Florida Football Friday Final: Gators seek progress towards bowl eligibility in upset bid vs. No. 21 LSU
The Florida Gators were never going to be a College Football Playoff team this season — not with their personnel losses and the nation’s toughest schedule — but in Year 3 under head coach Billy Napier, hope was abound that the program would show marked improvement and exceed expectations. Florida, projected by oddsmakers as five-game winners in 2024, currently sits at 4-5 with three games remaining and only one in which it will be favored.
After bouncing back markedly from a rough start to the season, the Gators were dealt another blow as a rash of injuries have devastated the team’s depth. Last week, Florida was down its top two players/starters at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and cornerback with additional losses across the offensive and defensive units.
UF is a bit healthier this week with freshman quarterback DJ Lagway and senior wide receiver Elijhah Badger set to play against No. 21 LSU, but it is still somewhat shorthanded — particularly on defense.
Florida enters Saturday’s affair — against its sixth top 25 opponent this season, all five prior contests being losses — as 3.5-point underdogs with most choosing to back LSU following consecutive losses to Texas A&M and Alabama. The Tigers certainly deserve to be favored in The Swamp, but if the Gators have any hopes of exceeding expectations and becoming bowl eligible this season, Saturday is almost certainly a must-win game.
No. 11 Ole Miss and its high-powered offense visits Ben Hill Griffin Stadium next week with the Rebels likely to be double-digit road favorites. Florida ends the season at Florida State where it will certainly be favored against one of the worst Power Four teams in the nation.
That’s why beating the Tigers is a must on Saturday. As far as Napier is concerned, though, his team’s is zeroed into the present, not the future.
“We are completely, 100% focused on LSU. Nothing else matters,” he said Wednesday.
If the Gators are going to triumph in the friendly confines of Florida Field, it will be on the back of the defense. That unit, which flexed mightily coming out of the first off week, has been devastated with injury of late missing four starting defensive backs and now its starting middle linebacker to boot.
Napier addressed the overall injury ills on Monday.
“Your depth is always going to be challenged, and when you play in this league, and certainly with our nonconference schedule, we have played a very competitive schedule,” he explained. “We’re more equipped probably than we have been [in the past]. [We’re] just playing with threes in some spots. Typically, your twos are going to play at every position throughout the year. Very rarely does a starter play front to back the whole time. You’re always going to have a little bit of that. So, when you get to your third, that’s when you, ultimately, that’s unique.”
That’s exactly what’s happening with Florida’s secondary right now as its three primary cornerbacks are all out along with a Week 1 starting safety who has yet to return to the field despite not being ruled out for the season.
The Gators’ 90th ranked passing defense will be heavily tested by the nation’s seventh-ranked passing offense led by Garrett Nussmeier. A gunslinger for sure, Nussmeier is averaging 42 pass attempts per game. However, offenisve line issues and a propensity for turnovers of late has him looking human. Nussmeier has completed just 56.5% of his passes with three touchdowns and five interceptions in the last two games.
Whether Florida will be able to take advantage remains to be seen, especially given the way it played at Texas.
“What happened [last] weekend is not acceptable. It’s not good enough. We certainly know we’re capable of playing better,” Napier said after evaluating the tape. “We’re trying to control the things that we can control: our communication, our alignment, our fundamentals and techniques, playing with the right leveraging coverage, our effort and pursuit, and then ultimately playing really good situational football and making good decisions. … We got to do a lot better this weekend.”
Napier on whether senior running back Montrell Johnson Jr. will finally return to the field: “He is much closer. He’s been able to do more this week than he did last week. … He’s day to day. … That’s a position where, you have a lower body injury, you got to be 100% to be as effective as you want to be. … This one’s personal to him because he’s from Louisiana, so he’s motivated [to play]. … We’re not going to put him out there until he’s ready.”
Napier on the tight ends not being utilized as frequently of late: “Definitely want to get those guys more involved. That’s a big piece to the puzzle the next couple weeks.”
Napier on his reaction to this week’s vote of confidence: “I am absolutely not satisfied with how we’ve played. Now, we have done some good things. It’s nowhere close to what it’s got to be consistently for us to be a contender. That’s ultimately what I’m spending my time on. Any belief or hope or confidence in what we can become is due to the players and the way they performed the last five or six weeks. We need to continue to improve.”
Napier on whether the vote of confidence has been helpful in recruiting: “It’s definitely been one of the uphill battles that we faced to be quite honest. Probably the only one, to be honest with you. Ultimately, we’re hopeful. … We’ll be working extremely hard to add good players to the team. Yeah, it definitely helps [in recruiting to get the vote of confidence].”
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Florida Football Friday Final: Gators seek progress towards bowl eligibility in upset bid vs. No. 21 LSU
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