Ouch. That is all. Kentucky wins 33-14 in convincing fashion
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Week 5 Reaction: Kentucky defeats Florida for third consecutive year
- Thread starter Escambia94
- Start date
First thing’s first. It was not the QB.
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | RAT | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graham Mertz | 25/30 | 244 | 8.1 | 2 | 1 | 167.0 | ||
| Devin Leary | 9/20 | 69 | 3.5 | 1 | 0 | 90.5 |
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EXACTLY.
(...but it won't happen. The fact is that he IS "stubborn", and hasn't appeared to take personal responsibility for ANYTHING before now.
However, no matter what his team is in disarray and the players are no doubt BLAMING THEMSELVES right now; if he is to salvage ANYTHING from the remainder of this season's schedule he needs to think at the very LEAST in terms of what THEY need in order to move on, reestablish their failing faith in themselves and each other so they can maybe win SOME of those remaining contests, feel better about themselves, and continue building towards that future they not so long ago still believed in.
That can only start with BILLY taking the blame for this one. That, and making the necessary changes accordingly.
I suppose the question becomes, "Is there someone, ANYONE, who has the influence and authority to suggest to Coach Napier that he acknowledge and MAKE those changes--and have him seriously accept and consider ACTING on that advice??!")
Do you know what we call stubborn coaches? Ex-coaches. Napier is digging his own grave.
If he were smart he would revamp the play calling system by delegating to Sales, Gonzalez, and/or Callaway starting today. If he were of average intelligence he would hire an OC in December. If he does not want to be the head coach in 2025 he will do nothing.
Yes--glad you tacked that "fact" on here.
Though he missed a coupla long throws that might have been more successful as part of an overall GAMEPLAN than thrown up there in desperation to loosen things up, in a game that was already slipping though their fingers, he sucked it up and reestablished his generally reliable accuracy once more. Even that early INT was a matter of the receiver having it in his arms but then batting it up into the air for an easy Kentucky interception.
Agreed...Of course, it remains my abject HOPE that he WILL smarten up and begin that process of change NOW--because otherwise he WILL all too soon be another EX-Gator Coach, and we'll likely be in a deeper hole than EVER!
At the very least, we need for his talents as a recruiter be allowed to fully make their mark here--so that "the NEXT GUY", presumably some high-profile, big-ticket SUPERSTAR COACH is brought in to properly "FINISH THE BIG GATOR REBUILD".
(But of course, part of the PROBLEM is that at THIS point we have NO idea who that would BE.)
SO.
Here is "The Forbidden Question"...
(I neither expect nor WANT an explicit answer to it now; rather, I ask each of us to contemplate and begin to perhaps form some kind of "short list" in our heads--for eventual discussion, "just in case"...):
"Who might make the best "closest thing to a slam-dunk, can't MISS" future hire for the Florida football coaching job, should Billy Napier fail?"
Here is "The Forbidden Question"...
(I neither expect nor WANT an explicit answer to it now; rather, I ask each of us to contemplate and begin to perhaps form some kind of "short list" in our heads--for eventual discussion, "just in case"...):
"Who might make the best "closest thing to a slam-dunk, can't MISS" future hire for the Florida football coaching job, should Billy Napier fail?"
Bottom line:
Man, THAT was painful.
If Coach doesn't see or realize how poorly that sits with Gators, he is in more trouble than even I already THINK he is--the team and all of US right along WITH him!
Man, THAT was painful.
If Coach doesn't see or realize how poorly that sits with Gators, he is in more trouble than even I already THINK he is--the team and all of US right along WITH him!
I am not thinking that far in the future. Remember that Napier will not be fired unless he commits a crime. I would rather focus on the fact that Napier has three coaches on staff who could take over play calling today: Rob Sales, Billy Gonzalez, and Russ Callaway. He does not have experienced special teams coaches, but he does have on-field defensive assistants who also coach gap assignments and head count. Napier could call a meeting with the coaches on Sunday, make those two changes effective immediately, and practice this all week. The coaches could work overtime in the film room optimizing offense and special teams.
