Florida Gators coach Billy Napier said he will remain the primary play-caller Monday. He said he has given no thought to changing that role, despite Saturday’s 18-16 loss to USF.
In the loss, DJ Lagway was 23-of-33 passing for 222 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Jaden Baugh led the way rushing with 18 carries for 93 yards.
Overall, Florida had 355 yards of total offense, despite getting out-gained by 36 yards. The Gators also outpaced the Bulls in time of possession 34:13 to 25:47.
With all of that out on the table, Napier felt a change wasn’t necessary after Week 2. The Gators could not convert on opportunities and had to settle for three field goals.
While the team isn’t abandoning all hope, it seems like ESPN’s Paul Finebaum is. He cited Saturday’s defeat as the beginning of the end this year.
Napier is now 1-1 this year and 20-20 in three-plus years at Florida. Simply put, that’s not up to the Gators’ standards.
“He completely blew it,” Finebaum said on McElroy and Cubelic. “(These are) the same problems we’ve been seeing from Napier in terms of game management from beginning, and at this point, there’s no reason for optimism. I’m sorry, we went through that last year. It was a roller coaster, terrible at the first, great at the end. And you just can’t keep playing with fans’ emotions. You have to get control of your program. And he clearly has not. So I think the end is near for Billy Napier.”
As it stands, Florida has No. 3 LSU on the road this weekend, No. 5 Miami on the road the following week, a bye week and then they host No. 7 Texas and travel to No. 16 Texas A&M to open October. Good luck.
Source link
