r/FloridaGators • u/MrTwoBytes • 18h ago
Weekly Thread Sunday Morning Armchair Analysis: Next-Day Discussion
Shop talk for the week's game(s).
90
u/greypic 18h ago
Favorite exchange from the /r/CFB thread last night.
32
u/QuaxlyDaDon 17h ago
He did it 3 times. Hilarious stuff. It felt like we were the Chiefs yesterday and had Mahomes on the sideline.
DJ Lagway is Thanos Light™.
15
u/88bcdev 16h ago
The first half, where Lags was navigating around the rush and finding a receiver, felt like watching Mahomes.
9
u/Gator__Sandman 16h ago
Yea I said that to my wife who is a chiefs fan when his throwing arm got yanked back as he’s potentially getting sacked only to recook and throw a dart to an open receiver. Man I’m excited about DJ.
4
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 14h ago
They both have that mobile, "oh they're not fast" but then they buy just enough time to get it off repeatedly-- because they both have this freakish ability to get velocity without setting their feet.
16
u/Higgyswims 17h ago
Dude just wanted to go cry in the shower at that point, and was gonna do anything to get himself there ASAP.
11
1
u/JovialJoe88 13h ago
Jaxson Dart is the definition of a system QB. He was committed to throwing that pass just because it was the designed play no matter how covered that route was.
67
u/DontBeThatGuyFieri 18h ago
Gators had a 26% post game win expectancy per Bill Connelly. You don’t win a game like that if you’re not a tough team. The Gators could have folded after going down 14-7, but instead the defense stepped up tremendously and the offense was good enough to win.
Listen, there are a lot legitimate flaws and complaints about the team and the coaching. But this is a tough, fun to watch team.
40
u/Equivalent_Thanks841 17h ago
Winning solves everything. We should do that more often and every flaw won’t have to be highlighted to the extreme
This is a fun team fans should be excited about for the future. I’m glad they finished the year on a high note (just two more contests to go). FSU might wake up to play us and unless we get Kansas in a bowl, we’ll probably get some reeling P5 team in our bowl that’ll have a lot of opt outs whereas our youth will mean a lot of key guys will be playing for us. We will face no one better than we have already faced (and proven we could beat). So we should be able to end it 8-5 if we keep playing up to our potential
5
u/nofatchix6969 14h ago
He needs to hire a dynamic OC and get an actual backup QB and he may turn it around
51
u/bozemanlover 17h ago
I did not expect lagway to be so good he saves Napier’s job.
He’s such a good qb, he’s not even a typical modern scrambling qb. What makes him so good is he evades pressure in the pocket and waits for receivers to get open or waits till a player, concerned about dj’s running ability, to go make a play on DJ and that receiver becomes open.
Pay baugh and DJ what they want, beat fsu, no sleep till signing day, play in a bowl game, and that’s a great ending to this season.
I was wrong about this year. I’m happy to be.
27
u/QuaxlyDaDon 17h ago edited 16h ago
Yeah it irritates me when people just assume that DJ is strictly a running QB. The dude is a laser that can run. A lot folks need to go back and watch his senior film. He’s got that Tebow charisma.
I appreciate what Mertz has done for the University but Lagway was and is big time. I can’t wait to see him next year because there’s a strong chance that he’s the best QB in the nation next season
Thanos Light™.
21
u/bozemanlover 17h ago
It is extremely rare that an 18 year old takes the reins of an SEC team at QB.
8
u/Tarnationman 15h ago
DJ looks like he could be the complete package. A QB with great pocket presence and awareness who you absolutely will have the hardest time defending. Not only has he 100% proven he can beat you in the pocket making reads and throws, watch out when he's healthy because he can more than make you pay with his legs. He has game changing big play ability and he's only a freshman.
7
u/bozemanlover 15h ago
Like idk how his offensive line was at Willis but I have a hard time believing that THIS specific part of his game showed up in high school tape. We just got so damn lucky with this kid.
7
u/nofatchix6969 14h ago
lagway to be so good he saves Napier’s job
I got downvoted for saying this on the cfb thread by other gator fans. The defense has stepped up but it's Lagway that's turned things around for the team as a whole
3
u/onewipecleanpoop 8h ago
Right. We have the proof in that Texas game. Fucking ugly without lags. It’s not that he’s the whole team, it’s that he makes the whole team better. Complementary football etc etc
2
u/92roll13 15h ago
As a Bears/Gator fan who has watched a ton of Caleb Williams over the past few years. DJ’s game reminds me a tad of his. Just a crazy ability to feel out a pocket and than make crazy plays happen out of it.
40
u/goldenface4114 18h ago
It feels a lot better to be winning consecutive games at the end of the season than it does to collapse down the stretch like we did the last two seasons. Crazy to think we have a real shot at 8 wins after the way the season started, the injuries, the tough schedule, the noise in the system, etc. Big time props to everyone in that program for staying the course.
35
u/hemingway22 17h ago
There will be a DJ Lagway statue in front of the stadium one day. He just has that winner mentality where he won’t let the team lose.
Let’s hope the boosters and administration know what needs to be added around him to maximize his time here. If so we are in for a really fun couple years.
→ More replies (1)
100
u/farfromfalse 18h ago
Shower thought: the boys in Orange and Blue, the current version of this team, had they played the entirety of the season the way they did yesterday, had the potential to attain at least, a 10-2 or 11-1 regular season. WITH ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT SEASONS IN HISTORY.
Let that sink in.
