Post Game Thoughts: Florida (2-4, 1-2) v. Texas A&M Aggies (6-0, 3-0)

Florida starts fast but sputters again as Napier falls to 0-14 against ranked teams on the road where a questionable fourth down call leads to lopsided loss.

By Loren Meadows, GatorBaitMedia.com, Football Analyst, Host of the Lowdown with Loren Meadows

Not much time for Billy Napier? (Chris Spears photo)

What We Thought: Could it be? Maybe? Once again in articles and podcasts this past week many questioned was the team that folks saw against Texas going to be the standard the Gators would play to for the remainder of the season with several monumental games left in the nation’s toughest schedule. While the Gators were a little over a touchdown underdog, many thought that the week off prior to Texas had allowed the offense to grow to DJ Lagway’s strengths and the addition of Dallas Wilson had given the offense life. Add to the fact that Florida’s defense was coming off their best defensive performance of the season forcing two turnovers along with six sacks against Texas.

Would we see a run of seven straight wins? 6 of the next seven? An actual Cocktail Party that means something? If last week was a measuring stick well, maybe? Florida definitely has the roster to compete with most teams in the country, particularly in a very crowded SEC. Yet here we are yet again to unpack another double-digit road loss, on national TV, at prime time, and correct me if I’m wrong, this is the University of Florida correct?

What We Got: Florida received the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in eight plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard pass from Lagway to Amir Jackson. A&M would get the ball and return the slap in the face in just two plays which began with a 67-yard pass from Marcel Reed to Mario Craver which led you to think, I thought defense traveled? It was evident as Florida then answered with a lackluster three and out that unfortunately we were in for more of the same as A&M bullied the Gators with another diverse attack that this was going to be another one to add to the “Fire Napier” resume’. Florida would fight and make enough plays to keep it interesting going into the fourth quarter trailing just 24-17 but it was clear that Gig Em’ was the better crew. The final blow was not dealt by the hands of Mike Elko’s Aggies but a self-inflicted wound that must have come from the many Florida analyst that thought a fourth and go with 13 minutes left in the game from the Texas A&M 49 was a good idea instead of pinning the Aggies deep and flipping field position. Instead, the Aggies used eight minutes to go 51 yards and deal a death blow on a Rueben Owens 2-yard run. There will be 11-year-olds with game controllers in their hands today that will think about punting against their online friends in that situation, but the Jordan shirts and Napier thought otherwise. Florida had punted four times up to that point, what’s wrong with one more?

The Skinny: I said it before and I’m sticking to it. This is a coaching change waiting to happen, and as a former coach it is not something I take any pleasure in watching. The fact still remains that there are too many head scratching performances and decisions that have led to a historically bad four-year stretch to continue down this road with Napier at the helm. Is Lagway the problem? Well Napier recruited him. Is the offensive line not great?  That’s on Napier too? Is the offensive system, practice, and preparation flawed? Napier too. All while holding court in the most fertile recruiting grounds in all of football with a Top 5 brand and the most recognizable arm motion in sports. If you can’t get 8 wins a year in Gainesville, the problem is you. The players conduct themselves like gentleman off the field.  They are approachable, they go to class, and they are lock stock and barrel dedicated to the football program. Unfortunately, when in three of the four losses you lose the line of scrimmage badly and the fourth loss is to USF, its time.

When Dan Mullen was relieved of his duties in 2021, I cautioned that if Florida was not careful, they would end up like Nebraska who last won a title in 1997 and are on their sixth coach since the great Tom Osborne. Florida will soon be looking for their seventh coach since the departure of Steve Spurrier and there has only been a handful of seasons after where the Gators have been truly relevant at the national level. All due respect to Pope Urban. At the end of the day, this goes further than who is calling the plays, how many Jordan shirts walk the building, or when you go or don’t go. You are judged by twelve Saturdays in the fall and the work or lack thereof is not being done at a level to win games in the nation’s toughest league at its most competitive time in history. Napier has been gracious to many and seems to be genuinely a nice guy but 21-23 just won’t get it. There will be a lot of speculation of who will lead the charge next year but what is evident is it will be someone other than Billy Napier.

Final Score: Florida 17 Texas A&M 34