One more note: I looked at where we were a year ago and it appears we are in a slightly better position than we were exactly a year ago. A year ago the Gators were 3-2 (0-2) after week 5. This year they are 3-2 (1-1). The FPI is slightly higher for the Gators this year. Last year’s week 6 opponent was tougher than this year’s, so we will get a decent year-to-year comparison on Saturday. If the Gators look like crap this weekend against Vanderbilt then we can assume the team has regressed.
| 2022 Opponent | FPI | Model Prediction | Manual Prediction | Actual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah Utes | 46.02% | Utah 32, Florida 30 (1-0, 0-0) | Utah 24, Florida 21 (0-1, 0-0) | Florida 29, #7 Utah 26 (1-0, 0-0) |
| Kentucky Wildcats | 49.27% | Kentucky 27, Florida 21 (1-1, 0-1) | Florida 31, Kentucky 27 (1-1, 1-0) | #20 Kentucky 29, Florida 16 (1-1, 0-1) |
| South Florida Bulls | 97.92% | Florida 45, USF 10 (2-1, 0-1) | Florida 42, USF 10 (2-1, 1-0) | Florida 31, USF 28 (2-1, 0-1) |
| @ Tennessee Volunteers | 7.81% | Tennessee 36, Florida 24 (2-2, 0-2) | Tennessee 30, Florida 24 (2-2, 1-1) | #11 Tennessee 38, Florida 33 (2-2, 0-2) |
| Eastern Washington Eagles | 98.00% | Florida 48, EWU 10 (3-2, 0-2) | Florida 38, EWU 20 (3-2, 1-1) | Florida 52, EWU 17 (3-2, 0-2) |
| Missouri Tigers | 76.69% | Florida 35, Missouri 21 (4-2, 1-2) | Florida 34, Missouri 23 (4-2, 2-1) | Florida 24, Missouri 17 (4-2, 1-2) |
Well, if he at least DID SOMETHING (your proposal, some version of it, would be a viable start) and we proceeded to show improvement, somehow actually won the better part of our remaining games--of course we'd all be inclined to cut him some slack, allow him to proceed with his rebuild-plans in the assumption that HE is "learning as he goes here" TOO--AND that he is wise and flexible enough to recognize his own errors and adapt quickly in agile fashion.
A young Coach who can do THAT could succeed and remain here for a long time.
A rare trait, however...in ANYONE, let alone a modern bigtime college football Coach.
All I can do is make fun of the situation.
Not only that, Lf, but there are various other "details" emerging postgame--ones that surely added to the obstacles that contributed to our early doldrums...
For example, I was wondering early in our first possession where Eugene Wilson III, supposedly off the injured list, was in the early going when we needed to establish at least the THREAT of a passing game. Then we proceeded to begin our relentless self-destruct, first on offense, then defense, the penalties and missed tackles negatively complementing our overall poor play AND poor play-CALLING...and soon it didn't really matter anymore. We were thoroughly stinking up the place and falling steadily further behind.
I forgot about Wilson III--and frankly TURNED THE GAME OFF before the 1st quarter was even over.
I have not watched Napier's postgame presser (I need to prepare more unemotionalally, in the event he goes with his usual vague blather), but have nonetheless learned from comments online and in conversations with some friends a little while ago that when asked about it our Coach revealed that Eugene did not play at all--that he was withheld in a "last minute determination by the staff trainers and doctors" that he "wasn't quite ready to play"--that it was best he sit out the game. Now, we had been told since after the Tennessee game that his readiness was a matter mainly of "pain tolerence", and that the decision would mainly be in HIS hands...Clearly this HASN'T been the case; also, it was apparently also claimed that he "again WANTED to play" in THIS one, but again was sat--despite the fact that we really NEEDED his outstanding skills in there for this one--How might this have have gone differently had we been able to begin with the kind of passing game we had to start the Tennessee game....had we had both he and Ricky P. from the start in this one. I guess what bothers me most here, given the larger context of our overall poor performance and weak apparent gameplan to begin with, is how little trust or faith I am left with for anything our Coach says in these press conferences now...
