“You say you got a real solution, well, we’d all love to see the plan” – From Revolution by The Beatles Thoughts of the Day 10.16.23 by Franz Beard Billy Napier has a plan. He’s been telling us he’s got one ever since he arrived in Gainesville back in December of 2021, but it might have taken Saturday’s 41-39 come-from-behind win over South Carolina in Columbia to convince a hefty portion of the Gator Nation that the plan is actually working. The significance of beating South Carolina has less to do with breaking a 5-game losing streak away from Gainesville as it does with the way the Gators (5-2, 3-1 SEC) came from 10 down in the final 9:11. In those final minutes, the Gators went from dead in the water to empowered. The offense did its part by going 75 yards on 14 plays to cut South Carolina’s lead to 37-34. That got Austin Armstrong’s defense into the act by producing two three-and-outs, one that counted, one that didn’t. The first one was nullified by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty. You may not think of that as something important in the grand scheme of things, but it was another of the game’s turning points because the Gators got to three-and-out the Gamecocks a second time. Two consecutive holds for a unit that was clueless in the third quarter. Gator fans were giddy. South Carolina fans were in shock. When the offense got the ball again Graham Mertz threw three straight incompletions. Some quarterbacks would get the yips and either short arm or airmail their fourth down throw, but Mertz evaded a rush and heaved a 26-yard on-the-run laser to Ricky Pearsall, who made a leaping catch in South Carolina territory. Fourth down converted. Dagger in the South Carolina heart. More dismay among the Gamecock faithful. What kind of rally would it be without some sort of divine intervention? That came when Pearsall got two hands on a Mertz pass and deflected it four yards forward. Tre Wilson just happened to be in the neighborhood so he caught the ball in stride and was 12 yards farther downfield before he was stopped. Mertz and Pearsall connected for what proved to be the game-winning TD with 47 seconds to go. South Carolina still had time to score a touchdown to win the game, but for a third time, Austin Armstrong’s defense came through, this time with a Miguel Mitchell interception, the only turnover of the entire game. Put it all together and you have a milestone win because (1) the Gators are on track to equal or better last year’s six wins; (2) mathematically UF is still in the SEC East hunt, just a game behind Georgia; (3) for the second straight week the offense opened up in large part because Wilson and Boardingham are significant enough threats that bracketing Pearsall becomes risky; (4) Mertz proved that he can come through in the clutch; (5) this was the first time Austin Armstrong’s defense came through with game-saving plays with the outcome in doubt; and (6) the Gators have the momentum of a win during the bye week ahead of Georgia. Had the Gators lost to South Carolina, you can bet the sharp knives of the critics would already be slicing and dicing away, but the Gators got the win and it is another box checked on Napier’s restoration plan. Some folks will still criticize, but that goes with the territory. What is important to know is that the Gators are making progress, maybe not as fast as some would like, but it’s progress just the same. Poll-iticks: Georgia still No. 1, Southern Cal takes a plunge Associated Press top 25: 1. Georgia 7-0; 2. Michigan 7-0; 3. Ohio State 6-0; 4. Florida State 6-0; 5. Washington 5-0; 6. Oklahoma 6-0; 7. Penn State 6-0; 8. Texas 5-1; 9. Oregon 5-1; 10. North Carolina 6-0; 11. Alabama 6-1; 12. Oregon State 6-1; 13. Ole Miss 5-1; 14. Utah 5-1; 15. Notre Dame 6-2; 16. Duke 5-1; 17. Tennessee 5-1; 18. Southern California 6-1; 19. LSU 5-2; 20. Missouri 6-1; 21. Louisville 6-1; 22. Air Force 6-0; 23. Tulane 5-1; 24. Iowa 6-1; 25. UCLA 4-2 Coaches top 25: 1. Georgia 7-0; 2. Michigan 7-0; 3. Ohio State 6-0; 4. Florida State 6-0; 5. Washington 5-1; 6. Penn State 6-0; 7. Oklahoma 6-0; 8. (TIE) Texas 5-1 and Alabama 6-1; 10. North Carolina 6-0; 11. Oregon 5-1; 12. Ole Miss 5-1; 13. Oregon State 6-1; 14. Utah 5-1; 15. Tennessee 5-1; 16. Southern California 6-1; 17. Duke 5-1; 18. Notre Dame 6-2; 19. LSU 5-2; 20. Missouri 6-1; 21. Louisville 6-1; 22. Air Force 6-0; 23. Iowa 6-1; 24. Tulane 5-1; 25. UCLA 4-2 SEC football No. 11 Alabama (6-1, 4-0 SEC): Nick Saban can’t be happy about the way Alabama is closing out games. Although the Crimson Tide is 4-0 in SEC games, they’ve only scored nine points combined in the fourth quarter. Also, while Alabama ranks third in the nation in sacks (26), the Tide is 130th in sacks allowed (31). Next week: vs. No. 17 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) Arkansas (2-5, 0-4 SEC): The offensive struggles are very real. In their