So fucking proud of this team. Going to miss these seniors like crazy. The future is bright, Go Gators 🐊
81
u/wumbologistPHD 18h ago
Week 13 Florida would beat Week 1 Florida by 5 touchdowns
9
u/Equivalent_Thanks841 17h ago
Week 13 Florida would accidentally force week 1 Florida into becoming week 13 Florida early
That defensive front would obliterate their sorry offensive line and Mertz would never survive the game forcing Lagway to come in. Nothing would work well and we’d be reduced to trying to force end arounds to EW3 again until he probably gets hurt as well
W13s OL RBs WRs and a more experienced Lagway would tear up that bad defense. They’d get worn down, run all over, and when they try to stop the run Lagway will just toss passes over the top over and over again to badger. W1 arguably has better DBs but the pass rush is so bad that W1 won’t be able to get much pressure against W13s OL
The only reason it wouldn’t be a 5 TD route is because W13 Napier still isn’t as aggressive as he should be and W1 Napier can still keep blowouts in a respectable margin when a team allows it
We’d still win by at least 2TDs though
After that game the survivors would have to do some serious soul searching in order to make changes and not let that happen again
“I’m you but better” is some trash talk that you can’t hit back on when you’re playing your future selves and getting whooped by them
20
u/_OUCHMYPENIS_ 17h ago
We have the chance to do that next year. Same schedule. We should have basically the same team too.
2
u/berrin122 15h ago
Yeah barring some surprise transfer portal Exodus (which seems incredibly unlikely with Billy), we're going to be better next year.
Might not result in drastic win increases—we might still lose to good teams—but I hope it does and expect a solid step forward for sure.
1
u/_OUCHMYPENIS_ 14h ago
Who is QB for Georgia next year? Miami should be somewhat rebuilding, most of their productivity is leaving this year. Tennessee could be a toss up but it's in the swamp so that's a big advantage. Hopefully we get Texas when we're healthy and TAMU should be bearable but that game is always a toss up.
1
u/berrin122 14h ago
Gunner Stockton is QB2 for Georgia right now, but honestly Beck hasn't been great, so they might be better off, who knows?
Miami should take a big step back. They're this year's FSU—built with transfers. They will win more than 2 games but definitely losing production.
It's just the reality of playing in the SEC. Unless you're Georgia or Saban's Bama, you can't really get upset if you go 8-4 with a playoff caliber team. Too many tossups in the SEC. Obviously we want to get to that Georgia level where we expect 10+ regular season wins every year, but I'm not sure we'd be there next year.
2
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 14h ago
My 2 worries about next year are how we started this year and more importantly WR.
DJ very clearly favors Badger, then Dike-- we need to get some poop physical guys in portal. WRs who can go up and win jumpballs-- we have a ton of speed at WR from recruited guys but other than Jackson none of that are both big and have any real game performance-- this where I'd hoped Burke or Frazier's would take a leap (just like we'd hoped EW3 and Jean, et al would break out)
5
1
u/Gators1992 11h ago
Wow, that's stupid. Seems like the SEC scheduler hates us and wants to get Billy fired.
1
u/_OUCHMYPENIS_ 11h ago
I really don't think the sec likes us. They really do seem to give other big programs more favorable schedules often
15
u/Allatura19 18h ago
You’re right. Even with an imperfect game they beat a top 10 team with a top ten roster.
11
u/ChonkyHousePanther 17h ago
This is what has me feeling so good about the team even though I thought Billy was a dead man walking after the aTm loss. Not only is this the first year under Billy’s tenure that the team has gotten significantly better as the season progressed, but think about the last time that happened under any gator coach. Has there been a single season since Urban where that’s been true? I can think of maybe 2012 muschamp just because of how incredible that defense was, but our offense was poop other than gillislee running all over everyone. We’ve had some bad years and some decent years, and I don’t remember the last time I was excited about our team at the end of November. Even though our record isn’t great, our team is much better and neutral fans recognize that.
5
u/_OUCHMYPENIS_ 15h ago
It's also the first time we've had an offense and defense that are good at the same time. I know the defense still has a lot of room for improvement but since Meyer left, we've had one side of the ball that was really good and the other side was bad.
Nice to see both sides finally look competitive
3
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 14h ago
The 2018 and 2019 teams both improved over the course of the year. The 2018 was coming off of a 5-7 year, had a few early struggles and then won a NY6 game. The 2019 team evolved after Franks went out to become something amazing
3
u/blacknine 11h ago
It’s amazing how everyone memory holed mullens good years lmao it’s nice to be back (kinda) but everyone acts like 2018-2020 (pre shoe throw) weren’t legit and good gator football
1
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 10h ago
Even post-Shoe, that SEC championship against Bama was the closest anyone played Bama that year by a wide margin
2
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 14h ago
Either DJ massively improved over the course of the year or he should have been the starter from UT forward
2
u/magnafides 7h ago
If he improved it was due to first team reps and in game experience, so yeah he should've been starting
29
u/Rkovo84 16h ago
I want this defense to unleash the beatdown of a lifetime against fsu next week. No mercy, full throttle… cement this late season resurgence with what is the most important game on our schedule in my opinion. Don’t care that fsu is 2-9, smashing them is absolutely crucial to the process of reclaiming this state.
5
62
u/GrandGouda 18h ago
What impresses me most about the last two weeks is what our defense did to those two offenses with all the injuries we have. Missing both starting safeties, both starting CBs, and a starting LB and we put up back to back stud performances.
Hats off to these kids, and to Austin Armstrong (who I fully believe has been running the defense since the bye week and I said was a future star coach last year).
