Florida vs. Texas A&M score, takeaways: Gators look pitiful as Billy Napier’s job becomes untenable

Image Credit: Logan Bowles, UAA

Billy Napier’s tenure as head coach of the Florida Gators ended Saturday evening inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Whether Napier’s employment is terminated this Sunday, next Sunday, Sept. 22, Oct. 20 or Dec. 1, there is basically no coming back from the horrendous performance Florida (1-2, 0-1 SEC) put on the field in a worse-than-it-looks 33-20 loss to the Texas A&M Aggies (2-1, 1-0 SEC).

The defense was nonexistent. The offense was listless in the first half. (Special teams was somehow solid for the third straight game after being pathetic for two full seasons.) In the end, UF lost its seventh straight game to a Power Four opponent (fourth straight in The Swamp) and has not won such a contest in 11 months.

Even beyond the unfathomably terrible play on the field, Florida was not prepared for the test it faced. Napier again showed zero feel calling the offense. He predetermined entering Week 3 that redshirt senior Graham Mertz and freshman DJ Lagway would split quarterbacking duties. Rather than deviate from that game plan when it was clear Mertz was moving the ball as Lagway was struggling against a far better defense than Samford offered last week, he stuck to his guns.

This was most notable in the third quarter when Mertz led a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive — the first sign of life on either side of the ball Florida showed Saturday — only for Napier to replace him with Lagway, who subsequently went three-and-out with a sack on the next drive. This happened again when the Gators trailed by 13 points with 3:41 left when Napier again put the inexperienced Lagway on the field in a situation where leaning on Mertz could have potentially made the game competitive.

Mertz ultimately finished 12 of 15 for 195 yards while Lagway completed 6 of 13 passes for 54 yards; each threw a touchdown and an interception that was not actually the QB’s fault, though Lagway tossed a second that was 100% on him.

“Ultimately, we have a really talented young player, and we have a really talented veteran player that’s experienced and has great command and knowledge of our system,” Napier said. “We ultimately made a commitment to rotate the players a certain progression, a certain way regardless of the outcome — basically just to keep those guys in a good frame of mind relative to not looking over their shoulder. … We felt like it was in the best interest of the team to do it that way. That wasn’t the reason we got beat today.”

Indeed, offense is not why the Gators lost. It was a total team and coaching staff effort primarily laid on a defense that has not only failed to improve from the disastrous 2023 season but perhaps got worse. That’s particularly exasperating because Napier spent the offseason overhauling the unit with three new assistants — including a “head coach of defense” to oversee his 31-year-old defensive coordinator — and a bevy of new players. That overseer, Ron Roberts, called plays Saturday, and his defense was both outschemed and outworked for 60 minutes (by a 34-year-old, third-year offensive coordinator).

Two of those assistants Napier jettisoned, Jay Bateman and Sean Spencer, were part of an Aggies defensive staff that held the Gators to less than three touchdowns for the third straight game against an FBS opponent.

“Today, obviously couldn’t capture any momentum early. We struggled to stop them. We had multiple opportunities to get off the field [in the first half], and we could not. The play count got really out of hand; the time of possession was very distorted there,” Napier explained. “… We did score the first possession of the second half, got it back to two scores, two plays later, we gave up an explosive pass with a mental error in the secondary. We couldn’t run it, and they obviously rushed it effectively. They beat us today.”

Coming out of a 24-point home loss in Week 1, Florida trailed by as many as 26 before stemming the tide late to put up a decent point total ahead of the final whistle. The score was respectable; neither the play nor the result could be called the same.

“It’s disgusting, and ultimately, that’s my fault. We need to do much better,” Napier said.

Defense-less

It did not take long for Florida to prove that its defensive issues against Miami were not simply an aberration to start the season. In 15 minutes of football to forget, Florida allowed Texas A&M to rack up 10 points and 174 yards despite the visitors playing a backup quarterback and committing six penalties. That extended to 20 points in the first 30 minutes with the Gators getting outgained 302-73 and out-possessed 22:55-7:05 (45-19 play disadvantage) as they were shut out through the first half in The Swamp for the first time since 2015.

“We struggled getting lined up and executing basic calls, just to be quite honest,” Napier said. “… Overall, I’ll just tell you, not good defense. It’s about as simple as I can put it.”

On the game’s first drive, the Aggies were struggling with second-and-21 on their own 14-yard line; redshirt freshman QB Marcel Reed converted it with a 31-yard run on a broken play. The secondary then disappeared on consecutive third-and-long conversions with the Gators wasting three opportunities to get off the field. One drive later, TAMU started backed up at its own 8. UF similarly wilted allowing a 27-yard run on first down (that should have been stopped for a loss) and a third-and-8 conversion. Florida then actually got stops on third-and-5 and fourth-and-5 (!) … except an unnecessary holding by senior cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. negated the latter and extended the drive. Reed, on the next play, found a wide-open receiver in the middle of the end zone from 29 yards out.