last three SEC games, the Razorbacks have gained a combined 710 yards. In those same three games, the Razorbacks have run for a combined 178 yards, averaging 1.71 yards per carry. Next week: vs. Mississippi State (3-3, 0-3 SEC) Auburn (3-3, 0-3 SEC): Next week: vs. No. 13 Ole Miss (5-1, 2-1 SEC) No. 1 Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC): The injury to Brock Bowers is a real concern but he has an open week to get treatment. Diagnosed as an ankle sprain, Bowers was due for an MRI which should tell us how long he will need for recovery. Bowers has played through injuries before. He’s been on the field for all 36 games in his career. Next week: Open Kentucky (5-2, 2-2 SEC): Two things that trouble Kentucky fans. First of all, in 11 seasons on the job, Mark Stoops has exactly two wins over SEC teams that finished with a winning record in conference games … Quarterback Devin Leary was supposed to be the greatest thing since the invention of crushed ice, but through seven games he’s completed only 54.4 percent of his passes and seven have been picked off. Against Missouri, Leary averaged just 4.4 per attempt. Next week: Open No. 19 LSU (5-2, 4-1 SEC): Because LSU has lost twice, you don’t hear Jayden Daniels listed among the top five Heisman candidates, but he’s having a Heisman quality year. Daniels has thrown for 2,294 yards (11.0 per attempt) and 22 touchdowns (only three picks). He’s also run for 515 yards and four touchdowns. Daniels has the highest QB rating in the country at 197.74. Next week: vs. Army (2-4) Mississippi State (3-3, 0-3 SEC): HBC Zach Arnett gave no information about the status of quarterback Will Rogers during the bye week. If Rogers is unable to answer the bell against Arkansas this week, the starter at QB is expected to be Vanderbilt transfer Mike Wright, who has thrown 11 passes all season. Next week: at Arkansas (2-5, 0-4 SEC) No. 20 Missouri (6-1, 2-1 SEC): Kentucky did something no one has been able to do all year by taking Luther Burden out of the game (2 catches, 15 yards), but the Tigers still hung 38 points on the Wildcats. While Mizzou’s offense didn’t hit on all cylinders, the defense got four sacks and forced three turnovers. Next week: vs. South Carolina (2-4, 1-3 SEC) No. 13 Ole Miss (5-1, 2-1 SEC): Bye week emphasis was improving third downs on both sides of the football. The Rebels are 9th in the league in converting on offense, 12th in getting teams off the field on third down defensively. Next week: at Auburn (3-3, 0-3 SEC) South Carolina (2-4, 1-3 SEC): Division II transfer Mario Anderson has been a revelation in the running game. In the last three games he’s carried the ball 56 times for 287 yards and two TDs. He gained 98 on 20 carries Saturday against the Gators. Next week: at No. 20 Missouri (6-1, 2-1 SEC) No. 17 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC): The Joe Milton experiment isn’t exactly going well. The Vols are winning but it’s because they have an exceptional running game and a stout defense. The Vols average 230.33 rushing yards per game and the defense ranks fourth in the Southeastern Conference. Milton is averaging only 6.9 yards per pass attempt with 10 TDPs, quite a drop from last year when Hendon Hooker averaged 9.5 per attempt while throwing 27 touchdown passes. Next week: at No. 11 Alabama (6-1, 4-0 SEC) Texas A&M (4-3, 2-2 SEC): The Bobby Petrino experiment isn’t going very well. In four SEC games, the Aggies are averaging only 23.5 points and just 349.75 yards. In three non-conference games, the Aggies averaged 44 points and 467 yards per game. The dropoff in SEC play is alarming and hardly what was expected when Jimbo Fisher brought on Petrino as his play caller. Next week: Open Vanderbilt (2-6, 0-4 SEC): No team in the SEC needs an open date more than Vandy, which has lost six straight games. Although the Commodores did get 20 points against Georgia, they managed only 219 yards and only 18 on the ground. Vandy hasn’t run for more than 97 yards in an SEC game. Next week: Open ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Here are eight things that have me thinking on a Sunday night. 1. It’s a long time before championship weekend in December, but based on what I’ve seen so far, here are the four teams that I think will make the Final Four – Georgia, Michigan, Washington and Texas. 2. The five best players I’ve seen this season are Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia; Michael Penix, QB, Washington; Jayden Daniels, QB, LSU; Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina; and Dillon Gabriel, QB, Oklahoma. 3. After watching the way Alabama flounders late in games, I can’t see the Crimson Tide making the playoff. I’m not even sure they’ll win the SEC West because that means they’ll have to beat Tennessee and LSU in consecutive games. 