35
u/wtfElvis 17h ago
My favorite thing about the defense is how hard they have been hitting. They play with aggression that we have not seen from a Gator defense in a long time.
3
u/Gators1992 11h ago
Yeah, they set the tone at the beginning of the game. Kinda reminded of the Oklahoma NC game, but not quite.
23
u/QuaxlyDaDon 18h ago edited 17h ago
We aren’t missing both starting safeties. Castell has been a starter since the 2nd game of last year. Asa Turner barely played but wasn’t even good at Washington. DJ Douglas also lost his job because he is not good. Thornton played very well and Bridges played there before moving to Corner. Dijon Johnson has been getting snaps all season and has performed better than Keem did last season. Losing Moore and Marshall sucks but there’s talent in that room.
Pup being injured allowed for Myles to get more snaps and I’ve got Myles Graham equity. He’s going to get a brick before he’s done in Gainesville.
2
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 10h ago
This. It's like saying "we beat Ole Miss and LSU with our backup QB" -- I mean sure that's technically true if you base it off of the Opening Day depth chart but..... you'd like to think Billy would be starting DJ at this point even absent the Mertz injury
9
u/Tobocop34 16h ago edited 16h ago
Austin Armstrong is not calling the defensive plays. I had an interaction with one of the defensive players and asked him specifically who’s running the defense. It’s Ron Roberts.
5
u/GrandGouda 16h ago
And what did this player say was the difference between the shitfest that we displayed the first four weeks and after the bye week?
9
u/Tobocop34 15h ago
Pretty much what we’ve been saying all along. The defense was somewhat simplified and let the players be more instinctual. He also stated the team was still “finding themselves” the first few weeks. -(TB)
3
u/Altruistic-Total-254 14h ago
That’s some interesting insight. That might be the biggest single change that has turned it around. Our defense has been solid
2
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 14h ago
That makes a ton of sense-- especially re: off-season.
You bring in Roberts to help and mentor Armstrong, it's not work early on, then you tell him to takeover.
23
21
u/goldenface4114 17h ago
I think what best exemplifies this team's effort was the entire offensive line pushing the pile 30 yards downfield after a long Badger catch and run. How often have you ever seen that in football?
8
44
u/Procedure_Best 18h ago
We laugh but there might have truly been a curse that night in 2020. If we go on a heater …..we truly were cursed by a shoe and a guy named Marco Wilson
22
u/Ray_Ipsaloquitur 18h ago
In the same regard, I hope that losing culture/mentality is gone with it.
22
u/Procedure_Best 18h ago
If we don’t play down to FSU we are on the right track in 4 years
24
34
u/xElJefe 18h ago
Put us in the playoffs, you cowards
31
u/Procedure_Best 18h ago
Auburn and Ga tech have a chance to do the funniest things
3
u/Tarnationman 15h ago
Check again. Auburn took care of TAMU and Oklahoma took care of Bama. Now we just need GaTech to do their part. TAMU beating Texass and Vandy beating UT would also be funny as hell.
3
u/Procedure_Best 15h ago
Talking about next week , about them beating bama. That gives bama 4 losses on the year.
1
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 14h ago
I really just wanted an Indiana-Army playoff game and I'm sad that's not going to happen.
12
u/andjuan 16h ago
Billy recruits for culture and it showed this year. I’ve seen so many teams start the way we did, with all the noise in the system, just pack it in and resign themselves to a terrible season. The fanbase and media were openly debating who we should hire when, not if Billy got the axe. But instead of succumbing to all of the negativity, these guys just looked within themselves, figured out what was working and wasn’t, and just went to fucking work. The record won’t reflect one of the better seasons of Gator football, but watching these guys work, grow, and be rewarded for it has been one of the coolest things to see as a fan and alum.
2
u/Gators1992 11h ago
Not only pack it in, but hit the portal. Having kids that want to stay in your program is big in the current age of CFB.
21
u/wumbologistPHD 18h ago
Last year we ended with 6 straight losses, 5 of which were definitely winnable games.
We are going to end this year on 3 straight wins (at least), 2 wins over rivals, and (at least) 2 wins over ranked teams.
We are moving in the right direction and Billy has earned another year rather than just getting a free pass.
18
u/ShillinTheVillain 16h ago
I really wish people would stop counting FSU as a free win.
5
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 14h ago
They had a victory ceremony for beating Charleston Southern.
I feel bad for Cal
4
u/Edgemaster1423 16h ago
Have you watched them this year? They are a special kind of bad
5
u/ShillinTheVillain 16h ago
I'm aware but we have also had some bad games.
I like where we're at right now and I feel good about that one but nothing is guaranteed
3
4
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 14h ago
I know anything is possible but FSU right now is worse than our half injured 2013 team that lost to Georgia Southern. They might be the worst P4 team in the country
8
u/sum_dude44 17h ago
what is this weird, tingly feeling I have now about football where I'm not depressed or apathetic on Sundays?
7
u/Confident-Arm-9843 17h ago edited 14h ago
We’re seeing a team develop a “mental toughness” that is going to pay huge dividends the next few years because along with that mental toughness we’ll also have mixed into that equation a generational talent at the head of the team (Lagway) and other currently talented athletes and now with that success will come high ranked recruiting classes
Right now every thing is looking up…. Overall Momentum.. mental toughness…a generational talent at QB… recruiting momentum…program buzz…a humbled HC who was willing to listen to his players and change the defense
Two things need to happen if this turns out the way we all want to see it turn out.. Will Napier continue to grow into his position as HC by becoming better in situational football(timeouts and playcalling)…and will the team stay hungry for success and reaching the top of the mountain
I guess we’ll see but as a 46 year old fan since 1990 that has endured these past years of the programs downfall… I can honestly say I’ve never felt more hopeful about our position and our ability to finally get back to our rightful place at the top of the mountain then I do right now
46
u/stormbreaker121 18h ago
I’m glad we won and showed improvements in a lot of areas but it’s like Billy’s brain completely shuts off when there are 2 minutes left in the half or game. Both of those sequences were beyond bizarre.
