Yogi, Billy Napier, DJ Lagway and the Florida Gators vs. LSU Tigers

With DJ Lagway (2) at QB, the Gators have a shot at knocking off LSU (Gator Bait Photo by Chris Spears)

“Make a game plan and stick with it. Unless it’s not working.” -- Yogi Berra

Monday, DJ Lagway practiced. That’s good news for the Gators, who had Georgia on the ropes a couple of weeks ago before he went down with a soft tissue injury to his hamstring. Lagway suited up for the Texas game last week but a game time decision kept Florida’s stud freshman quarterback on the sideline. Walk-on QB Aidan Warner got the start against Texas and he was about as effective as he was in relief of Lagway after the injury in the Georgia game.

A healthy Lagway gives the Gators a chance to beat LSU, especially if some of the other walking wounded are able to play. The LSU defense has all sorts of trouble with the run, particularly when the opposing quarterback poses a credible threat throwing the ball. With Lagway, the LSU safeties won’t be able to play in the box. With Warner, Florida doesn’t have much of a passing game and that affects the efficiency of the running game.

The game plan needs to be Lagway at quarterback, Chimere Dike and Elijhah Badger at the wide receivers, Jackson and Baugh at the running backs with perhaps Montrell Johnson Jr. if he’s able to go, and a whole bunch of defenders returning healthy.

Success, begins with Lagway.

“Well, good thing is we worked him out this morning and felt good about what we saw,” Florida coach Billy Napier said Monday. “You know, so now, does that mean he's 100 percent? I don't necessarily -- soft tissue is a very subjective issue. I think it's day-to-day.”

LSU is listed as a 4.5-point favorite. Will the money in Las Vegas move more to Florida if indeed Lagway is able to play? Will it increase if the Lagway game plan doesn’t work and plan B (Warner) is implemented?

“It’s like Déjà vu all over again.” -- Yogi Berra

After four weeks of serious progress on the defensive side of the football, the Gators reverted back to the defense of the losses to Miami and Texas A&M. Although the Gators gave up 455 yards and 34 points to Georgia, that wasn’t a case of bad defense. That loss had more to do with the defense wearing down because the offense couldn’t get anything going in the second half. From the outset against Texas, the defense was in deepest and darkest. It’s true there wasn’t a lot of help from the offense until the second half when Ja’Kobi Jackson and Jadan Baugh ran the ball so effectively, but the defense was just plain bad.

“I think when we've had point of attack wins we've had good gap integrity, communicated well, played with the right leverage in the secondary, tackled well, in the core, on the perimeter,” Napier said. “I think that's when we have had success playing defense. When we haven't done that is when we've had issues.”

The LSU game is winnable. Garrett Nussmeier is prone to throwing interceptions (11 in nine games) and he doesn’t react well to pressure. Can the Gators cover? Can they get pressure? If they can they can win. If they can’t it will be Miami, Texas A&M and Texas all over again.

“Ninety percent of mental errors are in your head.” -- Yogi Berra

In explaining the debacle that was Florida’s 49-17 loss to Texas, Napier spoke Monday about all the mistakes made on the back end of a defense that made Quinn Ewers look like he was channeling his inner Roger Staubach.

“Yeah, no, I think, yeah, all of those were a little bit of some communication errors, some missed assignments, and I think just in general, on the perimeter we didn't tackle well. We missed tackles at inside backer, missed tackles in the secondary. I thought we played with the wrong leverage on a few occasions.”  

The problem with the rash of communication errors and missed assignments is the next two games -- LSU this week and Ole Miss the week after. LSU has a sophisticated passing game with Garrett Nussmeier throwing to receivers who are every bit as good as the ones that torched the Gators against Texas. Ole Miss has a better QB in Jaxson Dart and when they’re healthy, the best receivers in the country.

This is no time for mental errors, 90 percent of which are in the head.

“If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” -- Yogi Berra

Scott Stricklin believes Billy Napier knows where he’s going, which is why he made it known a week ago that Billy will be back as Florida’s head coach in 2025. It’s either that, or after serious talks with the people who write the big checks, Stricklin believes he either (a) doesn’t have the money it would take to fire Napier and bring in someone new, or (b) thinks the $100 million it would take to clean house with the football program would be better spent keeping DJ Lagway happy by bringing in a few more players capable of playing at a highly competitive SEC level.

