Which Florida team will show up Saturday to face Miami?

(Photo by Chris Spears)

Knowing Billy Napier’s coaching head is clearly on the college football chopping block, it will be interesting to see how the Gators (1-2) respond Saturday when they play 4^th-ranked Miami (3-0) at Hard Rock Stadium (7:30 p.m., ABC).

From a pure talent standpoint, the Gators have more than enough to hang with the Hurricanes but the object of the game is to save Napier’s job, so only a win will do. One win isn’t going to save Napier’s job, even if it is on the road and against the No. 4 team in the country, but it will certainly buy time. And, since it’s only the fourth game of the season, a win will keep the door open for Napier to get the Gators to respond similarly to what they did at the end of the 2024 season. Napier is coaching the Gators now because he got the team to win four in a row.

That was then and this is now.

In the here and now, any kind of loss might very well take the guesswork out of the decision that the University of Florida higher-ups have to make. So, how will the Gators respond?

If the Gators show up fully focused and eliminate the silly penalties and mental mistakes that have plagued them throughout their three games, a win isn’t out of the question but beating the Hurricanes will be a real grind. Do the Gators have the toughness to do some trench warfare and out-physical the Hurricanes? One of the complaints so far about the Gators is they lack toughness. A soft team makes the kind of errors that have cost them the last two games. A team that embraces its toughness will show up focused. It's a legitimate concern that the Gators haven’t shown themselves capable of slugging out a win.

So which team is going to show up Saturday? The one that can channel its inner Mike Tyson, ready for a toe-to-toe fight to the finish? Or the team that will figure out a new way to lose a football game?

The players have to know that losing will not just cost Napier but could very well diminish their value should they elect to transfer. That’s life in this age of NIL. Gators who are thinking of transferring need to play as hard as possible to create value for themselves in the transfer portal. Nothing diminishes cash value quite like a lack of effort.

Napier loves talking about the character of these players. If they are as high character as Napier believes, then they will play hard and give something that strongly impersonates maximum effort. They need to do it for the coach. They need to do it for themselves.

They also need to do it for the fan base. The only way they’re going to win back the fan base is play like they’re possessed.

JULUKE SUSPENDED THREE GAMES

As if there aren’t enough things that have gone wrong in the first month of the 2025 football season, now running backs coach Jabbar Juluke has been suspended three games for his actions during a pre-game altercation when the Gators played LSU in Baton Rouge. During the altercation, video appeared to show Juluke slapping LSU safety Joel Rogers. The SEC and Florida suspended Juluke three games. He will be allowed to coach during the week but won’t be on the sidelines or in the booth with the team the next three games.

BANKS HAS SURGICAL PROCEDURE ON HIS FOOT

Florida’s defense will be without lineman Caleb Banks for the foreseeable future. Banks, who missed the first two games while recovering from a foot injury, re-injured the foot during the LSU game. He has undergone a surgical procedure in Birmingham at the foot and ankle center headed by renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews.

SEC FOOTBALL

No. 14 Alabama (2-1): Alabama doesn’t play Georgia until September 27 in Athens, but the Crimson Tide has already been established as 3.5-point underdogs … Alabama receivers have been plagued by a case of the drops so far. “Guys have to continue to watch the ball all the way in,” HBC Kalen DeBoer said Wednesday.

Arkansas (2-1, 0-1 SEC): Defensive end Quincy Rhodes and defensive tackle David Oke are both expected to play Saturday at Memphis. Corner Kani Walker is questionable … Quarterback Taylen Greene leads the nation in total offense. He’s thrown for 866 yards (11 touchdowns) and run for 307 (2 touchdowns).Saturday: at Memphis (3-0)

No. 22 Auburn (3-0): Listed as probable for Oklahoma are running back Damari Alston and wide receiver Malcolm Simmons. Listed as questionable are safety Champ Anthony, wide receiver Eric Singleton, corner Rayshawn Pleasant and offensive tackle Izavion Miller. Doubtful are corner Jay Crawford and defensive end Amaris Williams. Out is running back Durrell Robinson. Saturday: at No. 11 Oklahoma (3-0)

No. 5 Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC): Joel Klatt of Fox Sports calls Gunner Stockton one of the top five quarterbacks in the country. “The throws he made against Tennessee were spectacular,” Klatt said on his Wednesday podcast.

Kentucky (2-1, 0-1 SEC): Zach Calzada has returned to practice. Will he be able to supplant backup Cutter Boley, who played very well in the Wildcats win over Eastern Michigan?

