Major concerns arise for Billy Napier’s Florida Gators, and it could cost him more than one loss this season
This was an unacceptable performance from Billy Napier.
Billy Napier‘s Florida Gators struggled mightily against South Florida, and they couldn’t get out of their own way in an 18-16 loss to the South Florida Bulls.
This was a game that the Gators should have won. There were issues all over the field, especially on the offensive side of the football. Quarterback DJ Lagway showed major signs of rust that were evident at the beginning of the game against Long Island last week, and it manifested in the worst way on Saturday afternoon, including multiple fans asking for Napier to be fired.
Billy Napier could lose job after abysmal performance
There are so many issues right now with this Gators squad, and it all seems to boil down to Napier. The biggest issue was the play calling on offense.
Early on in the game, the Gators were rolling with the run. Jadan Baugh looked like he would have another monster game, running for 15 and 14 yards on the first two plays, and 51 yards on the opening drive. Baugh ran for just 42 the rest of the game. Consistently, Napier would forget about the running game until the final offensive drive, when it became a constant.
Way too often during the game, Napier wouldn’t throw the ball down the field, instead going with his constant short passes in the screen game that never seemed to work. You have plenty of firepower on the outside and a quarterback who can sling it. Why on earth are you focusing on these screens that look like they were designed for Graham Mertz, who struggled to throw down the field?
To be fair to Napier, some of that is due to Lagway still being a bit rusty after not throwing at all during spring ball and having dealt with a calf injury that limited him in fall camp. That could be the excuse here, but Napier has called games like this his entire tenure.
It’s malpractice to continue calling games in this way, and he’s getting widespread criticism for it.
You have the talent on the outside, arguably the best offensive line in college football, and a superstar in the making at running back, and you still haven’t updated your philosophy? It could be time to move on, and this is not the position the Gators expected to be in going into conference play.
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