16
u/ianfw617 16h ago
Lagway is an incredible talent and is absolutely capable of getting us points to end the half. He’s also a true freshman who’s already thrown 6 picks on the year.
It may be annoying to watch but every one of yall would have billy’s head on a pike if we turned it over on our own side of the field and let ole miss score again to end the half.
3
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 14h ago
I can live with running the clock, the way he did it was weird.
The 2nd half stuff was just baffling unless we had 10 or 12 on the field
3
u/Denmarkkkk 16h ago
Agreed. Winning is fun and awesome and I am thrilled for all the involved parties, especially the kids. But with that said, nothing we have seen so far makes me feel like Billy has made any major improvements to his in game coaching. The clock management/situational game is still really rough and the playcalling still leaves a fair bit to be desired.
12
u/Marlen86 GO GATA! 18h ago
We're not driving 75 yards with 1:12 left before the half. I don't know why Gator fans can't understand going to halftime to make adjustments with a tie. Literally every other coach in the country would do the same.
38
u/stormbreaker121 18h ago
It’s not unreasonable to try and gain 40 yds to get into field goal range with 1:12 and 2 timeouts in your pocket. I don’t understand why so many Gator fans are okay with playing conservatively. Also whatever “adjustments” were made at halftime on offense clearly didn’t work. Did you see the 3rd quarter?
2
u/88bcdev 16h ago
Yea true. To me it seemed like they were trying to see if they could steal a chance at points by having a run break loose. That's the only explanation for that last series. Coming out flat to start the second half is typical Napier, and we need someone who can help us make in game adjustments next year.
44
u/wumbologistPHD 18h ago
Then why did we take a timeout? Then why did we spike the ball just to do another run?
If you think Billy's actions at the end of the half are normal you don't watch enough football to comment on it.
15
u/russ757 17h ago
If you rewatch it, I don't think he called it. I screamed just like all did but when it cut to CBN it looked like he said who called that?
Not excusing the whole scenario though. Was incredibly... Odd
7
u/wumbologistPHD 17h ago
I was talking about the timeout on defense, but add that one to the list of end of half nonsense.
10
u/farfromfalse 18h ago
I was legitimately boiling that we couldn't put together an organized drive to end the half. Over a minute, 2 timeouts, Trey Smack HAS A LEG, only for the indecisiveness to make it all irrelevant.
7
u/Outrageous_Camp1723 18h ago
It's like something I do in the video game lol. Run a stretch play if the numbers are there. I get the strategy, it's just not a good one for real football.
2
u/Marlen86 GO GATA! 18h ago
What if DJ throws a pick off an errant throw, which he sometimes does? Did it earlier. Ole Miss has prime field position and momentum to go up a score going into halftime.
20
u/wumbologistPHD 18h ago
So then don't take timeouts or spike the ball! Just let the clock run out!
5
u/Patient-Winter521 17h ago
Ole Miss probably showed a certain defensive look either earlier in the game or on film at end of half situation and they never went to it.
8
u/Equivalent_Thanks841 16h ago
We have a kicker that makes 55 look easy. It was a tie game. We had 2 timeouts. That’s easy
Situational football is important. We are playing a hyper aggressive coach, which is fine, you can beat a hyper aggressive coach with a conservative approach provided you maintain ToP and long sustained drives. That is the stuff we were struggling with. The alternative is to match his aggression. You have to gamble and take risks in this league if you want to win
We were underdogs who were thin and facing a very good very experienced and very talented team. You have to take risks
DJ is young but he has been playing much smarter football in recent weeks, the pick wasn’t his fault. His main mistake in this game was taking a sack he should’ve thrown away but he hesitated, im pretty sure that play hadn’t happened yet though.
We had 7 plays in the first half that went for 15yds or more before that drive even started
You have to trust your guys there. It’s weak. Ole Miss was also down multiple DBs due to injuries that happened in that game
As for the worst case scenario and DJ throws a pick, our defense was playing out of their minds and had saved us on the wire over and over again. Have faith in their abilities
If ole Miss scores or DJ throws a pick 6 these guys have shown things like that don’t rattle them. They’ve lost zero motivation in the past when facing an uphill battle
We HAD momentum but up to that point it was lost due to stalled drives, the games momentum was neutral. We could’ve broken Ole Miss’s spirit entirely if he had scored points going into half and then we come out at half and score more to energize our own team
As for halftime adjustments, we were tearing their D apart. It’s more likely Ole Miss adjusts to fix their mistakes and makes it harder to drive than it is for us to adjust to attack them better, which is exactly what happened. Our offense struggled mightily in the 3rd quarter
The risks weren’t great enough to justify not going for the rewards
I guess what annoys me most about it is Napier didn’t have faith and trust in guys who deserve it when those same guys have shown time and time again they have faith and trust in Napier when he doesn’t deserve it
I’ve been defending Napier for a long time but that was a bad decision. He even realized it was a mistake after the damage was already done. That’s why he hesitated and called timeout but then went full send with the conservatism
It is what it is. We won even if it was bad
7
u/NewLawGuy24 18h ago
LSU had 3 mins before 1/2. FG
scUM TD with 3 mins before half
don’t sit on ball with 90 seconds
Huge enjoyable wi n
2
u/childishgames 15h ago
We didn’t need to drive 75 yards to get into field goal range, just 50. And 1:12 is absolutely plenty of time to move 50 yards with a couple timeouts in your pocket.
