And Now For The Next Trick: 'Consistency,' Says Napier

“We feel like we can play with anyone in the nation,” Johnson said Monday afternoon. “We’ve just got to tie things together, put it in piece-by-piece. Put the pieces into place and we’ve got to continue to play team football and that’s the main focus.”

Montrell Johnson, whose transition from the Louisiana of the Fun Belt to the SEC has resulted in 549 rushing yards, eight touchdowns and a gaudy 5.97 yards per carry, sees another transition in the making for the Florida Gators. This one isn’t physical. It’s between the ears.

“We feel like we can play with anyone in the nation,” Johnson said Monday afternoon. “We’ve just got to tie things together, put it in piece-by-piece. Put the pieces into place and we’ve got to continue to play team football and that’s the main focus.”

The piece-by-piece bit isn’t physical. Sure, the Gators don’t have near the depth as teams like Georgia, Tennessee, LSU and Alabama, but they’re proven in stages that they’re a very capable team. Right now they’re trying to make the transition from a team that scares the bejabbers out of whoever they play into one that wins those games.

A couple of weeks ago, the Gators fell behind badly at the half to No. 1 Georgia but instead of getting blown out by epic proportions, the Gators won the second half. Sure, Florida ended up losing the game by 22 points, but UF spent the second half looking like a team that was very capable of playing competitively with the Bulldogs. There is no question the Gators could have and probably should have beaten both Tennessee and LSU except for all the chunk plays given up by the defense.

Those chunk plays are the difference in a Florida team that could be 8-1 right now and one that still needs a win to become bowl eligible. Consistently giving up the chunk plays is a sign of a team that doesn’t always have it going between the ears. So are turnovers, although the Gators (5-4, 2-4 SEC) seem to have found the cure-all for that plague. With the exception of Georgia, the other three losses were winnable if turnovers and chunk plays had been avoided. The Gators didn’t turn the ball over against Georgia but they did give up nearly 400 yards in chunk plays.

The third quarter against Georgia when the Gators scored 17 unanswered points and the second half in last Saturday’s win over Texas A&M show what happens when the chunk plays are eliminated but that is only a part of the equation. There is still the matter of getting stops, takeaways and eliminating turnovers. The Gators forced three Georgia turnovers and they got two in the second half to destroy any hope of a comeback by the Aggies. Texas A&M was 1-8 on third down, so the defense got stops. It has been three games since the Gators turned the ball over. These are signs of good things going on between the ears.

Even though we don’t know if the Gators are going to be able to build upon the recent good fortune, we’ve seen enough to know that they’re capable if only they can find a way to sustain the confluence of focus, preparation and execution for longer periods of time. When it all came together in the second half against Texas A&M it marked the longest stretch the Gators have played well in all phases of the game all season long. Now it’s true the Aggies aren’t exactly one of the better teams in the league and certainly they aren’t anywhere near the same level as LSU, Georgia or Tennessee, but no matter the opponent, when offense, defense and special teams eliminate the mental errors, the Gators can be a very tough out for any opponent.

Against Texas A&M, the UF offense put up 492 yards and five touchdowns. Anthony Richardson didn’t have to throw much – just 28 attempts (17 completions) for 201 yards – because the Gators were able to pound out the yards on the ground (292) and eat up clock time. That kept the defense off the field and helped their efforts to pitch a second half shutout while allowing the Aggies only 106 yards.

A heavy second half pass rush led by Princely Umanmielen and Antwaun Powell-Ryland Jr., who got to the QB and forced fumbles, made the job of the secondary so much easier. Special teams contributed a pair of field goals, a 44.7-yard average per (SEC Sports Graphic)

punt by Jeremy Crawshaw with zero return yards allowed, and a pair of punt returns for 35 yards by Xzavier Henderson, one for 28 yards that set up a TD.

“We had a 156-yard advantage in special teams, hidden yards there that was huge in the game,” Napier said.

We’ve been waiting on this and while it took until game nine to see tangible results of Napier’s weekly commentary about complementary football, it’s better late in the season than never at all. With South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Florida State still on the schedule and bowl eligibility hanging in the balance, the Gators are going to need complete games. Can they do it?

That’s the $64,000 question that we’ll have to hold our collective breaths while waiting an answer. As much as Napier would like to see the Gators sustain that second half effort against the Aggies and play with consistency the rest of the year, he knows this is still a work in progress.

“I still think we’re chasing that,” Napier said. “Can we put it together possession after possession? I think we are taking care of the ball better on offense, which is, really, if you look at our teams, that’s just the way we play. We’re getting takeaways.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do and I really believe – I know you guys don’t like to writer about this – but it’s the human element part of the game. That’s just who we are right now. We’re working on that component on our team. The football, I think, will take care of itself as that becomes more of who we want to be.”

The human element is what Napier talked about after the Georgia game when he said he saw a team ready to turn the corner. Florida has some very good players, an offense that ranks fourth in the SEC in yards per play (6.83) and second nationally in yards per carry (5.92). In Richardson, the Gators have a physically gifted quarterback who seems to be coming into his own. The offensive line is big, strong and efficient, led by O’Cyrus Torrence, who will make some All-America teams.

There are so many pieces to the puzzle that are starting to fit together, particularly if the defense can start getting stops on a consistent basis. Of course, this is where the human element that Napier discusses comes into play.

He knows the war it has been to get the Gators this far and isn’t naïve enough to think that just because some battles have been won that the fight is over and done with.

“We've spent a ton of time on scheme, fundamentals, situational football,” Napier said. “We lift weights. We run. We focus on all different forms of development physically, but I think that team dynamic – the quote/unquote culture or brotherhood, however you want to describe that; the expectation from each other, the accountability at the player level, actually I'm not necessarily worried about my coach getting on me, but I'm worried about letting my teammate down … For an elite team, you've got to have that. And I think that's what we've been working hard on. You're starting to see some of that show up, I think.”

Montrell Johnson understands. It’s about everybody focused on every single play. When that happens he knows this will be on its way to being the team they want to be.

“We’ve got to be one,” Johnson said. “Defense can’t have a good game and the offense have a bad game. We’ve all got to have a good game, play together as one and complement each other. That’s what it’s going to take.”