David Pollack considers whether Billy Napier should give up playcalling

Florida head coach Billy Napier continues to take the brunt of the Gators’ fans ire after last Saturday’s disappointing 18-16 loss to previously-unranked South Florida, including some calling for him to give up his long-held playcalling duties. For his part, Napier affirmed he hasn’t even considered the option and will remain Florida’s offensive playcaller for the foreseeable future.

Nevertheless, the Gators’ offensive struggles against the in-state Bulls — including a 4-of-12 third-down success rate — didn’t go unnoticed by Florida fans. In fact, be it due to penalties or other head-scratching mistakes, the Gators didn’t cross the goal line until 12 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter when quarterback DJ Lagway connected with Eugene Wilson III a on a go-ahead 4-yard touchdown pass gave Florida a momentary 16-15 advantage. Of course, that advantage would disappear in the game’s final seconds as USF’s Nico Gramatica hit a game-winning 20-yard field goal as time expired on the 18-16 upset in Gainesville.

As Florida prepares for Saturday’s SEC opener at No. 3 LSU, former ESPN analyst and ex-Georgia star David Pollack sounded off on whether Napier would be better off passing off his playcalling duties.

“This is a fair question, and Gus Malzahn came on last week and talked about how much easier it was for him being the OC and not being the head coach. … So, I don’t think it’s unfair,” Pollack said on Monday’s episode of his See Ball Get Ball podcast. “Their offense against South Florida was not good. Honestly, I want to see more. Lagway has this cannon that can drop bombs and attack the field, but (the Florida offense is) very compartmentalized, not allowing for a lot of reads. It’s not (letting Lagway) drop back and be a QB, it’s very defined.”

David Pollack: ‘If they clean up the mistakes, they win that game’ vs. USF

Despite the struggles, which included 11 penalties for 103 yards, the Gators still managed to put up 355 yards of total offense, including 222 yards from Lagway on 23-of-33 passing. It’s that general success that Pollack pointed out might be being overlooked by fans, especially after the team put up 451 yards of total offense in a season-opening 55-0 rout against Long Island.

And if the Gators can correct its penalty problem, there is plenty of potential with Lagway at quarterback.

“Now listen, they made mistakes, and if they clean up the mistakes, they win that game against South Florida. Period. Two offensive touchdowns called back, 11 penalties, there’s a lot that can go better,” Pollack continued. “(But) I’d say (Napier) knows better than we do, because he knows who’s on his staff. And Russ Calloway is his OC, do you give him a shot with some help? Maybe, I don’t know the answer, but what they did last week with the mistakes and the penalties and not capitalizing on deep shots, they’ve got to do a better job.”