Florida made an embarrassing mistake against Utah and Billy Napier's reaction made it worse
The Florida Gators' 24-11 loss to the Utah Utes on Thursday night featured several coaching gaffes that made the loss even worse for the UF faithful. The most egregious coaching mistake of the night came in the second quarter. With Utah leading 7-3 midway through the second quarter, Florida was set to get the ball […]
The Florida Gators' 24-11 loss to the Utah Utes on Thursday night featured several coaching gaffes that made the loss even worse for the UF faithful.
The most egregious coaching mistake of the night came in the second quarter.
With Utah leading 7-3 midway through the second quarter, Florida was set to get the ball back with a chance to take the lead after forcing a punt.
The Gators, however, couldn't capitalize on the situation because they were penalized during the punt for having two players on the field with the same number (No. 3) at the same time. The penalty resulted in a first down for the Utes and they went on to score a touchdown to take a 14-3 lead.
That's a mistake that absolutely can't happen in a major college football game. It's akin to a baseball manager turning in the wrong lineup card. It just shouldn't happen. And it completely flipped the momentum in the game.
After the game, Florida head coach Billy Napier met with reporters and his reaction to the penalty likely won't sit well with Gators fans.
"It's something that we have had in the past and worked in the past," said Napier. "And we were rotating in punt return two-to-one. We go safe, Jason (Marshall) is out there. We're supposed to get him off, and we just didn't communicate. When we're in punt safe, you've got to communicate that better. There's no question that's another thing that we control that we didn't do the right way."
Napier isn't wrong — the communication has to be better. But there's a chance that Florida wins the game if that penalty doesn't go down. If the Gators score after receiving that punt to take a 10-7 lead, who knows how the game turns out.
Napier also essentially blamed the players after the game, telling reporters that he told his team that "execution wins".
"I told the team, the first thing I told the team after the game that execution wins," explained Napier. "I mean let's call it how it is. It's simple. I feel that if we do what we're supposed to do at times, we're right in the game."
Napier is right that the execution could've been better, but the poor coaching is what really lost this game for the Gators. I mean, let's just call how it is.
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Featured image via Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
