The Florida Gators dropped another SEC game on Saturday night, falling 45-35 at home to the LSU Tigers.
Here’s what Billy Napier had to say during the postgame press conference.
OPENING STATEMENT
“I told the team before and after the game this is a great game that we play. It’s a blessing to play the game and coach the game. The best thing about the game was the people that you get to do it with: the players, the coaches. We’ve got hundreds of people on the staff that contribute to our team. I’m proud to be associated with that group in that locker room because I get a chance to be with them every single day. Ultimately, we did not do enough to win the game tonight. When you’re in a leadership position, there is only one answer. You’ve got to do better for the people that you are leading: players, staff, and all the people that care and represent this university. You’ve got to do a better job. There’s lots of things that we can do better. Nothing fun about losing. I think the most difficult part, when you are in my chair, is seeing it in the people that work so hard. There’s going to be a ton of things that we can do to improve. I respect the fight in the group. I respect the competitive spirit. There’re many times out there tonight where they could’ve folded their cards and they fought back in the game and got it to a one score game. We did a lot of good things tonight, but ultimately not enough to win the game. It’s my job to position the team to win, to have success, and I could do my job better. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. I’m proud of the players and certainly excited to continue to work with them. It’s a good group. It’s the best thing about the game. The people you get to do it with. I got to do more for our team,” Napier said.
LSU put up 528 yards of offense and 45 points in this contest. Here’s what Napier had to say about their defensive performance today.
ON THE DEFENSE
“What I see is opportunity. I’m seeing a lot of opportunity. You have to give a little bit of credit to LSU tonight. The skill players, the quarterback. I don’t know that we tackled. I don’t know that that’s one of our better days from a tackling perspective. Individual matchups, they won their fair share tonight. We got the guy. We are all over the guy a lot of times and the guy out runs us or breaks the pocket. I think that, when we look at it, we’ll see a combination of things. We’re going to see a lot of things that we can do better schematically. I think we are going to see things that we can do fundamentally better. I think there are going to be opportunities for guys to make plays. It’s going to be a combination of all those things. I do not think it’s one thing or another. I think it’s a combination of all those things. Ultimately, with the things that we can control from a coaching perspective and the things that we can do better, we need to do those things better. I think that we are going to be sick when we watch this tape. That’s what I can tell you,” Napier said.
Richardson broke an 81-yard touchdown run to start the fourth quarter, trailing 21 points. This was Florida’s 3rd longest TD rush since 1996 and the longest by a UF QB in that time. That run ties the 9th longest TD rush in the FBS this season; it’s the third longest by an FCS QB.
NAPIER ON RICHARDSON’S RUN
“I can’t credit Anthony [Richardson] enough relative to flipping the switch and being a great competitor. You can see it in his eyes, and he is wearing his heart on his sleeve. Anthony’s a guy that wants to do his absolute best for the team and that one play was a good example of that. Gets it to two scores and we get a stop. We are going to be sick when we watch the tape. I think, ultimately, we have to do more for our players. We are going to see a lot of opportunities when we watch the tape” Napier said.
Many fans were wondering about Billy Napier’s clock management at the end of the first half. Here was his answer.
ON CLOCK MANAGEMENT AT THE END OF THE FIRST HALF
“They’ve got two as well (timeouts)so you are in a mayday two-minute situation. There’s a certain level of aggression that you are going to use based on field position. We never really got into field position where you needed to be aggressive. Ultimately, I think they’ve got two [timeouts]. The last thing you want to do is give them the ball back again. I think it’s a delicate situation there that you try to help manage the players there,” Napier said.
The offensive line continues to succeed for the Gators. Florida’s 6.4 yards per carry this season ranks third in the FBS. Florida has rushed for 200 yards in three straight games.
ON THE OFFENSIVE LINE
“I thought, for the most part, we fought them pretty well. I don’t know what the numbers look like. We had some leakage here or there. Richie Leonard played for the most part and did a good job in the game. They had some really good players on the edges. On third down in particular we had some issues with their dime package, but overall that group played well. I think we’ll be pleased with that when we go back and look at the tape,” Napier said.
Florida suffered a roughing the passer penalty late in the game that cost the Gators an interception. Gervon Dexter hit Jayden Daniels and landed on top of him, causing a flag to be thrown.
ON THE ROUGHING THE PASSER PENALTY
“I think there will be some opportunity to teach there. That’s a judgment call. It is bang-bang. The guy felt like it was unnecessary roughness on the quarterback. We didn’t get a replay of it. I wasn’t able to see it, so it probably wouldn’t be right for me to comment on it. Officiating wasn’t an issue tonight. They let them play tonight. That’s what I would say, and that’s what I always want them to do. They let them play. We got a great crew, great people there. There will be some things there. We’ll ask for feedback. When we get to the tape, we will be able to coach them better based off the feedback just like we do every week,” Napier said.