaum said. “This record is not as bad as it perhaps could’ve been and Florida fans do not tolerate, I mean they’re a tough fan base.”
Finebaum elaborated on how brutal Florida’s fan base can be, taking a shot at another SEC fan base in the process of comparing them to that of the Gators.
“They’re not like South Carolina, I was talking to a South Carolina fan yesterday morning and he said I still remember that win in 2010 over Alabama, that’s all you ever hear in Columbia, you know that, it’s the (Stephen) Garcia game. And he texted me last night saying that was one of the most amazing nights of his life, I mean okay, I’m happy for you, but 13 years have passed since that memory,” Finebaum explained.
There’s no question Napier will have high expectations moving forward at Florida, which he believes will be challenged next week in their rivalry game as well as this offseason in recruiting.
“But Florida’s got Florida State this weekend too, so that doesn’t look like a great situation. So I don’t know where Billy Napier goes and having a good recruiting year doesn’t equate a great recruiting year and everybody has a good recruiting year in the SEC, he better have a great recruiting year,” Finebaum said.
On3’s Kaiden Smith contributed to this article.