All Is Not Lost. It’s Just Back To Reality For Gators And Billy Napier.

College football fans, especially Gator fans, tend to soar too close to the sun following big wins and step too close to the ledge after disappointing defeats

BY CARLTON REESE

GatorBaitMedia.com

That sound you heard Saturday night was not a thud, despite all the panic-ridden screams reverberating through the halls of Gator Nation. There was no crash and burn, only a bumpy re-entry to the atmosphere following a week-long trek in the galaxy of stars where this program did not belong in the first place.

It was fun while it lasted, but now that we’re all back on planet earth, it’s time to take a deep breath and evaluate just what this team is and where expectations should be. The Utah win sent us all into orbit, clinging to the notion that Georgia was now firmly within our crosshairs and Atlanta hotel reservations could be booked with all sincerity. The reality check administered by Kentucky was not only inevitable, it was necessary.

College football fans, especially Gator fans, tend to soar too close to the sun following big wins and step too close to the ledge after disappointing defeats – the first two games of 2022 played right into this script. The Utah win was just too good to be true, and the Kentucky loss is just not as bad as it seems.

Two weeks ago, nearly all Gator fans would have happily accepted a 1-1 start as a step in the right direction, but for some reason Gator Nation seems more despondent as a result – the natural reaction to a glorious win against a top-10 team followed by what was clearly a horrible performance.

Utah was blindsided by a hostile environment and a quarterback hitting on all cylinders; Kentucky was ready, though, and Anthony Richardson had his worst game since his implosion in Jacksonville last October.

So why was the Kentucky loss not as bad as it seemed? For starters, the victory was a gift handed over to the Wildcats – in spite of how Florida played, it still had chances late to win the game. Kentucky did not show it was a better team than Florida, only that on the Gators’ worst night the Wildcats are capable putting one in the ‘W’ column. The Gator defense handled Kentucky and performed at a level that should have yielded a victory with only a slightly-beyond mediocre performance by the offense.

The irony is that Utah lost to Florida, and I was not convinced Florida was the better team; Kentucky beat Florida and in no way am I convinced the Wildcats are the better team. On that night, with Anthony Richardson not seeing the whole field and throwing some bizarre passes to defenders in white, Florida was merely quicker to the defeat line.

We comfort ourselves in knowing that what we witnessed Saturday night in the Swamp is no doubt the worst we will see from this team. The Florida defense gave up one play to Kentucky, a 55-yard TD strike from Will Levis to Dane Key early in the second quarter. After that, the Wildcats scored on a six-yard drive that followed an interception, two field goals and an interception returned for a touchdown.

Discounting one of the field goals that followed Florida turning it over on downs deep in its own territory, the Florida defense really only surrendered 10 points.

It's clear Mark Stoops spends most of the off-season preparing his team for the Florida game – the Wildcats are always ready even when they do not win. Perhaps the Gators need to mark the Kentucky game on their schedule in the same manner – losses in three of the last five contests should convince anyone of that.

Then we come to Richardson, who a week ago was being touted as the next Cam Newton, the re-birth of Vince Young and the physical manifestation of Superman himself. What we saw against Kentucky was not Superman, but “Florida Man” on full display.

After Kentucky missed a game-clinching field goal late, Richardson had the chance to guide Florida to a tying touchdown and put the night’s miserable performance behind him. Then, on fourth-and-six he rolled out to his right and threw one at the receiver’s feet – an embarrassing moment at the most critical of times.

Other times, Richardson failed to see open receivers that had nothing but a goal line to stop them. Passes were torched at close range and many just plain missed their intended mark. When the game was on the line the final two drives, Richardson was clearly not up for the moment, which is odd considering that in similar situations a week earlier he played with the confidence of Tom Brady.

Lest anyone forget, Anthony Richardson is a redshirt sophomore with three collegiate starts to his name. He’s just a kid. A kid blessed with a Greek-statue physique and a cannon for a right arm. The best is yet to come, and will come, but for now everything is still a learning process and the lessons from Saturday night’s debacle will pay dividends down the road this season. There is much to be learned from watching game film of this one and Richardson is a smart enough cookie to drink it all in and turn it to his long-term advantage.

It's hard to imagine Richardson playing as bad a game the rest of the year – hopefully this becomes his seminal moment where he dedicates himself to his craft like never before. Forget about Heismans, Unitas awards or even national titles – it’s all about the hard work to reach that potential everyone believes exists.

Richardson is aware now more than ever of his own fallibility and hopefully this will make him a better player and not shatter his confidence.

The Gators are 1-1 and right where they ought to be. The Kentucky loss was ugly, but may actually make Florida a better team in the long run.

We can look back as recently as 2018, when Kentucky came to Gainesville and shocked the Gators in Dan Mullen’s first season as coach. A distraught fan base soon forgot all about that loss when the Gators reeled off five straight wins including at Tennessee, at ranked Mississippi State and then No.5 LSU. That team won a New Year’s Six bowl game and whatever despair was felt in week two of that season had certainly dissipated not long after.

The loss to Kentucky was not the end of the season, just a return to planet earth and the reality of a team still trying to crawl from the ashes of 2021’s fiery downfall.