No. 3 LSU (3-0, 1-0 SEC): Despite what is being called a torso injury, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier is expected to play Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana. “I think he needs to play,” LSU coach Brian Kelly said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday. Saturday: Southeastern Louisiana (2-1)

Mississippi State (3-0): The Bulldogs have been flagged for 30 penalties in three games, worst in the SEC and No. 130 nationally … D.D. Lewis, an All-SEC linebacker who became a fixture in the Dallas Cowboys “Doomsday” defense of the 1970s, passed away. He was 79. Saturday: Northern Illinois (1-1)

No. 23 Missouri (3-0): Out for Saturday’s game with South Carolina are kicker Blake Craig, backup quarterback Sam Horn and offensive lineman Logan Reichert. Saturday: South Carolina (2-1, 0-1 SEC)

No. 11 Oklahoma (3-0): SEC Network analyst Jordan Rodgers says that Oklahoma QB John Mateer is “the guy right now to beat in the Heisman race.” Mateer has thrown for 944 yards and five touchdowns while running for 161 and four more scores through three games. Saturday: No. 22 Auburn (3-0)

No. 13 Ole Miss (3-0, 2-0 SEC): Austin Simmons is expected to be back at quarterback Saturday against Tulane. Given the way backup Trinidad Chambliss played last week when Simmons was out, it’s not a reach to see a quarterback controversy brewing in Oxford.  Saturday: Tulane (3-0)

South Carolina (2-1, 0-1 SEC): Listed as questionable for Missouri are quarterback LaNorris Sellers and wide receiver Mazeo Bennett Jr. Questionable are tight end Michael Smith and defensive back Judge Collier.Saturday: at No. 23 Missouri (3-0)

No. 15 Tennessee (2-1, 0-1 SEC): Through three games QB Joey Aguilar has thrown for 906 yards and nine TDs while running for one more TD. How well Aguilar has done has to gall UCLA. Aguilar spent the spring at UCLA, but when former Vol Nico Iamaleava decided to leave Tennessee and transfer to UCLA, Aguilar left for Knoxville. Through three games Iamaleava has thrown for 636 yards and three touchdowns for the 0-3 Bruins. Saturday: UAB (2-1)

No. 8 Texas (2-1): Former Gator Scooby Williams is undergoing testing to determine the extent of a lower body injury suffered in the win over Notre Dame.  Saturday: Sam Houston (0-3)

No. 10 Texas A&M (3-0): Safety Bryce Anderson is still recovering from his injury at Notre Dame. HBC Mike Elko expects to have Anderson back this season although there is no timetable for his return.

Vanderbilt (3-0, 1-0 SEC): Despite his attorney saying QB Diego Pavia could go to court to get a seventh season of eligibility, Pavia has shut down that notion … The Commodores have the No. 10 offense in the SEC (431.3 yards per game) and third in total defense (231.7 yards per game). Saturday: Georgia State (1-2)

A PLAN TO SAVE COLLEGE FOOTBALL FROM ITSELF

The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, eliminated the spring transfer portal Wednesday.  Consider it the first step toward doing something positive by an organization that consistently gets it wrong.

The NCAA Division I Football Oversight Committee voted for one 10-day window – January 2-11 – when it met back in September but oddly that proposal was not approved Wednesday. A majority coaches want a single portal in January after the bowl games. Not in favor is the Big Ten, which was the only power conference that didn’t support the coaches proposal.

A single portal in January won’t solve the NCAA’s numerous issues, but it would be a step in the right direction. If the NCAA were to take things further, they could go a long way toward saving college football from itself.

Here is how.

1. Eliminate spring football. A 12-game season is tough enough on the kids who play the game, but when you add in the conference championship game followed by the possibility of four more in the playoff, the season could last 17 games, which is the same as the NFL regular season.

Use the spring semester as a time for the athletes to get their academics in order and allow their bodies to recover from the long season. Open the portal for 10 days in January. Athletes will be able to transfer or they can finish things up at their school then transfer in the summer.

2. By eliminating spring football as we know it, high school kids can graduate with their friends and classmates, go to their proms, and play basketball or other sports in the spring.

3. A single signing day in February AFTER the portal has opened and closed. Coaches and kids alike could make better decisions about schools that are a good fit.

4. For Division I, eliminate games against D1AA schools in the fall. Instead, allow the D1AA schools to play Division I teams in June. Do that instead of the glorified scrimmage which bores everyone. Pay the D1AA team, have them bring their band and watch the sellouts. The Division I team doesn’t risk the embarrassing loss to a D1AA team and the D1AA team picks up its paycheck without absorbing a loss that could keep it out of its playoffs.

If the NCAA were to adopt this or something similar to it, perhaps as many as half the problems currently plaguing college football could be eliminated.