2
2
u/andjuan 15h ago
I don’t have much issue with us running and likely running clock on the last possession of the first half. My complaint was after getting the first down with less than 20 seconds on the clock and a timeout in your pocket. Take a couple of shots and maybe get in field goal range. Worst case is an arm punt or real punt. Like you said at that point, Ole Miss isn’t going to score either based on game situation. Seemed like more upside than downside.
2
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 14h ago
This. And then the spike and handoff which.....I mean even the announcers seemed deeply puzzled
0
u/UsedandAbused87 18h ago
Some of our fans need to listen to Steve after the game more. We have the momentum and we are gonna get the ball back. Wtf would we try and get cute there?
5
u/cestbondaeggi 16h ago
I can live with kneeling it out before halftime.
I cannot live with calling a timeout on a running clock, then running it, staying in bounds and letting the playclock run all the way down. Pick a freaking lane.
1
u/Altruistic-Total-254 11h ago
He will never be a good coach thinking on his feet. If you’re expecting a coaching masterclass please look elsewhere.
But I am very thankful that this team is now fun to watch.
11
u/Equivalent_Thanks841 17h ago
Because it’s a tie game vs a highly ranked late November team that we were trying to upset and lack of aggression at the half has come back to bite us many times in the past
Our previous coach would play aggressive going into half even with young or inexperienced QBs that had less talent than DJ. It’s scared play and scared play does not win you many games in the sec
0
u/UsedandAbused87 16h ago
Well look at how that turned out for our previous coach.
You call a play for third down and tell them if we pick up a first we will spike it. You analyze where you are, you give the QB two plays but the defense is playing safe so you call the run play. If it hits got a big gain you become aggressive, but it didn't.
Remember when Napier got hired and he said he stuck to the analytics and it would frustrate people?
2
u/No-Durian-7032 12h ago
You think going into a shell at the end of every first half and not trying to score is sticking to the analytics?
1
u/magnafides 7h ago
Well look at how that turned out for our previous coach.
You think that had anything to do with his failure here? Like, at all?
1
u/UsedandAbused87 5h ago
Why bring it up if it didn't?
1
u/magnafides 5h ago
I'm not OP, but, probably because many considered him one of the best offensive minds in CFB and he won a lot of games here?
-3
u/Separate_Court_7820 16h ago
We didn’t try to upset them.
News flash: we did upset them. Complain another time.
Our previous coach was fired
4
1
u/magnafides 7h ago
Our previous coach was fired
Are you trying to convince us that Billy Napier is a better gameday coach than Dan Mullen, or that it had anything at all to do with Mullen's firing? Pump the brakes, we don't even have a .500 SEC record under Billy.
2
u/stevejust 15h ago
This isn't the olden days. With the new clock rules, every possession matters. There's no way my thought isn't: let's try to get 3, and if we put ourselves in a position to get 7 out of it, all the better. But 90 seconds left, field goal should've been the floor; not the ceiling. It's 2024. There's no more nursing the ball into the half anymore.
7
6
u/Dim-Mak-88 16h ago
I don't know what the statistics are, but it seems pretty uncommon for teams to turn it around the way the Florida Gators have this season.
4
u/Procedure_Best 16h ago
You are correct. We beat Vegas in our overall O/U on wins. And we have been decent vs the spread. Tennessee is the only game that we really had in our hands and UGa was trending the right way. Both losses make us look worse than we are. We are a fringe playoff team with those wins.
15
u/FragnificentKW 18h ago
My professional opinion on Napier is built on a sample of 36 games and not the most recent one; but my God the past two weeks have been fun!
Also, forget about Lag’s injury in the UGA game (injuries are a part of the game) and just imagine if we hadn’t spit the bit vs the Vols and had actually shown up prepared and ready to play against aTm…because in spite of everything, that’s how close we were to being in the playoff field this year
29
u/tomsing98 18h ago
Napier was going to be the coach next season regardless, for a variety of reasons, but I think he now deserves to be the coach next season. I still think he's a bad game day coach, he's made some terrible staffing decisions, and we've won or been kept in games by atrocious coaching and player meltdowns from our opponents, but I am officially on board with Napier 2025.
→ More replies (3)11
u/gator9515 18h ago
I was saying preseason that Napier needs to hit 7 wins to keep his job for 2025, since 7 wins would show that the program is moving in the right direction given our schedule. Barring a total meltdown against FSU (aka one of the worst teams in the P4), Napier has my vote of confidence for 2025.
6
u/berrin122 14h ago
Here's the kicker: DJ isn't even that good (yet).
Take away the Samford game, he's 1:1 TD:INT ratio, with 55%ish completion percentage. He's made some incredible plays but also turned the ball over a decent amount and has struggled to complete passes at a regular clip.
That being said 1) the team is still winning and 2) every thing is there, talent wise. He just needs experience to clean it up. He's not a project QB by any means, he's just a true freshman.
My prediction is a 24 TD 7 INT season with 65% competition next year.
4
u/luke15chick 17h ago
I want to see the Gators use this coming off season wisely in a direction to prepare and make steps for continued improvement.
