Thoughts of the Day: A few new wrinkles wouldn't hurt

A few thoughts to jump start your Tuesday morning:

We tend to forget that the football season isn’t even at the halfway point, worth noting because a good many Florida fans are about to go completely off the rails regarding Billy Napier. From this vantage point, it seems that half the Gator Nation wants Napier’s head on a pike for everyone to see outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The other half is preaching patience, reminding anyone who will listen that Napier is 18 games into a restoration project that requires filling in a deep hole 11 years in the making.

Billy Napier didn’t create the problems that we see right now but he is charged with eliminating them and restoring Florida football to prominence in the Southeastern Conference. Currently, the Gators are 3-2, 1-1 in the SEC with Vanderbilt coming to Gainesville for Homecoming Saturday afternoon (4 p.m., SEC Network). The Gators are 18.5-point favorites and if they play like they did in the first half against Tennessee, they’ll probably cover the spread. If they play like they did against Utah in Salt Lake or Kentucky in Lexington, the unthinkable could happen. Florida hasn’t dropped two in a row to Vanderbilt since a 20-13 loss in Nashville in 1952 and a 21-6 loss to the Commodores in Gainesville in 1955.

Beyond Vanderbilt, there is a road trip to South Carolina, Georgia in Jacksonville, a homer with Arkansas, back-to-back roadies at LSU and Missouri and a season ender in The Swamp against Florida State. Seven games remain and neither five wins nor five losses are completely out of the question. Win five, that’s real progress and Napier likely gets a mulligan from even his harshest detractors. Lose five and Napier will go into year three in 2024 clearly feeling the pressure to get things turned around.

From a purely optical standpoint, Napier doesn’t exactly convince detractors that he’s the right guy for the Florida job. Fans want to see the lightning rod that is Steve Spurrier or someone with Urban Meyer’s death star intensity. When Napier speaks it’s in such a calm, collected manner that fans can only imagine that if he’s that laid back at practice, in the locker room pre-game or at halftime no wonder the Gators sometimes look like they’re sleepwalking.

When the Gators took to the field at Kentucky devoid of the same focus, passion and wild-eyed intensity of the Tennessee game, Napier became too easy a target to blame. He probably didn’t give his detractors the warm and fuzzies Monday when he said, “I felt like we were lethargic early in the game, I do.”

By the time the lethargy had worn off and the Gators realized Kentucky was taking no prisoners it was too late. It was 23-0 before the Gators put points on the scoreboard. By the time the Gators got the smelling salts that lifted them out of their comatose state at Utah if was 24-3.

Many fans will tell you that it’s not losing to Utah and Kentucky that grates at them, it’s the way those games were lost. Against Utah, five sacks allowed, nine penalties, an interception thrown, 1-13 converting third down, no sacks and no turnovers forced by the defense. Against Kentucky, three sacks allowed, 10 penalties, an interception thrown, 4-13 on third down, no sacks and no turnovers forced by the defense.

Two losses, way too similar for comfort.

In both losses, the offense was way too predictable. Fans want to see Graham Mertz throwing more passes to Ricky Pearsall to loosen up eight in the box looks. They want to see the offensive line open gaping holes in the defense like they did for Trevor Etienne against Tennessee. They want to see something other than a running play straight up the gut on fourth-and-3.

Now Napier isn’t going to give up calling plays – at least not this year – and he’s not going to do a midseason overhaul of the offense. Any changes made will be the subtle type, perhaps widening the splits in the offensive line or some changes to the O-line personnel. Maybe a little less predictability on offense and more aggressiveness to get takeaways and sacks on defense.

The season isn’t a disaster, yet it could be if Napier doesn’t adjust. Wholesale changes aren’t going to happen, but new wrinkles here and there could prove helpful.

It wouldn’t hurt to see a more vocal, more intense Billy Napier on the sideline. Stoic works well for Nick Saban but even Nick isn’t afraid for the world to see him pissed off every now and then. Billy might want to give it a try. At this juncture, it can’t hurt.

UF volleyball: Gators fall to No. 9

Florida’s 5-set loss to unranked Texas A&M last week proved costly as the Gators dropped all the way down from No. 4 nationally to No. 13. The Gators rebounded from that loss with a 4-set win over South Carolina on Sunday. Florida will host No. 25 Auburn Friday night at the O-Dome and Alabama on Sunday afternoon.

AVCA top 25: 1. Wisconsin 13-0; 2. Nebraska 13-0; 3. Stanford 11-2; 4. Washington State 14-1; 5. Oregon 13-2; 6. Louisville 12-2; 7. Pittsburgh 13-2; 8. Texas 9-3; 9. FLORIDA 11-2; 10. BYU 13-3; 11. Georgia Tech 13-1; 12. Tennessee 13-1; 13. Arkansas 13-2; 14. Penn State 10-3; 15. Creighton 12-3; 16. Minnesota 6-6; 17. Kansas 12-2; 18. Baylor 7-6; 19. Purdue 8-5; 20. Dayton 15-2; 21. Houston 7-5; 22. Kentucky 5-7; 23. Arizona State 15-1; 24. Ohio State 5-8; 25. (TIE) Auburn 12-3 and Iowa State 12-3

UF soccer: Vaka, Hinnenkamp honored by SEC

It was a good week for UF soccer. Not only did the Gators (5-3-3, 1-2-1 SEC) earn their first SEC win with a 4-0 shutout of LSU, but Daviana Vaka and Megan Hinnenkamp picked up weekly awards handed out by the Southeastern Conference. Vaka was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week for her effort as the Gators earned their sixth shutout of the season against LSU. Hinnenkamp earned her second SEC Freshman of the Week award with a goal in each half against the Tigers.

The Gators take on Mississippi State Thursday night in Gainesville then travel to Athens to face Georgia Sunday afternoon.

SEC football

No. 11 Alabama (4-1, 2-0 SEC): Freshman safety Caleb Downs was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week after registering 13 tackles, an interception and a pass breakup in Alabama’s win over Mississippi State … Quarterback Jalen Milroe says he takes “full ownership” of snapping issues that plagued Alabama against Mississippi State.

Arkansas (2-3, 0-2 SEC): The offensive line is an issue for the Razorbacks. They’re averaging only 3.23 yards per rush attempt and they’ve given up 18 sacks, which is 12th in the SEC.

Auburn (3-2, 0-2 SEC): Speaking to the Monday Morning Quarterback Club in Birmingham, Hugh Freeze spoke about the new scheduling model anticipated for the Southeastern Conference. “I’ll miss playing Georgia every year,” Freeze said. That’s the oldest continuous rivalry in the South. Will that be eliminated or is Freeze simply speculating? … Against Georgia, Auburn converted only 2-12 on third down and 0-1 on fourth down.

No. 1 Georgia (5-0, 2-0 SEC): Inside linebacker Smael Mondon was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week after a sack, two tackles for loss and 11 tackles overall in Georgia’s win over Auburn ... Placekicker Peyton Goodring was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week after connecting on both field goal attempts and all three extra points in the 27-20 win over Auburn.

No. 20 Kentucky (5-0, 2-0 SEC): Ray Davis was named SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week after running for 280 yards and three touchdowns along with a 9-yard touchdown pass reception as the Wildcats knocked off Florida, 33-14 … Jeremy Flax, who had five knockdown blocks and an 87 percent grade against Florida, was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week.

No. 23 LSU (3-2, 2-2 SEC): HBC Brian Kelly says he has the “utmost confidence” in defensive coordinator Matt House. That may be the case, but Kelly brough Pete Jenkins out of retirement to help coach the D-line. Jenkins is 82 years old and has been retired since 2017 … The wide receiver corps is banged up after the loss to Ole Miss. Kyren Lacy suffered a minor injury and is listed probable for Missouri. Aaron Anderson (hamstring) is questionable. Chris Hinton (ankle) is also listed as questionable. Javen Nicholas is listed as probable.

Mississippi State (2-3, 0-3 SEC): Freshman D-lineman Trevion Williams is out for the season, another hit to an already beaten up front four … The Bulldogs open up as 20-point favorites to beat Western Michigan (2-3) Saturday.

No. 21 Missouri (5-0, 1-0 SEC): Quarterback Brady Cook has thrown for 1,468 yards and 11 touchdowns without throwing an interception. Cook has thrown 347 passes without an interception, which is an SEC record.

No. 16 Ole Miss (4-1, 1-1 SEC): Jaxson Dart was named SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week for leading the Rebels past LSU, 55-49. Dart completed 26-39 for 389 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, plus ran 50 yards on 10 carries.

South Carolina (2-3, 1-2 SEC): South Carolina’s October 14 game with Florida is a sellout and will be broadcast on CBS at 3:30 … HBC Shane Beamer says the Gamecocks will use the bye week to get healthy and do some coaching before the Gamecocks face Florida.

No. 22 Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC): Defensive end James Pearce, who had three tackles, two sacks and a quarterback hurry in the Vols win over South Carolina was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week.

Texas A&M (4-1, 2-0 SEC): Ainias Smith was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week after returning three punts for 131 yards including one for 82 and a TD in the Aggies win over Arkansas. Smith also caught four passes for 71 yards.

Vanderbilt (2-4, 0-2 SEC): The Commodores are 18.5-point road underdogs for Saturday’s game with Florida … Quarterback AJ Swann is still not listed as 100 percent healthy, so right now it would appear that Ken Seals will get his second start Saturday. Against Missouri, Seals completed 20-31 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns. Seals was the starting QB for Vanderbilt against the Gators in both 2020 and 2021.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Even though we’re still a week or so away from the midway point of the season, no one would be even remotely surprised if the last two teams standing for the 2023 season are No. 1 Georgia and No. 4 Texas. Georgia has won the last two national championships and is the king until someone knocks the Bulldogs off their lofty perch. Texas is in its final go-round in the Big 12 before joining the Southeastern Conference along with Oklahoma. Urban Meyer says the Longhorns have the most complete team he’s seen all year.

By all measures, this is not the SEC’s finest year, but Georgia is more than capable of making a dominating run and it’s too early to count Alabama out of either the SEC or national championship picture. If Bama beats the Aggies, goes on to win the SEC West and faces off with Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, no one will be claiming 2023 was an off year for the league. When Texas and Oklahoma join the league next year, especially if the Longhorns make it to the national championship game, the SEC will be as strong or stronger than it has ever been.

Three months from now, reports of the SEC’s demise may prove to be ever so premature. A year from now, what we’ll be hearing is how unfair it is that an SEC that has won 13 of the last 17 national championships now has a pair of teams that between them own 11 national championships and nine Heisman trophy winners.