In a dominant performance against Florida State, the Florida Gators secured a winning season with a convincing 31-11 victory. Head coach Billy Napier’s team showcased their defensive prowess with a season-high in tackles for loss and sacks, while running back Montrell Johnson surpassed 3,000 career rushing yards. Despite some offensive challenges, the Gators’ complementary football and opportunistic defense proved too much for their in-state rivals, leading Napier to confidently declare, “I wouldn’t bet against us”.
LISTEN or WATCH: Florida controls FSU in 31-11 win | OT Tavaris Dice flips from Auburn
Opening statement:
BILLY NAPIER: “Before we get going here, obviously what happened there at the end of the game is not who we would want to be as a program, okay? And it’s embarrassing to me, and it’s a distraction from a really well-played football game, right? So I want to apologize on behalf of the entire organization, just in terms of how we represented the university there. We shouldn’t have done that. We won’t do that going forward, and there’ll be consequences for all involved, okay, so, you know, I do think that, you know, we played complementary ball, you know, and I thought defensively really lights out. Season-high in TFLs and sacks, limited the explosive plays, and then obviously had created some takeaways and were able to take advantage of those on offense and get some points from those. Montrell goes over 3,000 yards, and look, I think, you know, we didn’t have our fastball on offense, you know, I think it was evident there. We had some missed opportunities, and I do think that it could have been worse is what I would say. But I think we struggled at times. We got to play better around the quarterback obviously, across the board there, I think we’ll look back at it, we’ll see that we got to play better around the quarterback. But in general, good ball. Good to see us finish it there in the second half, and then really proud of the leadership of the players. Obviously, we talked all week about finishing the race, and we’re here, so, yeah, proud of our team.”
On five turnovers, forcing eight fumbles, the opportunistic defense affecting the QB:
BILLY NAPIER: “Yeah some of those were just takeaway behavior. You know, we talked about putting takeaway behavior on the film. Do it in practice, do it in the game. Second, third, fourth, fifth defender in, you know, being around the ball. Population around the ball contributes to turnovers. So the mission here was to come here and put a bunch of identity clips on the tape, and I think we did that.”
On clinching the first winning season in the Napier era, the step in the program, the late-season progression:
BILLY NAPIER: “Yeah. I mean, I think midseason, that is when it all kind of came together. Think the players did a good job of kind of putting their blinders on in the first month, and didn’t allow excuses, didn’t allow blame, you know, and really just went back to work, you know. Go back to that first open date, and I think that Tennessee game was pivotal, you know, the way they responded to that. So, yeah, just in general, good to have some momentum. We took advantage. That was the mission, was to capture the momentum that we had tonight and I thought we did that.”
On the locker room, scene, victory cigars, what it means for this team to close on a high note:
BILLY NAPIER: “Yeah it’s a huge positive. It’s unfortunate that we have a distraction that, again, is inexcusable. So, look, our guys deserve it. They’ve worked their tails off. I’m proud of them, and as a coach, you want to see the players get some gratification from all their work. These guys, what we asked them to do is not normal, and all they’ve done is just continue to show up. And they brought the effort, brought the attitude, and they were ready to play.”
On if Napier got a cigar:
BILLY NAPIER: “Absolutely.”
On if he recognized this season the attitude had changed:
BILLY NAPIER: “Yeah, I think that Wednesday of that first open date, that’s where I kind of saw our guys change tunes a little bit, change gears as competitors, right, get back to playing the game, enjoying playing the game. And then I think the way we competed on the road at Tennessee in that first half, we really showed up and fought our tails off. And, you know, I thought we were in position to win that game. And then obviously that transition to Kentucky and then the way we competed against Georgia, just all these things kept adding up. But in general, taking pride in how we compete on gameday, you know, one thing we’ve learned is you got to earn it. You got to go take it, there’s no shortcuts. There’s no guarantee of a return. You got to do all the work during the week, and then when the ball gets spotted, you have to go execute. You have to win one-on-ones, you have to communicate at a high level. You got to play with an extra effort, you got to play with physicality. So, but it’s something we figured out: we could do it, and I think that it’s football, and they think we’ve got some guys that can play. And they finally started playing with some confidence, you know, I think some belief, I think, is powerful.”
On TD to end first half:
BILLY NAPIER: “Yeah, we were trying to play make it, take it. I though we managed the clock pretty good there. You know, we didn’t start the half very good, so I was disappointed with that. But yeah, I mean to make it two scores and really just kind of extend the lead and get control the game. Although we were in control, the score didn’t reflect that. Making it two scores right before the half was big.”
On DJ Lagway shaking off the defender:
BILLY NAPIER: “Superman. I mean, there is a handful of plays that are off-schedule. I think that’s what he does, right? So, he’s going to be frustrated because he knows that there were six or eight plays where he could’ve been better. But look, we’ve got to play better around the quarterback. I didn’t think we were sharp. Every position could have been better there around the quarterback tonight.”
On Montrell Johnson performance the last two weeks:
BILLY NAPIER: “He worked his tail off to get over the high ankle, the bone bruise. Missed a chunk of the season there in the middle. You could just see in this last week against Ole Miss, when he’s on, he’s a little different. His patience, his acceleration, his vision. And he showed some finishing speed tonight. So, Montrell, 3,000 yards. I mean, how many backs in the country right now have 3,000 yards rushing. He’s taken full advantage, and he’s a class act off the field. He’s everything you would want in a player to be in terms of representing the program.”
On what make it take it means:
BILLY NAPIER: “Make it take it, man. You play basketball. You try to make it before the half, first possession of the second half.”