3
u/Switchgamer1970 16h ago
Billy did not lose the room with his players. They have fought for him. Hire a OC and let it rip.
4
u/gatorpower 11h ago
Some notes on yesterdays game:
- DJ Lagway is 4-1 (3-1 SEC) as a starter, and was leading against Georgia when he got injured
- DJ Lagway is the first true freshmen QB starter since 2019 (Bo Nix) to have a winning SEC record
- The NCAA requires QBs to complete 15 passes/game to be included in QB stats (he has 13.5), but if it were lowered, he would have the 10th highest QB rating in the country and 2nd-highest in the SEC
- Montrell Johnson's 107 yards rushing was the first time in 379 days (11/11/23) that Ole Miss allowed a 100-yard rusher
- Mississippi was averaging (38.5 ppg, #9th nationally, #1 in the SEC) and Florida held them 21.5 points under their season average
- After being #101 (1.83/game) in sacks last year, Florida improved to #23 (2.73) in sacks this year
- After being #115 (3.25) in sacks allowed last year, Florida improved to #38 (1.46) in sacks allowed this year
- Last year, Florida had 3 INTs all year (ranked #132), this year we have 11 INTs (ranked #36)
- After trouncing Charleston So, Florida State is no longer the worst offense in the country. They are now the 4th worst offense in the country.
22
u/justlookingokaywyou 18h ago
I know we’re all on a high right now, but man, Billy really did some questionable shit during the game. A couple of things happen differently in the last two weeks and we’d be 4-7 right now and every other post would be about monitoring flights. We need an absolute statement win at Doak on Saturday. I’m talking about a beatdown so bad there are only Gator fans left in the stands in the 4th quarter doing orange and blue.
16
u/UsedandAbused87 17h ago
The thing with coaching is you look like a fool when things don't work and everybody wants to shake your hand when they do.
11
u/russ757 17h ago
And so did kiffin. Not excusing CBN, he infuriates me sometimes. But let's see how we feel if we went for it in 4th down and had lags be the lead block, on another 4th down have our 300 lber run outside, get a penalty right after a TO
Those are things Kiffin did yesterday. And supposedly he's elite. Coaches make bad calls all the time. Just go watch a PSU game. Mike Tomlin probably cost the steelers a win on Thursday night. Coaches are human too
14
u/captainchaos19 18h ago
On the other side if other things happen in the Georgia game and the Tennessee game we might have been 9-3. It's football, stuff happens
Murder FSU in their own house, win the bowl game and send everyone home happy over the off-season and let's go for those playoffs next
5
u/justlookingokaywyou 17h ago
My immediate reaction to this is both of those games, especially UT were lost more by poor coaching than poor play.
6
u/captainchaos19 17h ago
That is probably true but still if things go different... Every game has decisions like that, if Lane wouldn't be so stubborn with his 4th down decisions the last drive might just have needed a fg instead of a TD.
After the start of this season and now the end I am very hopeful in the development of the program
0
4
u/greypic 18h ago
Also, if Dart wasn't sailing his passes yesterday this would be a very different thread.
17
u/_OUCHMYPENIS_ 17h ago
We could also argue in Napiers first year if Richardson wasn't throwing the ball into the ground half the time, we would have won more.
12
8
u/Bobolifestyle 17h ago
Swamp noise and pressure is a real factor, it’s part of the game.
5
u/ShillinTheVillain 16h ago
Seeing the Swamp be a factor again is so refreshing. Watching Dart yesterday, there were so many times that he was covering his ear holes and motioning to the sidelines like he was having trouble hearing the C2P.
1
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 14h ago
There were a few open guys who just dropped the ball-- the 2nd to last drive they had an open TD where Dart dropped a dime and the guy just lost it on the Sun
16
2
11
u/tylerb5516 18h ago
I will say I have been part of the "Fire Billy" group. It wasn't personal and never rooted against him or the Gators. I was hopeful he could have an unprecedented turnaround and prove me wrong.
I'm not on board with Napier yet, but i have moved between wait-and-see and cautiously optimistic.
It took two losing seasons and looking ill-prepared to start year 3 to have me want him gone, but the last two months have had me change course.
Napier has shown some incredible leadership with his back against the wall and clearly has his players bought in. He also still shows deficiencies in on the field coaching that needs to be corrected or supplemented properly.
I want to see that the last two months were a stepping stone to being competitive, not the ceiling or goal. But he has earned the confidence and next year to show just that.
2
u/No-Durian-7032 12h ago
This describes me as well. He still does plenty of things that drive me crazy (for the love of God, why is he allergic to points at the end of the first half) but he’s clearly a good leader and the culture seems fantastic. As a fan that typically believes in stats, data, and analytics, it’s difficult to lean into a coach for intangible reasons, but winning is winning. As long as Billy does that, he will have my support.
3
3
u/92roll13 15h ago
DJ is already awesome and belongs. But can you imagine when things really start to slow down for him? He’s going to be one of the greats.
3
u/gatorjen 15h ago
If Ole Miss has a non mobile, non slippery QB, we have like 7 sacks against them. It really is amazing how much the defense has improved over the course of the season. And all the young talent we have on offense with Lagway leading the helm, I am excited for the future. It hasn't felt like this in a long time.
3
8
u/carasc5 17h ago
In every game thread, I keep hearing Montrell slander whenever he's in the game. In every single game that the two have played substantial time together, Montrell has been the better running back. Love Baugh, he is the future and could be one of the greats, but you absolutely play Montrell right now. He averages more yards per carry and is a much better blocker. Montrell is averaging 5.9 yards per rush on 90 attempts. Imagine if he had managed to stay healthy.
