Florida off to worst start in 39 years, wasting immense defensive effort in loss at No. 4 Miami

Football

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Image Credit: UAA

Even when the Florida Gators showed signs of life Saturday night at Hard Rock Stadium, it appeared as if the bottom would fall out. After being shut out in the first half, Florida looked like a rejuvenated program coming out of the locker rooms only for its listless offense to waste yet another sterling defensive effort in a 26-7 loss to the No. 4 Miami Hurricanes.

Now 1-3 in Year 4 under head coach Billy Napier, the Gators are off to their worst start through four games in 39 years. That 1986 Florida team won five of its last six contests to finish 6-5, but with UF set to face one ranked opponent after another through the conclusion of nation’s most difficult schedule this season, it is highly unlikely to rebound in a similar fashion.

Florida’s offense was once again anemic under Napier, compiling just 32 paltry yards with one first down in the first half. The Gators responded with a tremendous 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive fueled by the run game to open the second half, but they ultimately went three-and-out (or four-and-out) across eight of 11 drives while finishing 0 of 13 on third down and 3 of 6 on fourth down.

UF was outgained 344-141 on Saturday night as Napier insists he remain the offensive play caller despite 42 games of evidence and decisions made by many of his peers proving such a continuation of duty is foolhardy.

Napier is now 20-22 overall (.476), 13-20 against Power Four opponents (.394), 4-16 against AP Top 25 teams (.200) and 5-15 away from home (.250).

His offense remains unimaginative to the point it’s more predictable than ever, he refuses to give up play calling duties, and the Gators continue making the same mistakes in Year 4 that he said were correctable in Year 1. This has become an unsustainable situation, one that must be rectified well before season’s end.

Florida has lost to Miami by a combined score of 67-24 over the last two seasons after a 41-7 defeat in The Swamp to open the 2024 campaign.

Quarterback DJ Lagway on Saturday completed 12 of 23 passes for a career-low 61 yards with Napier clearly either not trusting the sophomore or doing whatever he could to ensure Lagway did not turn the ball over five times like he did last week at LSU. Lagway appeared hesitant in the pocket, and he rarely had opportunities to throw the ball further than 10 yards despite UF often being behind the sticks.

Florida receivers did drop three notable passes, and one ran a bad route short of the sticks on a key fourth down, which was not Lagway’s fault as he completed the pass to his open man.

“When we watch the tape, [the offensive failures] will be a combination of a lot of things. Every position is contributing to our issues,” Napier said. “Obviously, we talk about DJ and what he’s been through this offseason; I do think there’s some rhythm missing there. We’re going to go back to the drawing board. The open date is coming at a good time [as] we need to evaluate everything we’re doing on that side of the ball.”

The 26 points given up to the Hurricanes is not indicative of the Gators’ defensive effort. After allowing Miami to convert its first five third downs while struggling to match its intensity at the line of scrimmage, Florida completely locked the hosts down across the second, third and most of the fourth quarter, allowing just 3 of 10 third-down conversions in the late stages.

Canes QB Carson Beck was again rattled by the Gators, completing 17 of 30 passes for only 160 yards with an interception by sophomore cornerback Cormani McClain. This despite Florida being down three starting defensive lineman and losing a fourth during the game.

The Gators’ lone score came from sophomore running back Jadan Baugh, who dominated the 80-yard touchdown drive, concluding it with a hard-fought 7-yard rush into the end zone, spinning off the line of scrimmage to find pay dirt.

“Defensively, it was an incredible effort,” Napier said. “Obviously, not good enough on offense. We did not generate enough yards or points. The first half was a trial of errors, not many plays were we executed well at all. We had mental errors on protection on third down and really struggled to stack any good plays together.

“I do think the kids responded at halftime. … We found some running game there early in the second half and were able to kind of make it a football game there and get a takeaway. In position there with a fourth down, gotta have it, came up a little bit short. …

“We had our shots. We had our chances.”

‘The Guarantee’ ?

Here’s what Lagway had to say following the loss.

“Let me tell y’all something: We’re gonna get things changed for sure. I guarantee that. I can guarantee that. This is not acceptable at all. I’m not going to sit here and lie to y’all and make this seem like this is OK. This isn’t OK. We’ve got to play better football, and it starts with me.”

“… I’m the head of it. I’m going to start with it. I’m going to demand greatness from everybody. We’re done with the playing around stuff. It’s time to get serious, and it starts with me. I got to set the tempo. I got to set the tone in practice, in meetings, around the building, everywhere. I know for a fact it’s going to change because it’s going to start with me.”

What went wrong

• Florida started with negative yardage or no gain across its first four offensive plays and basically spotted Miami 10 points cross into the second quarter given its inability to move the football. UM held a 116-5 yardage edge after the first quarter, 198-32 at halftime.
• Officiating was, frankly, horrendous in the first half. Referees missed blatant, obvious holdings from the Canes offensive line — allowing it to continue drives that would have otherwise ended — and at least two potential targeting violations on their defense. The Gators would have lost this game anyway, but it would have been much more competitive if it was officiated better.
• Florida only committed three penalties for 20 yards, but all three came on third down. Two on the offensive side of the ball were poorly timed, hurting drives, and the defensive holding — legitimate but ticky-tack considering what UM was able to do without penalty — continued a drive for the hosts.
• Even though UF played far better up front in the second half, it was pushed around in embarrassing fashion through the first 30 minutes in the trenches — particularly considering its lines were supposed to be strengths for the program entering the season. (Reminder: There are two offensive line coaches.)
• Napier chose not to kick a 50-yard field goal that would have brought Florida’s deficit to three points with 14:50 remaining. While Miami did not score after UF failed on fourth down — and Napier was, for once, in “scared money don’t make money mode” on that down Saturday night — considering Florida had all the momentum at that time and the field ultimately got flipped, perhaps it was the wrong decision.
• The Gators had only 10 players on the field during a Canes field goal. It’s Year 4 under Napier.

Odds & ends

Florida now trails 30-28 in the all-time series with Miami, 14-15 in South Florida … the Gators have not won a road game in this series since 1985, going 0-4 since … UF has dropped nine of the last 11 meetings since 1986 … Florida has not defeated a top-five team on the road since 2009, and it has not done so as an unranked team since 1963 … an unranked Gators team has not defeated a ranked opponent on the road since 2018 … Florida’s defense has forced turnovers in 15 of 16 games, including an active streak of 13 games … the Gators under Napier are 4-11 on the road and 5-15 away from home … Florida under Napier is 3-15 when allowing opponents to score first, 1-15 when scoring less than 21 points, 5-20 when allowing 21+ points, 4-16 when tied or trailing at halftime, 3-19 when tied or trailing after the third quarter and 4-15 when being outrushed … Florida under Napier is 4-16 against AP Top 25 teams, 3-11 over the last three seasons … the Gators have scored in 465 consecutive games, an NCAA record