I actually find myself wondering if our Coach was just preparing an excuse for not opening up the downfield passing game. "We determined he wasn't quite ready and had to cut back on that part of our gameplan after all..." I'm probably just being unnecessarily paranoid--but at this point I guess my trust and faith in this Coach is seriously compromised.
Bottomline: No getting around it. We are being outcoached by coaches and teams with a FRACTION of the resources WE have...and it has by now led to us getting regularly BEATEN by a team and program we basically OWNED for DECADES.
Like we are now having to hear over and OVER, the last time we lost 3 straight to THIS team, BEAR BRYANT was walking their sidelines! That's right, PRE-Alabama...
We need to get back to BRUSHING ASIDE teams at this "mid-pack level", be back to being feared when we go up against the Georgia's, LSUs and BAMAs in our league, the Longhorns and Sooners when they get here, and the handful of others out there (OSU, Irish, Trojans etc) we'll.one day again face in the CFB Playoffs.
I'm just wondering how LONG those days might now BE after ALL!
Open Plea:
"PLEASE, COACH:
We KNOW all the reasons and potential excuses.
We are more than ready to hear instead honesty and frank discussion of what the plan is to fix what's broken--and RISE ABOVE!"
"PLEASE, COACH:
We KNOW all the reasons and potential excuses.
We are more than ready to hear instead honesty and frank discussion of what the plan is to fix what's broken--and RISE ABOVE!"
This was one of the least watchable games I have seen in a while. Imagine the game against Oregon State, but with the opponent literally throwing your best players around like ragdolls.
Multiple things happening at once:
- Kentucky is one of the most stable programs in the SEC. Only Nick Saban has been around longer, and Mark Stoops has continuously upgraded his core staff.
- Kentucky has always been good with one-and-done mercenary athletes in basketball. The transfer portal gives them the opportunity to do the same with football.
- Billy Napier was brought in to fix the high school recruiting issues, because Dan Mullen was too dependent on the old transfer portal. Napier is still rather good at the new transfer portal for all positions except quarterback. Graham Mertz was the #15 transfer QB, behind 2 QBs who played for Florida (Emory Jones), and one who was a long time commitment (Nick Evers). Devin Leary was the #2 transfer QB behind Sam Hartman, so maybe transfer evaluations are inaccurate. Regardless, I doubt Napier got his true #1.
I believe these are the 6 stages of a fired UF coach. Billy is currently on stage 3 moving into 4 if he doesn’t improve stage 6 will be his fate.
1. Hope: “Things will be different this time. This stage lasted about one week into Napier’s tenure—9/3/2022.
2. Improvement: “We are getting better each week.” We thought we saw this against Tennessee—9/13/2023.
3. Stubbornness: “All we have to do is repeat the same mistakes expecting a different outcome.” Here we are on 9/30/2023.
4. Media / Fan pressure: “FireTheCoach.com websites pop up.” If the Gators lose to Vanderbilt this will absolutely happen.
5. Recruiting fallout: “We just need to get X player next year!” DJ Lagway might be the only recruit left if Florida loses to Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Arkansas.
6. The inevitable: “Maybe Dan Mullen will come back for $10M for 10 years!”
1. Hope: “Things will be different this time. This stage lasted about one week into Napier’s tenure—9/3/2022.
2. Improvement: “We are getting better each week.” We thought we saw this against Tennessee—9/13/2023.
3. Stubbornness: “All we have to do is repeat the same mistakes expecting a different outcome.” Here we are on 9/30/2023.
4. Media / Fan pressure: “FireTheCoach.com websites pop up.” If the Gators lose to Vanderbilt this will absolutely happen.
5. Recruiting fallout: “We just need to get X player next year!” DJ Lagway might be the only recruit left if Florida loses to Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Arkansas.
6. The inevitable: “Maybe Dan Mullen will come back for $10M for 10 years!”