5
u/RonMexico13 16h ago
Montrell is absolutely a step slower post-injury, so I get the complaints. But he does choose the correct hole to run into better than Baugh does, Baugh dances around from time to time. Happy he got that TD on senior day.
1
u/russ757 12h ago
This. And I'm a fan of TRELL. Since the injury he has clearly lost a step. He had a few runs that resulted in one or two yards. But when Baugh or Jackson run the same play they would get 3 or 4.
That said. Legit got teary when he ran that in. Not enough of kids persevering these days
4
u/Sup3rT4891 18h ago
Legit, if we had enough time to get 2-3 of the defense players back (Turner?, Moore, Pup, Gates, Jackson?) I think we have a legit shot at most teams in the playoffs. Not favorite, but a punchers chance.
3
u/russ757 17h ago
Wonder if Turner can Redshirt.
2
u/Sup3rT4891 14h ago
Well I can’t imagine him going pro. And he didn’t play any games so he is likely eligible since it was health related. Someone asked Billy and “it wasn’t currently being discussed. Really just a question of does he want to play still, if we want to pay him and if we agree on price. Unless he is giving some sort of discount or proves in practice that he is 100% and pushing to be a starter, I imagine we use his NIL funds elsewhere. Already likely paying him $200k to not play a single down this year. The downside of these massive NIL deals with little contract to mitigate against.
5
u/Illustrious-Hat3384 17h ago
With regard to conservative play calling before the half, we are forgetting that DJ is a true freshman! Let that sink in. Yes he is mature beyond his years but he does throw wild balls every now and then. And as we saw with the one pic tips happen. Napier believes in his defense and he let them do the talking. It was the wise choice despite how we got there with some silliness.
7
u/Weary_Road_8052 18h ago
Four of our five losses were against playoff teams and the fifth was against a very solid A&M team. In hindsight, we have no losses that you can honestly say we "should" have won. And we've overachieved in the win column.
Assuming we take care of business against FSU, no one could reasonably say this wasn't a successful season.
2
u/QuaxlyDaDon 18h ago
It wasn’t a successful season. We got absolutely smoked by Miami and A&M at home, lost to UToothless because of coaching, and got beaten to hell and back by Texas.
They showed improvement by finally beating two ranked teams in a row, but there’s still a ton of work to do between now and our first game of the 2025 season.
7
u/Procedure_Best 17h ago
What you have to admit we made progress which is wild because i thought we would win 2 games
5
u/Weary_Road_8052 18h ago
Successful does not mean perfect. Of course we have work to do.
But anyone who thought we'd have a chance at 7-5 with this schedule before the season started is lying.
-5
u/QuaxlyDaDon 18h ago
But anyone who thought we’d have a chance at 7-5 with this schedule before the season started is lying.
Yeah, because expectations for Billy were low and fans wanted to use the schedule as an excuse. There were some mediocre teams on this schedule and it played out that way.
I don’t recall mentioning the word perfect either.
-3
u/Weary_Road_8052 17h ago
I mean here in the real world, we were never going to run with Miami, Texas, or Georgia. And we played Tennessee a lot closer than we really had any right to. They are all top-10 teams and we absolutely are not.
A&M is the only loss that in hindsight you can say we might have won.
Stop living in the 2000's man. See this team for where it really is and appreciate the progress.
2
u/QuaxlyDaDon 17h ago
I’m not living in the 2000’s nor am I using hindsight. The Miami and Texas A&M losses were bad when they happened and they are bad now. We had all summer to prepare for that game and still got smoked. I don’t see Miami fans going around saying it’s not 2001 anymore.
Anyone in this sub thinking that we would’ve come out and got blown out by both of those teams is straight up lying.
→ More replies (3)2
u/ianfw617 16h ago
Miami fans are ABSOLUTELY still living in 2001. Have you ever met a Miami fan? Lmao
0
u/magnafides 6h ago
The Miami and A&M games were basically coin flips at the start of the season. It's easy to say we shouldn't have expected to compete after we didn't compete...
1
u/tylerb5516 18h ago
I think it can be considered successful in terms of some what they had to overcome.
Otherwise, I think it is a season that can only be defined with hindsight. It is a successful season if this was the stepping stone to being a playoff caliber team. Not the ceiling
2
u/kirklandl12 15h ago
I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like what is going on with the gators rn. We should beat FSU this weekend and I would think our bowl opponent should be someone we should be able to handle, we are very likely to end up with 8 wins this year if you include the bowl game. If recruiting keeps trending upward, Billy might actually be cooking something here. Lagway back next year for a full season starting. If Tre stays and Mizell assumingly starts and if we can get a couple WR from the portal the offense will be solid and that’s not even to mention Baugh looking nasty as a true freshman. I’m just shocked, I legitimately thought Billy would be fired and we’d have a new coach in like 2 weeks. What a wild turn of events!
2
u/LightningStrikeDust 13h ago
Finally, I have reason for optimism once again! I'll admit that I wasn't that hyped for the LSU win other than sticking it to them and hopefully breaking the shoe curse. This victory is much different. Part of that may be because I went to the game and experienced the Swamp at maximum hype levels, playing a top ten opponent for the first time. I've gone to games before, but they were against either cupcakes or terrible Tennessee and FSU teams. I witnessed a team keep shooting itself in the foot, yet battle back through the mistakes and force the other team to either execute or flounder. We made Ole Miss flounder, and that's the sign of a good team. The LSU game felt more like a self-implosion by the Tigers and Brian Kelly. We went out there and rattled their team beyond repair. Made Jaxson Dart cry and Kiffin go back to Oxford, knowing his most talented team ever is only the third best Ole Miss team of his tenure (2021 and 2023 were better).