The pain continued throughout the rest of the game. An outstanding special teams effort from senior punter Jeremy Crawshaw and senior WR Chimere Dike backed the Aggies up to their own 1; however, a 22-yard rush got Texas A&M off the goal line and moving down the field where they would eventually end a 99-yard drive with a referee-aided touchdown. After Florida finally found points early in the third quarter, TAMU answered with a 73-yard TD just two plays later on yet another coverage bust in the secondary.

In the first half, Florida was outscored 20-0, outgained 302-72 and out-possessed 22:55-7:05 with a 45-19 play disparity toward Texas A&M. Ultimately, the Gators were outgained 488-301 and out-possessed 37:46-22:14 with a 72-54 play disparity in another embarrassment.

“I don’t necessarily think we were flat to open the game]; I just don’t think we executed,” Napier said. “… We came in after the rain delay [at the end of the first quarter] and watched every single clip. There were opportunities to make plays, there’s mental errors, there’s fundamental mistakes. We just didn’t have the ball; obviously, they kept the ball, so it got out of control early. We got to play complimentary football; if we’re out of whack in one area, it’s not good for our team.”

Height of absurdity

UF has been victims of some inane officiating decisions in recent years. Perhaps none was worse than what happened Saturday. Penalties pushed Texas A&M into second-and-31 on the Florida 40. Redshirt senior defensive back Trikweze Bridges got an easy stop to create third-and-29 with a long field goal or punt set to end the drive. Instead, Bridges was called for targeting after he barely dipped his helmet and hitting a leaping player … in his butt. The Aggies took advantage of the yardage and fresh set of downs with a touchdown to lead 20-0 just seconds later.

 “I’ll be interested to see the video for the targeting,” Napier said.

The Gators’ final drive of the first half also featured an uncalled late hit and a crystal-clear pass interference penalty on a Hail Mary for Lagway that was ultimately intercepted in the end zone.

Don’t get it twisted: Officiating is not why Florida lost. Not even close. However, those three calls turned what could have potentially been a one-score game (at worst a two-score game) into a three-store game at halftime.

What (else) went wrong?

• Marshall dropped an interception in the second quarter.
• Redshirt senior running back Montrell Johnson Jr. finished with a career-low -7 yards rushing on seven carries.

What went right?

• Senior wide receiver Elijhah Badger made a tremendous triple-tip catch on a poorly thrown slant by Mertz. His patience and quick thinking led to a would-be 54-yard touchdown except a (questionable) holding brought it back for a reduced 38-yard gain. Still, it was quite a grab and run by Badger, who was rewarded with a 14-yard TD just a few plays later for Florida’s first score. He finished with 78 yards.
• Lagway showed nice patience converting a fourth-and-9 in the red zone and a 7-yard touchdown on third down late in the third quarter. Dike caught that ball as one of six receptions for 91 yards.
• Redshirt junior RB Ja’Kobi Jackson ran hard in the fourth quarter scoring for the first time in orange & blue.
• Crawshaw and the entire special teams unit were on point for the third straight game.

Odds & ends

Florida fell to 3-4 all-time against Texas A&M, 2-3 since TAMU joined the SEC and 1-2 in The Swamp … it was the first meeting between the sides on Florida Field since 2017 … the Gators under Napier are now 10-6 at home, 7-15 against Power Four opponents, 3-11 when opponents score first, 1-9 when scoring less than 21 points, 4-16 when allowing 21+ points, 1-14 when tied or trailing after the third quarter and 2-11 when being outrushed … Florida is 38-13 against unranked opponents since 2018 … the Gators have scored in 451 consecutive games, an NCAA record.

What it means

Game over. Against two FBS opponents this season, Florida has been outscored by 18.5 points per game (74-37). The defense, led by two coordinators each making more than $1 million, is a wreck. Coverage busts in the secondary were commonplace throughout the game. The offense, called by Napier despite everyone begging him to give up those duties, remains boring and identical to the one Gators fans have suffered through for the last two seasons. (Actually, it’s worse given UF is down one additional game-breaking running back and a first-round pick wide receiver from 2023.) Florida’s offensive line, also led by two coaches (one with a coordinator title), failed to get any push in the run game and continues to underdeliver given the commitment and focus on the position under Napier.

The Gators were badly broken when Napier took over. Napier said he was going to take a sledgehammer to the walls and rebuild from the ground up; instead, he filled the cracks with half-chewed bubblegum and chiseled away at the foundation. Even if Napier retrains his job through the weekend and Florida somehow wins its next two games, its murderer’s row of a schedule awaits on the other side. It’s only a matter of time barring arguably the most miraculous turnaround in college football history.

What’s next?

Florida will hit the road for the first time this season when it visits Mississippi State — one of the toughest away environments in the nation — on Saturday at noon ET in a game that will air live nationally on ESPN. It will be the teams’ first meeting since 2018 when UF won 13-6 in Starkville, Mississippi.