4. What will the CFB playoff committee do if a 2-loss LSU wins the SEC Championship? No 2-loss team has ever made the playoff. Would the committee choose a 1-loss Georgia over 2-loss SEC champ LSU? Or would they choose both? That would certainly blow up the college football universe. 5. The more I see Michigan, the more I think the Wolverines have what it takes to win it all. Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy is every bit as good as all the Left Coast QBs everyone is raving about and the Wolverines have depth everywhere. Not even Georgia may have as much depth on the line of scrimmage as Michigan. 6. I can’t see Caleb Williams winning a second straight Heisman, not after Southern Cal lost by four touchdowns to Notre Dame with Williams completing three passes to the Irish. To win the Heisman, Williams is going to have to play lights out to lead the Trojans past Utah, Washington, Oregon and UCLA. Based on what I’ve seen of the Southern Cal defense, there are a couple of losses in there. 7. I’m still wondering how it is experts think Florida State has a playoff-worthy resume. The Seminoles have a win over LSU, which has two losses, and a win over the worst Clemson team in years. I think the Seminoles are good, just not that good. 8. Texas A&M is about to go 8-4. Again. They fired Kevin Sumlin because he consistently went 8-4. With Texas entering the SEC and Oklahoma always recruiting Texas so well, I can see the Aggies reacting by buying Jimbo Fisher out.

“Never count your chickens before you can stick a fork in them.” – Christian McKay

Ben Troupe, Loren Meadows, Franz Beard and Tony Barhart Ali Peek Wilbur, Edgar Thompson, David Moulton

Urban on playing in South Carolina

Road kill. What else can you call the Florida Gators, who are 2-15 away from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium since the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta in December of 2020? The Gators went 0-2 in December 2020, 1-6 in 2021, 1-5 in 2022 and 0-2 in 2023. The two wins are over teams that finished with losing records – 42-20 over a 2-10 South Florida team in 2021; 41-24 over a 5-7 Texas A&M team in 2022. That’s 1-8 in the final stages of the Dan Mullen era; 1-7 in the first year-and-a-half of the Billy Napier era.

Gators (4-2, 2-1) vs. Gamecocks (2-3, 1-2)

A few thoughts to jump start your Thursday morning: Other than the fact they all are starting quarterbacks in the Southeastern Conference, what do Jayden Daniels (LSU), Spencer Rattler (South Carolina), Joe Milton (Tennessee), Jaxson Dart (Ole Miss), Devin Leary (Kentucky), Payton Thorne (Auburn) and Max Johnson (Texas A&M) have in common with Graham Mertz? They all started their collegiate football careers somewhere else. The same thing holds true for Caleb Williams (Southern California), Bo Nix (Oregon), Shedeur Sanders (Colorado), Dillon Gabriel (Oklahoma), Jordan Travis (Florida State), Cameron Ward (Washington State), Quinn Ewers (Texas), Taulia Tagovailoa (Maryland), Haynes King (Georgia Tech), Kedon Slovis (BYU), Emory Jones (Cincinnati) and Jack Plummer (Louisville). And that’s scratching the surface. Rare is the QB who spends his entire career at one school. Billy Napier’s answer to a question about quarterbacks in the transfer portal Wednesday night made it perfectly clear he questions where the Gators (4-2, 2-1 SEC) would be without Mertz, who was a 2019 recruit to Wisconsin. Mertz was the No. 7 QB in that 2019 class. Rattler was No. 1, Daniels No. 2 and Nix No. 3. “Yeah, just the world we’re living in and thank the good Lord for it,” Napier said. “We certainly have benefitted from it.” Mertz and Rattler will face off Saturday afternoon in Columbia, both with something to prove. Rattler is trying to salvage a South Carolina (2-3, 1-2 SEC) season that some experts predicted would be good for No. 2 in the SEC East when the games began for real back in August. He’s done his part fairly well (73 percent completions, 1,411 yards, 8.7 per attempt, 7 TDPs and just 3 INTs), but his offensive line has let him down regularly. Rattler has been sacked 23 times. Mertz is looking break a 5-game Florida road losing streak that dates back to last season while keeping the Gators just a game back of SEC East leader Georgia. Mertz is 140-175 passing (80 percent, second nationally), for 1,474 yards (8.4 per attempt) and nine TDS (2 INTs). The portal isn’t going to go away, nor is the increasing number of quarterbacks who transfer out in search of St. Somewhere Else where they feel they’ll have a fair shot at showing what they can do. Napier thinks this is a trend that won’t slow down any time soon “because you’ve just got one starter and as time goes there’s just movement, because everybody wants to prove they’re the guy and they can play.” Not every transfer quarterback flourishes in his new destination. Florida’s Jack Miller III has been injured most of his two seasons at Florida since transferring from Ohio State. JT