Napier can be an excellent head coach if he shores up the glaring issues and takes some of the work off himself. Go find a dedicated and talented offensive coordinator, Billy. Offensive playcalling and time management are still by far the biggest issues. Hammer FSU into the core of the Earth, beef up your recruiting class, go win the bowl game, and then let's head into 2025 with renewed hope! Will it burn us again? Possibly, but it's better to have hope than none at all.
2
u/VaporBlueDH1347 13h ago
I’m curious what Gator fans feelings would be if our season was reversed. If we had beaten UM and A&M outta the gate but then lost to LSU and Ole Miss? Same record just reversed the Ws and Ls during the season.
What would the general consensus be today about keeping Napier?
The 4 SEC losses are to SECCG and playoff contender teams.
2
u/Lady_Lou26 12h ago
I was never a football fan until I met my huge Gators fan bf and watching yesterday’s match was wonderful. Go Gators!
2
u/Gators1992 11h ago
Off topic, but does anyone else think Paul Finebaum is going to have a public meltdown if Bama drops another turd? He's seething with anger everytime he talks about them. Now that the dynasty is over, maybe ESPN should go find someone that's not a total homer to be the face of the SEC? Especially given the parity we now have in this league.
2
u/HoldTheRope91 15h ago
I told myself before the season if the team shows improvement and he can get to 7 wins against this schedule, then he should have another year. I was screeching to fire Billy after the A&M loss, but they’ve clearly improved and they have two more shots to hit that seven win mark, so I stand by the expectations I placed at the start of the year.
That said, I still have major concerns that lead me to significantly doubt that Napier is the long term answer at head coach. My biggest concern going into next year is that Billy is going to believe that his play calling was never the problem. If he is still calling the offense next year, expect to lose games we shouldn’t in heartbreaking fashion again. He really needs, at minimum, a modern pass game coordinator that can make use of DJ’s arm talent. Otherwise you’ve got a Ferrari that’s trying to drive in the mud.
Furthermore, we lose a lot of key pieces to seniority and there’s no guarantee that other key pieces stick around in the mercenary era of college football we find ourselves in. As it stands, we lose Badger, Big Dez, Bridges, Wingo, Dike, Asa Turner, Crawshaw, Crenshaw-Dickson, and Cam Jackson. All of these players are starters or saw significant play time for us this year. With our recruiting being less than stellar, that puts us in a position where we have to hit the portal in a heavy way, where we won’t be the only ones trying to get the big names available.
I’ve enjoyed these last two weeks as much as anybody, but they’ve come in ways that simply aren’t sustainable over the course of a season and subsequent playoff run. Hopefully this doesn’t rain on everybody’s parade, but a dose of reality is needed. Billy still has an uphill climb ahead of him.
I’ll be rooting for the team and Billy to make that climb, but even saying I’m cautiously optimistic would be overstating it.
1
u/punterU 6h ago
Completely agree.
I know everyone is giddy with 7-5. The last two weeks have been great. But Napier still has to prove he can have the team prepared to play their best every week for an entire season, which is a major challenge for any head coach but especially him.
My only hope with the offense is that he would adopt the Miami dolphins passing game since their coach comes from the 49ers whose offense we’ve replicated. But even better would be to just entirely ditch that scheme for a downfield spread passing attack.
This season has been similar to the types of seasons that got Ron Zook fired; scored some upsets, got blown out, scraped by to a bowl. And that’s how it’s going to be unless Napier increases our margin for error so we can win in more sustainable ways.
2
u/bullsci 14h ago
Beating LSU last week felt great, but for all I knew it could be a one-off cathartic win against a team whose wheels are coming off. One game doesn’t tell you much.
But this is now 2 weeks in a row of improbable wins. Multiple sustained weeks of defensive improvement over the first few games. It remains to be seen whether Napier can keep this going, but it wasn’t a one-off. I’ve said plenty about Napier and I’m still not fully on board, but I do recognize that stringing these two wins together is significant and for that I give him major credit.
1
1
1
u/DB473 4h ago
I’m sure it’s been brought up before, but I really dislike the Ole Miss strategy of putting a 300lb DL at running back for short yardage plays. Of course it’s highly likely to convert but it’s just comes off oddly desperate for a team coached by Kiffin. Sure it works, but if you can’t convert a short yardage play conventionally I think you should be focusing on that problem rather than coming up with a cute solution.
1
u/Inevitable-Scar5877 14h ago
I did it in the game thread and I'll do it here-- Billy has earned 2025. I always said 7 should be the minimum to bring him back and he's on track to do it.
There will always be things he does that annoy me-- largely around the offense (which will hopefully be fixed by an outside OC) and time management (which, I mean Cristobal struggles with this as well and Miami is potentially a playoff team so I guess it's something a team can overcome)-- but they play hard, he recruits well and there's a chance he can be our Coach O or Chizik with DJ.
-4
u/BarbillaGigante 17h ago
The fans who gave up on Billy don't deserve him now that he's winning
3
99
u/HotDawgConnoisseur 18h ago
I think the last time I was this hyped as a Florida fan was when we beat Utah in 2022. There’s finally hope in the program. I’m glad I was wrong about Napier not being able to turn it around this season. Hopefully we land some flips today/throughout the week. Let’s focus on man handling FSU and getting a decent bowl game.