Gators fall short in heartbreaking loss to the Noles

The 2022 regular football season has officially come to an end for the Florida Gators with a bowl game still left to play. The goal for this team was to finish strong after a disappointing loss to Vanderbilt. Unfortunately for Florida, Friday’s 45-38 loss to the Noles was a complete heartbreak. 

 Aside from the worst tackling seen all season and the lack of pressure on the defensive front, the offense thrived in almost every aspect Friday night in the first half. 

There’s no question that Anthony Richardson’s two touchdown throws to Ricky Pearsall were vital, but the running game is what kept Florida driving down the field the entire first half.

However, the second half was a completely different story until late in the third quarter. Florida’s offense seemingly regressed coming out of the locker room with nine total plays going for only three total yards in three straight drives to open the second half. 

From there, things got messy for the Gators. Florida tried to force a pass game that was wildly inconsistent aside from two big plays. 

This led to three straight three-and-outs and the Noles ultimately running away with the lead. 

We’ve seen many games this year where Florida fights to come back but falls short in the end. 

Once again, the Gators and this staff dug themselves a hole from which they just couldn’t get themselves out from. This team fought until the end, but Friday was just another example of what this season has been for Florida. 

“I am extremely proud,” Napier said. “The staff had them ready to compete and they showed up and put it on the line. Tough one to swallow. But we’re going to get better. We’re going to improve. We’re going to use that experience.”

This team displayed the most fight they’ve shown all season and were the closest they’ve been to coming back from behind. On top of the missed penalty calls, the hole the Gators dug themselves was impossible to climb out from.

“First and second down in particular, bang-bang plays on some of those,” Napier said on the three-and-outs. “There’s no question, can do some things better there. Across the board.”

It’s always hard to call plays when your offense doesn’t execute the way they need to, and I’ll give some credit to Napier for that. Although, the Gators went away from what was most effective which was the running game.

Either way, Anthony Richardson gave it everything he had and left it all on the field Friday night for not just himself, but this program.

“I saw a guy that competed,” Napier said on Richardson. “That’s what I saw. I saw a guy that made some unbelievable plays as a runner. Made some elite throws at times. I’m proud of Anthony and the way he competed in the game.”

In the absence of Ventrell Miller in the first half, players stepped up and were ready to play Friday night. Miller was very proud of the way Derek Wingo and Scooby Williams played while Miller sat.

“It didn’t feel too good,” Miller said on sitting out the first half. “I know the guys were ready for me to come back in. They were talking about, ‘free me’ after halftime. It felt good that my teammates felt a certain way about me coming back at half. It felt good to see them cheering me on to get back out there. It was tough just to wait. I felt like my teammates, [Derek] Wingo and [Scooby Williams] did a great job coming out there the first half. They kept us up. They kept us up, so I guess I couldn’t asked for them to do more.”

There’s no question that this season was a letdown after going (6-6) and only winning three SEC games, but there’s a lot of good to takeaway from this season. The Gators haven’t improved record-wise, but the leadership and brotherhood of this football team have improved dramatically since last season.

“Like Coach [Napier] said, I know we didn’t win as many games this year, but, like I said, this would have to be one of my favorite years just being here. Just the brotherhood we built throughout the time. Like I said, that’s just something Coach Napier emphasized,” Miller said. “You could just see the brotherhood growing throughout the year. It’s been a great time.”

The passing game was inconsistent all night, as it’s been inconsistent all season. Anthony Richardson won some battles and he lost some.

“That’s just us not connecting, winning matchups,” Richardson said on the passing game. “We knew we were going to get one-on-one matchups in this game, so we just tried to attack them outside. They played pretty good defense and deflected most of the passes, but it was just us not winning matchups, winning one-on-ones. That’s what we talked about all week.”

Gator nation seemed worried about the lack of depth at the receiver position, but not Anthony Richardson.

“I wasn’t worried,” Richardson said. “Some people might have thought it was kind of crazy not having some of the big-time receivers that they’re used to seeing out there, but it’s no surprise to us because we try to prepare as if anybody can go out there and play. Those guys came out there and they played. They did what they could do, and we got the result that we got.”

It’s clear Richardson wanted this game just as badly as Gator nation. There’s a lot to fix and this team is ready to continue working.

“It’s an emotional game for everybody. Last regular season game for us,” Richardson said. “A rival game like that, so it definitely meant a lot to a lot of people, and just the state of Florida in general. Just seeing how much it meant to people, it kind of makes you want to go out there and play a little harder for them. You just got to get better day by day.”

It’s unfortunate that this season went the way that it did, but this team has improved so much from last year.

A program is rebuilt with the culture, brotherhood and bond created amongst a staff and its players. After years of not having that in the locker-room, Billy Napier has revived this program in many ways needed to be successful. It starts with culture and recruiting, which is exactly what Billy Napier is nailing on the head right now as head coach.

Throughout these next few years, its vital that Napier keeps recruiting and makes necessary changes on staff while he’s here at Florida. Muschamp, McElwain and Mullen all had their own unique downfalls that prevented them from succeeding at the University of Florida. If Billy Napier can keep recruiting, while potentially hiring an offensive coordinator in a few years (I don’t think that happens anytime soon) and make beneficial changes on staff, the future could be very bright for this program.

Hold on tight Gators’ fans, this is only the beginning.