Florida Gators HC Billy Napier well aware of challenge at hand, Texas Longhorns surprising new identity
Steve Sarkisian and his old pal Billy Napier will face off after the bye week Saturday.
The Texas Longhorns are 3-1 and still find itself in the Top 10 at No. 9 after the Separation Saturday Week 5. Now, Steve Sarkisian’s team travels to Gainesville, Ga., to take on a 1-3 Florida team in search of literally anything positive.
The Gators head coach, Billy Napier, spoke with the media this week about the challenge at hand and what he expects from the Horns this weekend.
“A good Texas team comes to town 3-1 with a road loss to a really good Ohio State team. It’s evident, you can see this team’s got an identity. PK does a great job on defense. I think they’ve gotten incrementally better each cycle, and they continue to add wrinkles each year to make them difficult to prepare for.”
The identity Billy Napier is referring to is the lights out Texas defense.
Napier highlighted the returning experience and “strength” across all three levels of Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense. And he is no fool when it comes to recognizing the actual challenge his offense and DJ Lagway will face at 2:30pm CT in the Swamp.
“The personnel is exceptional. Very experienced group on the second and third level at linebacker and secondary, almost all back. And then good edge players and probably five portal defensive tackles that all have height, length, girth, power—that can cause some problems for you.”
He also is very aware of what his defense will need to deal with on the other side. Despite Arch Manning’s struggles out the gate this season, Napier is well-aware of what the unit is capable of.
“Obviously offensively, Sark does a great job with the formation, motion, the combination of run-pass and situational football. They’re breaking in a new quarterback. Arch—his reputation speaks for itself—one of the best quarterbacks in the country. They’re also breaking in new players at other positions: up front, tight end, running back, receiver. More new faces on the offensive side of the ball, but I do think you can see their rhythm getting better each week.”
Texas Longhorns News
Texas Longhorns HC Steve Sarkisian expects to have two major playmakers back for the SEC opener versus Florida
Huge boost coming for Arch Manning and the Texas offensive attack.
The bye week was also beneficial for Florida.
“Each team has its own set of problems,” Napier said. “I think it’s important that as the season goes, it’s about coming up with solutions. Your team has to improve as you go. Open dates present that opportunity and we certainly got a lot of good work done.”
Like Texas, Napier was keen on getting his team right and as healthy as possible. Florida is already 0-1 in the SEC and is trying to keep its head above water. Not to mention Napier is very aware of the pressure on his shoulders to perform and turn the heat down on his seat.
“I do think the majority of our team got really good work. I was impressed with the energy and effort of the players. I thought the staff did a good job. We showed up each day and we worked Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Players were off Saturday and we were back at it yesterday.”
Make no mistake about it, this one is going to be a dogfight.
And with it being in the Swamp and all the exterior storylines around this one, Texas is going to get Florida’s best shot. I do not expect the Longhorns to just stroll into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and waltz away with an easy conference victory. Not many do this.
And I don’t anticipate it happening on Saturday. Napier is making sure his fanbase knows this and how much it is needed, too.
“It’ll be good to be at home. That needs to be a huge advantage for us. We’re going to need our fans to be there and be a huge factor as they usually are. This has the chance to be a pretty special venue and atmosphere this Saturday afternoon.”