Daniels, who is having a good year at Rice, started his career at Southern Cal before spending two years at Georgia and a year at West Virginia. TJ Finley, once the heir apparent at LSU, is thriving at Texas State after languishing two years at Auburn. Napier knows attrition is part of today’s college game and not just at the quarterback position. He knows it’s going to happen this year at Florida even though he believes UF has a second to none situation. “I’m to a point now where we’re in our second year here,” Napier said. “We’ve completely rebuilt the player experience here. If they don’t want to, they don’t want to be here. I can’t imagine I much better place to go to play college football after being here a couple of years. I would put our player experience up against anybody in the country, relative to the whole package. It’s taken time to get there, but I believe in what we have to offer the student-athlete – the alumni network, the player development program that we have in place with GatorMade, connecting the dots, really having a holistic plan for who we are as people, students and football players; the level of detail we offer from a resource standpoint, strength and conditioning, sports science, nutrition, training room, football development, facilities, NIL, location – I don’t know about y’all but the last couple of days it’s been pretty nice out there. It’s October in Gainesville and it’s pretty tough to beat. If they don’t want to be here, they don’t want to be here. “We have the opportunity to sign in the country both in high school and the best players available in the portal. I don’t think that’ll be a problem going forward. Will we have attrition? Absolutely. There’ll be some attrition, but I think that’s just reality. Some of it’s healthy. When you think about it, if a guy’s on the fence he doesn’t need to be here.” Etienne good to go: Running back Trevor Etienne, who missed last week’s win over Vanderbilt, is healthy and ready to go Saturday in Columbia. He’s been kept non-contact all week, but Napier says, “He’s ready to go.” Injury report: C Kingsley Eguakun (lower body, out); WR Caleb Douglas (lower body, out); WR Andy Jean (lower body, out); TE Jonathan Odom (upper body, out); WR Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman (lower body, out); TE Dante Zanders (lower body, questionable) SEC football No. 11 Alabama (5-1, 3-0 SEC): Wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks has been practicing this week and is good to go against Arkansas. DB Malachi Moore and punter James Burnip will be game-time decisions. Arkansas (2-4, 0-2 SEC): Linebacker Chris Paul Jr., linebacker Alfahiym Walcott, defensive lineman Cameron Ball and corner Jalyn Bramlett are all listed as doubtful for Alabama. Corner Nudie McGlothern is expected back after missing a game under concussion protocol. Auburn (3-2, 0-2 SEC): When it comes to LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, HBC Hugh Freeze doesn’t think he can be stopped because Daniels has too many weapons at his disposal. “The key of this game is: Can you hold them to field goals?” Freeze said Wednesday. No. 1 Georgia (6-0, 3-0 SEC): After Georgia’s 51-13 win over Kentucky last week, Kirby Smart told his team, “We still aren’t where we want to go, but we’re starting to see some indications.” No. 24 Kentucky (5-1, 2-1 SEC): Although Paul Finebaum torched Mark Stoops for his comments about Georgia getting better players because of NIL – “Stoops came out very petty and small” – Cole Cubelic came to Stoops’ defense. “Just because you haven’t heard as many coaches come out and say it in plain view the way Mark Stoops did doesn’t mean that it’s not happening and doesn’t mean they don’t feel the same way,” Cubelic said on his Birmingham radio show co-hosted by Greg McElroy. No. 22 LSU (4-2, 2-1 SEC): Addressing the problems the Tigers have had on defense, Brian Kelly said, “It’s like anything else, turnovers, tackles for loss, sacks, those things become contagious and we’re hoping that we catch a little bit of that.” LSU has 11 sacks, six interceptions and 32 tackles for loss this season. Mississippi State (3-3, 0-3 SEC): On the SEC Coaches Teleconference, Zach Arnett said quarterback Will Rogers is being evaluated on a day-to-day basis for a shoulder injury suffered in the win over Western Michigan. Vanderbilt transfer Mike Wright is the backup QB in case Rogers can’t go. He’s completed 8-11 passes this season for 61 yards and a TD. Missouri (5-1, 1-1 SEC): Coming off their first loss of the season, quarterback Brady Cook expects the Tigers to play with a rather large chip on their shoulders against Kentucky in Lexington this week. “We’re going to have a chip on our shoulder and we’re going to show it in practice,” Cook said. No. 13 Ole Miss (5-1, 1-1 SEC): Wide receiver Jordan Watkins left practice Wednesday with a hand injury, although the