Finally! The Gators become a very dangerous football team

(Photo by Chris Spears)

“Who are those guys?” – Butch Cassidy from the 1969 film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

For those wondering if those were impersonators wearing Florida football uniforms Saturday afternoon, Billy Napier had the answer.

“I would say for me, that's the football team I thought we had in the very beginning, and we finally kind of put it together there and played all three phases very complementary, all parts of the team really good,” Napier said after the Gators (2-3, 1-1 SEC) ended a 3-game losing streak by turning The Swamp into an eardrum shattering outdoor insane asylum by taking down 9^th-ranked Texas (3-2, 0-1 SEC), 29-21.

The version of the Gators that took the field and dominated Texas looked nothing like the team that self-destructed at LSU or the one that closely resembled a train wreck two weeks ago at Miami. Against LSU, the Gators turned a perfectly winnable game into a disaster by throwing five interceptions. Against Miami it seemed the Gators were among the worst-coached offensive teams in the country.

And yet, after those two unmitigated disasters, Napier insisted that the Gators were teetering on the verge of becoming a very dangerous team.  Did you believe him? Do you know anyone that did?

So how is it the Gators stuck it to Texas on the ground and through the air offensively? The Gators mounted a season-high 457-yard offensive attack. The offensive line gave Lagway a clean pocket from which he had time to find open receivers downfield. Formerly the master of the 2-inch pass in Florida’s first four games, Lagway looked early and often enough downfield to complete 21-28 passes for 298 yards. Lagway and true freshman Dallas Wilson hooked up six times for 111 yards and touchdowns of 13 and 55 yards. There was also a sensational 60-yard down the middle of the field laser beam of a throw that Vernell Brown III retrieved with a sensational leaping catch.

The Gators ran for 159 yards, methodically wearing down the Texas front seven. In the losses to LSU and Miami the Gators’ combined rushing total was 159 yards (79 vs. LSU, 80 vs. Miami). Jadan Baugh carried 27 times for 107 yards and a TD while true freshman Duke Clark, subbing for the injured Ja’Kobi Jackson, ran nine times for 38 more. The ground game was effective enough and the pass protection so impenetrable that Lagway wasn’t sacked nor was he forced to take off running even once.  

How is it the Gators mounted such a fearsome pass rush that preseason all-interplanetary quarterback Arch Manning’s inner transmission seemed permanently jammed in a feets don’t fail me now gear? Manning did throw for 263 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but he was also intercepted twice (by Devin Moore and Jordan Castell), sacked six times and forced into bad throws eight times by a relentless rush.

By game’s end, Ron Roberts’ creeper defense had Manning seeing ghosts while trying to figure out where the blitz was coming from. If Manning wasn’t getting hit, he was chased and running for his life. He was able to make things interesting enough that the entire stadium was still filled at the end, posing the imminent danger of a field storming, perhaps thought of but never materialized.

Then there was the play of the special teams. Former walk-on Taylor Spierto blocked a punt that ricocheted through the end zone for a second quarter safety. In addition to two field goals and three extra points, Trey Smack sent six kickoffs sailing through the end zone.

It was as if the Gators were fulfilment of prophecy by the head coach. They were indeed a very dangerous team, which begs us to ask where were they in losses to South Florida, LSU and Miami? All three of those games were winnable but lost because of Murphy’s Law luck – whatever could go wrong did go wrong and always at the most inopportune moments.

Not so against Texas.

Texas was supposed to become the latest and perhaps final unraveling of the Napier coaching era at Florida. Supposedly he was a walking cadaver but did this win breathe life into his career? Did it put a hold on a phone call to movers instructing them to come to the Heavener Center to box up everything in his office and haul it away?

Saturday, Billy Napier gave the finger to everyone who thought Texas would waltz right into The Swamp, blow the doors off the Gators and essentially force Scott Stricklin to fire him. He is certainly safe for at least one more week, but if there is carryover of focus and intensity from the Texas win, the remainder of the schedule could be like dominoes falling.

Napier knows that his fate will be determined by wins and losses, but he couldn’t help but defend his program building approach as he stood at the podium answering questions.

“I think it's more of a big-picture program, organizational philosophy in terms of what we want our program to be about, the investment in people,” Napier said. “We teach values. We prioritize education. We run a tight ship. We don't put up with crap. They're going to do what we ask them to do, and I think they have a healthy respect, and they chose us. They chose that experience. I think that that requires a certain character from that person to sign up for that.”

