It is no longer a “great day to be a Florida Gator.”
Morale is down in The Swamp as the Gators’ losing ways in Billy Napier’s tenure only continued on Saturday against Texas A&M in what Paul Finebaum referred to as a “must-win” game for the Gators and the future of their head coach.
Instead, the team looked entirely discombobulated as it fell 33-20 to the visiting Aggies. Napier was booed off the field at the end of the game, responding that he couldn’t blame what was left of the remaining crowd for doing such.
“I have no negative comment about that. Ultimately, when you play a certain way in this arena, you’re gonna be criticized. This is one of those places where there’s history and tradition and expectations and a lot of really good football teams have played in this stadium in the past. When you play ugly ball, and maybe it didn’t look like we all wanted it to, it comes with the territory. So I probably would’ve done the same thing.”
Billy Napier after Florida’s loss
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On the flip side, the contest highlighted several bright spots for Texas A&M, also raising one very big question.
Here’s a look into four things we took away on both sides from Florida’s loss to Texas A&M.
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1. Florida Gators have seen the last of Billy Napier (or very close to it)
This was a must-win game for Napier, who was already on the hottest of seats, and he failed miserably to get the job done. He is 1-7 in his last eight games with the Gators, and failed to capitalize on signing a top-15 recruiting class in the nation. He is 12-16 with a 6-11 conference record in his time in Florida, far below the standard set for such an SEC program. It is also the worst record of any Florida coach since Raymond Wolf went 13-24-2 between 1946 and 1949.
Napier’s buyout is estimated to be roughly $28 million if he is fired without cause.
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2. It’s DJ Lagway time (at least in some capacity)
If anyone was a supporter of giving Graham Mertz an extended chance after the upside and complete transformation he seemed to show last season, it was me. But it seems that easing Lagway into the starting role or at least utilizing a rotating quarterback system would be beneficial at this point for the Gators, given some of the issues Mertz has shown. Lagway, a former Gatorade National Player Of The Year, has made a strong impression despite the (very) limited action he’s seen.
Florida legend Steve Spurrier had high praise for the signal-caller when he spoke about him in a recent interview on “The Paul Finebaum Show.”
“He’s the quarterback of the 2020s. He can run, he can escape guys and he’s an excellent passer. He’s really a better passer than a lot of these scrambling quarterbacks, as we saw last week in highlight tapes. He was hitting guys on the dead run, deep balls all over the place and the receivers finally got a lot of opportunities.
Steve Spurrier on DJ Lagway
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3. The future of QB Conner Weigman could be uncertain
Weigman was considered one of the best quarterbacks in the nation when the season kicked off, with some analysts going as far as to pin him as a potential first-round draft selection. Others were even bold enough to refer to him as a player who could be the best quarterback in the country. He’s looked anything but the part this season with a disastrous showing in the season-opener against Notre Dame, completing 40% of his passes for 100 yards with two interceptions.
Weigman recently suffered an AC joint sprain that kept him sidelined for this game, and backup Marcel Reed surpassed expectations with his performance, giving reason to believe he could give Weigman a run for his money with the threat of taking away his starting gig. Reed was 11-for-17 passing, tossing for 178 yards and two touchdowns.
He also ran for 83 yards with one rushing touchdown on 13 carries.
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4. Texas A&M offensive line shines
Everything starts up front in a successful offense, and the Aggies had that going for them on Saturday. The protection and run lanes opened up by the unit allowed the Texas A&M rushing attack to hammer the Gators’ defense, as the Aggies put up a combined total of 310 yards on the ground.
That comes just one week after they accomplished 333 yards under the same category. It also help set up Reed for the standout day he had both through the air and on the ground.