That’s right. $100 million. Start with the nearly $45 million it would take to fire Napier, assistants and the slew of analysts who inhabit The Heav and then add what it would take to hire the kind of coach who will appeal to the Gator Nation. Another coach from the Sun Belt (Napier), Mountain West (McElwain) or no head coaching experience (Zook, Muschamp) will not do. By the time the new coach and assistants are hired, plus the new guy hires his own version of the “army” to replace Napier’s “army,” it will cost somewhere around $56 million.

“Listen up because I’ve got nothing to say and I’m only going to say it once.” -- Yogi Berra

There are times when Billy Napier explains things and it makes perfect sense. Then there are far too many when it’s obvious that he worked for Jim McElwain. With McElwain there was no such thing as a straight answer. Napier has days like that when a lot of words are spoken and then you look back and ask yourself, “What the hell did he say?”

It’s a good thing that Napier relates very well to the kids within the program. They love him. One-on-one it’s said he can be extremely engaging. We need to see more of the engaging Billy Napier. If he were to open up, show the human side and maybe get pissed off every now and then, a lot more Florida fans would get behind him.”

COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY

EXTINCT SPECIES LIST

Joe Houston, East Carolina: Obviously, firing Houston has rejuvenated the ECU program. The Pirates are 2-0 and have scored 105 points since Houston was canned. Interim Blake Harrell might make it difficult for ECU to look further for a permanent coach. The Pirates should get a win this week against  Tulsa.

Mike Bloomgren, Rice: When the average freshman has a 1550 SAT score and your decrepit 70,000-seat stadium covers up more than 23,000 seats you’ve got troubles. They’re hoping Vandy offensive coordinator Tim Beck is interested.

Will Hall, Southern Miss: Some folks think Blake Anderson, who was once quite successful at Arkansas State, would be the ideal candidate.

ON LIFE SUPPORT

Stan Drayton, Temple: The Owls have given up 108 points in their last two losses. It’s a matter of when not if Drayton gets pink slipped.

Joe Moorhead, Akron: The Zips are 2-7 and the only winnable game in the last three is Kent State. Loser of that game gets fired first. Moorhead needs to go back to being an offensive coordinator. He’s rather good at that.

Kenni Burns, Kent State: Career record 1-20. He’s three games away from a reverse perfect season (0-12).

Trent Dilfer, UAB: It still boggles the mind that Trent Dilfer is a former Super Bowl winning QB. They really don’t have the money to fire him at UAB. Maybe a few bake sales and car washes would give them the cash they need.

Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech: The Bulldogs play in Conference USA and pay Cumbie almost $1 million. They’re losing money and losing a lot of football games (9-23 so far in three years).

Jim McElwain, Central Michigan: The Chips have lost four in a row and could very well lose the last three. If Old Yeller survives he will be on the shortest of leashes next year. The folks in Mount Pleasant are wondering why this guy is being paid more than $1 million a year.

Mike Neu, Ball State: The Cardinals are teetering on the verge of a fourth straight losing season. They love Mike Neu, but enough to keep him with a 40-61 career record?

Ricky Rahne, Old Dominion: The Monarchs are 4-5. They probably lose the last three which means ODU pulls the plug. There is enough talent in Tidewater Virginia that ODU should never have a losing season in the Fun Belt.

ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST

Billy Napier, Florida: Athletic director Scott Stricklin let it be known that Billy is going to return next year. It’s easier to pour the $40 million it would take to fire Napier and staff into keeping DJ Lagway, Jadan Baugh and a bunch of other young, talented players. The Gators still have to play LSU and Ole Miss in the next two weeks, but knock off one of the two and FSU in the last week and the Gators make a bowl game. What a concept.

Hugh Freeze, Auburn: Unless Mr. Yella Wood and some of Auburn’s high powered, big money boosters change their minds, Freeze will be back next year. If he intends to be back beyond 2025, he better win and win big.

Don Brown, UMass: The Minutemen could be a power in D1AA like they used to be except they need paycheck games to pay for the non-revenue sports. He’s always endangered.

Sam Pittman, Arkansas: Sam needs one more win to be bowl eligible. That would be an accomplishment and it would appease the masses.

Kevin Wilson, Tulsa: He’s getting paid $1.9 million and folks are starting to ask why? It’s only his second year. He can start to sweat next year.

Mike Norvell, Florida State: The Seminoles won 13 straight last year. They’re 1-9 this year and probably finish 1-11. If someone wanted to hire Norvell, the boosters wouldn’t hold him to the buyout.

Tom Herman, Florida Atlantic: The natives are getting restless. Herman is 6-15 in two seasons. He won at Houston and at Texas. They don’t understand why he isn’t winning at FAU. He’ll get a third season but he better win.