severity has yet to be determined. Through six games, Watkins has 36 catches for 536 yards and two touchdowns. South Carolina (2-3, 1-2 SEC): The Gators were among the worst teams in the country getting off the field on third down last year. This year, opponents convert only 26.47 percent of the time, which prompted South Carolina coach Shane Beamer to say “they present a lot of problems, particularly when you get to third down. Lot of volume in their defense and they’ve been really good on third down defense this season already. We’re going to have to play real well up front on the offensive line and tight end to be able to get some runs going and protect our quarterback.” No. 19 Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC): The Vols have been able to get to the quarterback 22 times this season using mostly a 4-man rush, which has freed up their linebackers to drop into coverage. “We’ve been better getting to the quarterback with a 4-man rush, which changes the coverages you’re able to play on the back end,” Josh Heupel said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference call Wednesday morning. Texas A&M (4-2, 2-1 SEC): The Aggies netted 70 rushing yards last week against Alabama, which got to quarterback Max Johnson for five sacks. This week the Aggies go against a Tennessee team that is tied for fourth nationally with 22 sacks in five games. The Vols give up only 115.4 yards per game on the ground, 3.14 per carry. Vanderbilt (2-5, 0-3 SEC): Vanderbilt has not scored a touchdown against the Georgia defense since 2018. The Commodores have lost the last two games against the Bulldogs by a combined 117 points. ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, whipped out its silk gloves and gave Kansas basketball’s wrists a thorough thrashing. Oh how painful! The entire Jayhawk Nation is writing in pain. Sure, the NCAA vacated 15 wins from the 2017-18 season, but compare that to the 100 the NCAA made Louisville vacate from 2011-15. Best of all from a Kansas viewpoint, the Level I violations were downgraded and the three years of probation won’t keep the Jayhawks from playing in the postseason. This is typical of the NCAA, which wants to be taken seriously as the governing body of collegiate athletics. The only thing the NCAA does seriously is run dandy tournaments. That much it can do. As for dealing with athletes, enforcing rules or making new rules that are beneficial to athletes and recruits, the NCAA lacks the moral compass to do anything remotely useful. It isn’t like the NCAA didn’t have the goods on Kansas. All the NCAA had to do was use the testimony under oath in Federal Court by people who went to jail as part of the college basketball corruption investigation and trials. Kansas collaborated with Adidas to buy players. Kansas coach Bill Self claims he didn’t know anything about it and all evidence against him personally was second hand or circumstantial. By all accounts, what the FBI and the NCAA had on Kansas should have been enough for the death penalty. Of course, we were saying the same thing about Tennessee football. The NCAA had the Vols on more than 200 recruiting violations. The NCAA even admitted it considered the death penalty but rather than drop the hammer as it should have, Tennessee was fined a few million dollars and can still go to bowl games or participate in the College Football Playoff. Then LSU coach Will Wade was caught on wiretap boasting about buying players. An LSU football booster embezzled more than a half million from a Baton Rouge hospital so he could pay a player. For that, LSU got a slap on the wrist and no serious punishment for either sport. LSU probably feels foolish for firing Wade about now. Arizona, Louisville, North Carolina State, Oregon and Creighton were identified as cheaters in the FBI investigation. Their punishments even lighter than Kansas. Like LSU, Arizona must feel foolish for firing coach Sean Miller. Of course, Miller landed on his feet. He’s the head coach at Xavier. At some point college presidents and athletic directors need to be grabbed by the lapels and shaken silly for continuing to maintain membership in the NCAA. There needs to be wholesale exit from this corrupt organization. Start a brand new organization with all new rules and without the bloated, inefficient yet highly paid bureaucracy. It’s past time

As has been the case nearly every home game this year for Florida, recruits lined the south end zone as the Gators took the field. However, it was not just recruits who resided in Gainesville this past Saturday. A handful of Florida legends were also in attendance, making their pitch for why these prospects should choose to don the Orange & Blue.

Former Florida Gators star quarterback Anthony Richardson is set to miss a minimum of four weeks after being placed on the injured reserve after suffering a shoulder injury on Sunday.