On the entire running game tonight:
BILLY NAPIER: “Yeah, 6.2 a rush. And look, Florida State plays coverage every play. They play with a light box. They’re sticky in coverage. They’re inviting the run. Much like Ole Miss last week. I think you got to go to the park and establish that. We probably could have been more patient at times in the first half. It makes everything else easier is what I would say. Makes the throw game better, the movement, pass game better. We didn’t quite connect, I think we hit Dike once on a vertical route. They did a pretty good job in coverage tonight. Yeah, I think especially given the conditions. It’s cold. You’re on the road. You need to play with that type of physicality, and it was that type of day.”
On Lagway’s performance in a hostile environment:
BILLY NAPIER: “Yeah, no, I thought he kept his composure. He seemed within himself, although maybe missed a few at times. I thought he just kept playing within the system taking what they gave him. Big third-and-three conversion there to Tank Hawkins late. Big throw to Chim, big throw to Burke. Obviously, the touchdown late. I mean, he did a good job. Again, I think they matched our patterns pretty good at times tonight, and then I think we could play better around him. So, overall, there will be things he can learn from tonight’s experience.”
On the team’s handling of keeping the momentum:
BILLY NAPIER: “I think we got a pretty mature group. I think we’ve fed off the energy. We’re not to that point yet. We haven’t done it enough yet to where it becomes, you know, they like it, they want to do it more. We’re at that point, right? I’ve been at places where we’ve won 26 in a row and it starts to wear off on the other end and you have to crack the whip all the time, but we don’t have that issue right now. They’re hungry. They like what they’ve experienced. The LSU game. The Ole Miss game. Obviously tonight. Wednesday was one of the most physical practices. At some points, I’m kind of like, ‘Oof, let’s get to the game,’ you know? We actually went in spiders on Thursday because I thought that it was so physical and it was violent out there on Wednesday, I was like, ‘Let’s tone it down a little bit. Let’s get them to the park.’ We don’t have that issue right now.”
On overcoming injuries, how gratifying is it:
BILLY NAPIER: “Well, look, I think some of our issues were when we had a full roster. So there’s no excuse for his first month of the season, and we had everybody helped at that point. So, but I think, to your point is a good one in that the depth of the team proved to be valuable. Man, we got two rookie DBs out there playing tonight, Greg Smith and Jameer Grimsley are out there. So yeah, I think next man up, big time in special teams. I think we have a lot of players that have played different roles, but the running back group I think has stepped up when we had a few guys banged up and the secondary, and obviously the quarterback dynamic. For a true freshman to play the way DJs played down the stretch to keep getting better.”
On the performance at right guard with Damieon George Jr. out:
BILLY NAPIER: “Yeah, Lovett and Waites. But when you play our schedule, you play in this league, you got to have depth, and there’s always going to be critical pieces of the puzzle that got to play good ball for you down the stretch. So and look, I’m hopeful that in the future here, we still got a couple games left. So we’re learning that depth of your roster is really important that you go into a playoff, imagine playing a conference championship game and then playing a playoff game. So we have to continue to add good players to the team, and we got to develop those players all throughout the offseason, so when we do need them, they’re ready to play.”
On Cam Jackson goes down on the first play, it looks pretty bad, he comes in and has two sacks:
BILLY NAPIER: “Makes you wonder how bad he really was hurt. No, I think sometimes Cam’s a tough kid, he’s come a long way, I’m proud of him. He taped that thing up, spatted it up. Sometimes these guys get scared right, especially guys that are right at the … he’s right on the door here of his NFL career. So, he toughed it out and came back. And obviously, that’s a good sign. I’m happy for him.”
On considering how hungry your guys are now and how they’ve evolved over the course of the year, if Napier feels they can play with anybody right now:
BILLY NAPIER: “Yeah, I wouldn’t … put the ball down. I mean, we played all the good teams. We know what they look like. So, yeah, yeah, I’m excited. We’re gonna get to play one more time. That’s all we can control. I wouldn’t bet against us. That’s what I would say.”
On spot the ball being the theme of this team, where did that come from:
BILLY NAPIER: “It’s become … strength and conditioning staff, actually, that was kind of one of their themes for the week. No, I think it just goes back to preparing a certain way during the week, and then once you get to the park, put the ball down, and you have to go compete. You have to go execute. You got to go play ball. So, and I think just an attitude of, hey, put the ball down. We don’t care who you are, where we’re at, or what time we’re kicking off, we’re up for the challenge. And again, we recruited all these kids. We told them, You have to be up for this challenge. There’s no running from it. There’s no hiding. We have work to do to rebuild and to get ourselves in position. And the good thing is, here in Year 3 on the back half of this season, we’ve done that right. So we have some momentum, but there is lots of work to do here to get to where we want to go. But it’s good to have some momentum here, and obviously we need to carry this over into the way you prepare for the bowl game. Need to finish this academic semester strong and sign some good players next week when it comes to recruiting.”
On what today’s performance can mean with Early Signing Day coming up:
BILLY NAPIER: “We’ve done a good job evaluating players and recruiting players. That’s not been our issue here. What we needed to do is prove ourselves on the grass, prove to recruits that we can teach and develop players and that our formula works and win. There’s nothing that is better for recruiting than winning. Ultimately, I think that’s kind of been the final piece of the puzzle is some stability and prove it between the lines that your formula works. And I think we’ve done that for the last couple of weeks.”
On a second rivalry win in three weeks:
BILLY NAPIER: “Look it’s what we came here to do. If we want to go where we’re we intend to go we, we’re going to have to do it consistently. So there’s never been more parity in college football, in my opinion, than there is right now. So the portal, NIL, I just think there’s a ton of parity. And it’s even more important that you have good culture within the walls. There’s got to be like I told you guys in the beginning, many may see it differently, but for me it is more demanding and more stringent than ever before due to the current dynamic.”
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