I’m running out of things to say about this year’s team. They’re too inconsistent for their own good, largely though not entirely a consequence of playing so much youth everywhere. That has been the story, and that will be the story.
UF actually managed to get close to three stops in a row in the first half. They stopped the Tigers and their No. 1 offense on downs twice in a row and then forced a field goal attempt. Three possessions; three points. Against an attack as good as LSU’s, and given how much the defense has struggled since September ended, that was as much of an opening as the defense was going to give the offense.
So what did the offense do with its chance? Graham Mertz lost a fumble on a strip-sack after the first stop. Damieon George forearmed a dude in the helmet to pick up an unsportsmanlike flag and put the team in 2nd & 25 on the next drive. It finished a three-and-out, naturally. Then after the field goal, Florida managed to get one first down before a third-down sack killed the drive.
In short, the Gator offense took that window of opportunity and slammed it shut by racking up a grand total of zero points.
The offense did find a higher gear later on, as they never got stopped three times in a row again. They only got stopped twice in a row, in fact, on their final two drives while going for it on fourth down in desperation time. The much-maligned special teams unit even supplied an extra possession by recovering a muffed kickoff. However the defense got just one stop the rest of the way after that field goal, allowing touchdowns on six of the next seven times they went out there.
By this time last year, fans were screaming for Billy Napier and staff to start benching the older players whose time was nearly up and let the young guys take some lumps as part of their development. Well, the staff has been doing that for most of this year instead, and it shows.
There have been freshman mistakes aplenty, and older dudes are having some issues as well. For the younger players who maybe didn’t come to campus in terrific shape because of their high schools’ conditioning programs, right now their legs might be feeling like Jell-O by the time the second half really gets going. For some of the older ones, maybe they’re just not that good or are still struggling with the scheme. It’s hard to say.
One glaring issue is that the holdover players from the Mullen era really weren’t that great in a lot of places. The majority of them are gone, and the ones who were the best are in the NFL. But, if you were to look at the players who left and are still in college, you wouldn’t see a lot of dudes making the most of their opportunities.
It would’ve been nice to keep some of the guys around: USC starter Michael Tarquin, Pitt leading tackler Donovan McMillon, Cincy’s leading PBU guy Jordan Young, and Nebraska Edge contributor Chief Borders all come to mind. Lorenzo Lingard also could stand a shoutout as Akron’s leading rusher on the season, but Florida doesn’t need running back help and the top two guys this year passed him up last year. I’ll do a proper rundown after the season, but most of those who left have not been standouts at their new locales.
More serious cracks are starting to form with a couple of big decommitments over the weekend. Both were defensive players, and it shouldn’t shock anyone if more leave the class. Other coaches are supposedly already negative-recruiting against Florida by saying Napier might not be there for another four seasons, and what exactly is the defense doing to make someone feel excited?
If Napier can’t keep the class mostly together and fill the holes well, it calls into question what the value proposition is with him. He still gets a third season because firing him is so expensive, and we have to see if all these young guys taking all these lumps will turn into something much better next season.
The thing just is that Napier picked an unusual model for running his program and never adjusted his system to the players. He also seems to trust his guys more than anything else, even if it hurts the team in the short run.
I don’t 100% know why McMillon left, for instance. I do know that Napier is an amazing salesman when he wants to be, so I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think the safety could still be here if the head coach wanted him to be. The defense could be a lot better if it had an older guy like McMillon in his second season in the system anchoring the unit instead of starting true freshmen as they are now.
Napier is dug in on his system and his ways, and only time will tell if he’s digging out of the ditch Mullen left the program in or digging his own coaching grave. It’s not going to get better this year, and so we’re stuck hoping for some lucky rolls of the dice these next two weeks before finding out what moves Napier is willing to make when his job is on the line.