Fans and boosters can appreciate the high character roster Napier has assembled but they would prefer more victories. They point out that Steve Spurrier went 122-27-1 in 12 years, winning at least nine games every year. Napier went 8-5 last season, his best record at UF. There is plenty of speculation that if Napier can’t exceed last year’s win total he will become the fifth casualty among the six coaches who have followed in the rather lengthy shadow of Spurrier. Only Urban Meyer left on his own volition with a 65-15 record and two national championships. The four who were pink slipped all had winning records, but they didn’t win enough.

With the win against Texas, Napier is still a game below .500 (21-22) and he still has a gauntlet of games that make for a schedule that is as tough as can be found nationally. But, the schedule seems quite a bit more manageable now that the Longhorns have been carved up and sent to the meat market.

Are the Gators capable of beating the 6^th-ranked Aggies in College Station next week? Certainly, if they play as well as they did against Texas. The same can be said about upcoming games with Mississippi State, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Florida State. Every one of those games is winnable and every one is also losable.

It’s entirely possible Napier could avoid being the latest Florida coaching casualty if he rallies the troops to win enough games to give pause to Stricklin and the boosters who have allegedly pooled resources to buy out the $20 million or so remaining on his contract. How many wins will be enough to convince the doubters that Napier deserves a fifth year? Consensus is the Gators have to go at least 7-5 in the regular season which would require five more wins. Can they win five more?  

It took Napier until his 43^rd game as Florida’s head coach before he scored a win over a top ten opponent. He still hasn’t beaten a ranked team on the road. But, he has a team that is capable of laying waste to any and everything that gets in their way, ranked or unranked.

Saturday was huge but it was just one win. Napier needs several more to remain gainfully employed. The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tze opined that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The same can be said about football. Every winning streak or turnaround begins with a single win.

One down. How many more to go?

SEC FOOTBALL

No. 5 Oklahoma (5-0, 1-0 SEC) 44, Kent State (1-4) 0: The unbeaten Sooners warmed up for next Saturday’s Red River Shootout with Texas by holding hapless Kent State to 135 total yards, just 17 on the ground. The Sooners, who came into the game 6^th nationally with 16 sacks, got to the Kent State quarterbacks five times. Michael Hawkins Jr., starting in place of injured John Mateer, threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in his first start since last season. Isaiah Sategna caught four passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns.

No. 6. Texas A&M (5-0, 2-0 SEC) 31, Mississippi State (4-2, 0-2 SEC) 9: Rueben Owens ran for 142 of Texas A&M’s 299 rushing yards as the Aggies controlled the football for more than 38 minutes to move to 2-0 in the SEC. Marcel Reed threw for two touchdowns and ran for one more as the Aggies broke open a tight game with 14 fourth quarter points. Texas A&M sacked Mississippi State quarterback Blake Shapen four times as part of a defensive effort that held the Bulldogs to 77 rushing yards.

No. 10 Alabama (4-1, 2-0 SEC) 30, Vanderbilt (5-1, 1-1 SEC) 14: Alabama outscored Vanderbilt 16-0 in the second half to remain unbeaten in SEC play while handing the Commodores their first loss of the season. Jam Miller, who ran for 136 yards, sealed the win for Alabama with a 20-yard touchdown run with 17 seconds left in the game. Conor Talty kicked three second half field goals for Bama and Ty Simpson threw for 340 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Sedrick Alexander scored both Vanderbilt touchdowns, the first on a 65-yard run in the first quarter, the second on a 4-yard pass from Diego Pavia in the second. Vanderbilt sacked Simpson four times.

No. 12 Georgia (4-1, 2-1 SEC) 35, Kentucky (2-3, 0-3 SEC) 14: Gunner Stockton accounted for three Georgia touchdowns, one passing and two on the ground, as the Bulldogs rebounded from their loss to Alabama last week with a decisive win over Kentucky, which fell to 0-3 in SEC play. Georgia scored four touchdowns on the ground in addition to the TDP by Stockton, who threw for 245 yards. Kentucky managed only 45 rushing yards the entire game.

Next week:

Washington State (3-2) at No. 4 Ole Miss (5-0, 3-0 SEC)

No. 5 Oklahoma (5-0, 1-0 SEC) vs. No. 9 Texas (3-2, 0-1 SEC), in Dallas

FLORIDA (2-3, 1-1 SEC) at No. 6 Texas A&M (5-0, 2-0 SEC)

No. 10 Alabama (4-1, 2-0 SEC) at No. 19 Missouri (5-0, 1-0 SEC)

No. 12 Georgia (4-1, 2-1 SEC) at Auburn (3-2, 0-2 SEC)

South Carolina (3-2, 1-2 SEC) at No. 13 LSU (4-1, 1-1 SEC)

Arkansas (2-3, 0-2 SEC) at No. 15 Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC)