Thoughts of the Day: August 22, 2022

A few thoughts to jump start your Monday morning:

WITH JUST THREE REAL PRACTICE DAYS TO GO … Billy Napier said plenty without actually saying anything at all Sunday afternoon when he was asked if the Gators have made as much progress as he had hoped since fall camp began three weeks ago. For all practical purposes, there are only three real practices remaining since the Gators begin game-prep for Utah on Thursday, so with the exception of a couple of positions where injuries affect the rotation or the competition for a starting job is too close to call, Napier has a pretty good idea who’s going to play, who’s going to back up and who’s going to be cheerleading on the sideline September 3.

But, when asked about the progress, Napier went full gambler. He knows what cards he’s holding but it’s not quite time to show them.

“The number of variables out there is really high right now, if that makes sense,” he answered. “I mean, what we do on offense, what we do on defense, the combination of those two. And, I think that's one of the good things about kind of narrowing our focus when we're working on an opponent, is ‘Okay, here's the ready list, here's what's up, here's the inventory things that each player has got to know,’ and I think that will help us.”

Got that?

Billy thinks the Gators have improved but he also thinks there will be players on a learning curve that continues well into the season. He emphasized that this is a new group of players who are being coached up by a brand new staff of coaches. Newness extends even to the building where the Sunday press conference was held – the not quite completely finished but still spectacular Heavener Football Center where he stood before an impressive electronic screen that literally screams Florida Gators to whoever is watching.

“I think to go back to some of the things I've said before,” Napier said. “This is the first time we've done everything with a new group of players, at a new place with a new staff. Heck, we learn something about this building every day. So, just in general here, we're learning a little bit every day, but I do think we have a better understanding of our systems, I think we've improved fundamentally, I think we're much more of a close-knit group, I think we know each other and that we've actually got true connection. And, I'm hopeful that will affect how we play, how we handle adversity, our ability to stick together.”

To paraphrase: There is a whole lot going on but we will have to wait until the games start for real before he tells us anything in specifics. Until then, generalities will have to do.

And then he gave away what may or may not be keeping him and his coaching staff awake at night.

“I think football is a game of momentum – it’s a game of emotion – but I think it's important, that we, you know, how is that going to affect our team?” Napier asked rhetorically. “Are we going to splinter? Are we going to stick together? Is it going to galvanize our team? And I think one of the things we've taken great pride of in the past is we were a group that was together, right? I'm hopeful we can have that type of team here.”

So, there you go.

More Gator sports It was a big weekend for Gators Leanne Wong and Kayla DiCello at the US Gymnastics Championships at Amalie Arena in Tampa. Wong won the uneven bars gold medal while with her fourth place all-around finish, DiCello earned her third consecutive US Senior National Team berth.

Florida soccer coach Samantha Bohon recorded her first win as a Gator Sunday afternoon when UF shut out Stetson, 3-0, in DeLand. The Gators are now 1-1 with a pair of road matches next weekend against Baylor and Texas.

Florida women’s swimming made a huge addition when Caroline Pennington transferred in from Southern Cal. As a freshman at USC last year, Pennington won the Pac-12 1650m freestyle and scored 11 points for the Trojans at the NCAA Championships.

SEC football/basketball

Alabama: Nick Saban heaped praise upon junior wide receiver Traeshon Holden who had several catches in Saturday’s scrimmage. Holden caught 21 passes for 239 yards and one TD last season … Of the 11 scholarship basketball players currently on the Alabama roster that went on the European tour, eight are new to the program.

Arkansas: Wide receiver Jaquayln Crawford, who caught three passes for 27 yards in seven games last season, is in the transfer portal. Crawford was a 4-star recruit out of high school who signed originally with Oklahoma in 2018.

Auburn: Walk-on linebacker Jake Levant discovered he was being awarded a scholarship on the video board at Jordan-Hare Stadium after Saturday’s practice when the team was gathered around HBC Bryan Harsin at midfield. It seems the entire team saw the board before Levant and they quickly mobbed their teammate … During Auburn’s 3-game tour in Israel, Morehead State transfer Johni Broome averaged 17.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game.

Georgia: Running back Kendal Milton (hamstring), wide receiver Kearis Jackson (Achilles) and offensive tackle Earnest Greene (upper leg) are trying to work through injuries. Additionally, freshman running back Andrew Paul was injured in Saturday’s scrimmage.

Kentucky: All-SEC running back Chris Rodriguez will be suspended for three or four games including the SEC opener with Florida as a result of a DUI back in July. Rodriguez has run for 2,740 yards and 26 touchdowns in his UK career.

LSU: Running back John Emery, who was academically ineligible last season, will be suspended the two games of 2022. Emery has run for 576 yards and seven touchdowns in two seasons (2019-20) ... Corner Raydarious Jones is suspended for the entire 2022 season for academics.

Mississippi State: Incumbent starting QB Will Rogers completed 6-13 passes for 86 yards and a TD in Saturday’s scrimmage. Freshman Sawyer Robertson was 8-15 for 66 yards and two TDs but suffered an interception. Former South Alabama QB Chance Lovertich was 9-13 for 82 yards and a TD.

Missouri: Linebackers Carmycah Glass and Chuck Hicks will miss the entire 2022 season. Glass had season-ending surgery on Friday. Hicks suffered a torso injury in Mizzou’s scrimmage.

Ole Miss: Former Ole Miss quarterback John Rhys Plumlee has earned the starting QB job at UCF. As a true freshman in 2019, Plumlee ran for 1,023 yards and 12 touchdowns while throwing for 903 yards and four more TDs.

South Carolina: Pat DiMarco, who was an analyst and assistant director of football relations, is moving to a role with name, image and likeness for Gamecock football players.

Tennessee: Running back Lyn-J Dixon is no longer with the team.

Texas A&M: ESPN’s Chris Low believes Haynes King will win the 3-way battle for QB that includes LSU transfer Max Johnson and 5-star freshman Conner Wiegman. “Feeling I get is that Haynes King will be the starter,” Low tweeted. “King has thrown it well in camp and is one of the fastest players on the team.”

Vanderbilt: Ahead of their August 27 season opener in Honolulu, University of Hawaii director of player development Jeff Reinebold said, “Vanderbilt has no idea what they’re getting into.”

Our SEC orphans in the Big 12

Oklahoma: HBC Brent Venables expects young defensive ends Reggie Grimes and Ethan Downs to be difference-makers. Grimes was in on 18 tackles last year with two sacks, while Downs had 14 tackles and a half sack.

Texas: Former 5-star recruit and Ohio State transfer Quinn Ewers has been named the starter for the Longhorns’ opener against Louisiana-Monroe.

Football is played other places beside the SEC

Stewart Mandel of The Athletic on the Big Ten: “Yes, the Big Ten is the second-best conference. But when you look at it closely, Ohio State is the only program that is truly equipped to win a national championship. Yes, Michigan State and Michigan have both advanced to the Playoff, but neither was built to beat Alabama or an Alabama-like team two games in the postseason. There is a huge gap between making the Playoff and winning it all.”

As the (Quarterback) World Turns: Quinn Ewers who was the fourth string QB at Ohio State will be the starting QB at Texas. Casey Thompson, who was the starting QB at Texas until Quinnie and his blonde mullet transferred in, will be the starting QB at Nebraska. Adrian Martinez, who was the starting QB at Nebraska but decided he needed a change of scenery, will be the QB at Kansas State.

Utah: Matt Hayes of Saturday Down South, writing about the importance of the Utes winning their season opener with Florida: “That starts in Gainesville, where Florida and the rest of the SEC – and yes, the Big Ten – will see what everyone in the Pac-12 has known for years. The Utes have always been physical on the lines of scrimmage but haven’t had a quarterback this impactful (Cameron Rising) since the days of Alex Smith and Brian Johnson … Ohio State couldn’t figure out Utah’s tight end-based pass offense, and Florida will struggle with it too ... If defenses go smaller to cover, Utah runs on the edge. If defenses go bigger to stop the run, then Utah throws off play-action.”

ONE FINAL PITHY: Back in the day when he led the New York Yankees to the 1977-78 World Championships, Reggie Jackson described himself as “the straw that stirs the drink.” Essentially, that’s what Billy Napier has called quarterback Anthony Richardson. Richardson may have completed only 40 passes and run for 462 yards in his abbreviated Florida career, but he is the only QB with any SEC game experience. Jack Miller III, who has had thumb surgery and probably won’t be back until game three, threw 14 passes in two seasons buried on the Ohio State depth chart before transferring. Jalen Kitna, now the No. 2, is a redshirt freshman who hasn’t played a single down. Kyle Engel is a walk-on and No. 3. Max Brown is still trying to figure out where to go and what to do as a true freshman.

With the backup situation so precarious, some coaches might tell Richardson to cool it when it comes to taking off running, but Napier made it perfectly clear Sunday that “for us to win, Anthony Richardson’s got to – we’re going to play to his strengths, right? The guy’s a phenomenal athlete. He can make plays with his feet, some of those being designed, some of those being a threat and some of those are unannounced. And I think the key here is that he makes the right decision. And I think a lot of that is going to be determined dependent on our situation at that position, but there's no question we’re going to use Anthony’s legs. It's got to be a part of who we are and what we do.”

It goes beyond Richardson’s ability to run the football or throw a laser-guided dart to a wide receiver. For the Gators to win, Napier believes Richardson has to be the example everyone else on the team wants to and needs to follow.

“I think playing quarterback is a lot about how you influence other people, and the expectations that you have in your example,” Napier said. “So, I think that’s the great big challenge with Anthony right now, for him to fully embrace ‘I am the standard’ and match my detail, match my intensity, match my focus, match my approach in walking around. If anybody’s got any question about how things should be done when it comes to the University of Florida and our football program, they should be able to look at the quarterback and say, ‘Okay, I’m going to watch him and then I’m going to do it like he does.’”