Florida football got a much-needed victory on the road at Mississippi State in Week 4.
The offense was clicking on all cylinders as head coach Billy Napier made use of both Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway at the quarterback spot. The Gators were able to put up over 500 yards of total offense and scored 45 points as they beat the Bulldogs 45-28.
While the offense found its groove, the same can’t be said for the defense. Defensively, the Gators were missing tackles and not staying disciplined in the gaps.
Mississippi State had 240 rushing yards as a team on Saturday. That is not ideal and with the bye week coming up for Florida, they need to really figure out how to get that fixed. Because that is a real concern for this defense.
Overall, it was a great win for Florida and give credit to Napier for blocking out the outside noise and taking care of business on the road.
Here is what stood out from his press conference after the win against Mississippi State.
Napier talks about how the win feels
“Yeah, it’s good to win on the road in this league, it’s always tough,” Napier said. “And this can be a challenging place to play. Look, we have more work to do.
“Okay, we won today, but we are very much a work in progress. And this group can get so much better. I mean, we got so many individual players, position groups and units on our team, that we’re not even close to being who we can be – and they know that. That’s what I told them in the locker room.”
Napier on having Ron Roberts up in the box
“Yeah, I do think we got it in better, think it helped,” Napier said. “I think he did that at Auburn the last two years, and I think ultimately he and I both agreed that that would be best for the team. He has a good game day eye up there.”
Napier went on to say, “There’s, there’s pros and cons. He’s not around the players between possessions, but I do think just his ability to see it, call it quicker, get the call in, and for those guys to go play. So I think a lot of the things that we did early in the game, I think there was some benefit to that.”
Napier on the quarterback rotation
“I think you’re just evaluating how the week went, just in terms of Graham (Mertz) being back healthy. Really was impressive this week in practice, I thought he had a great week — just really sharp,” Napier said. “The ball was jumping out of his hand. And then DJ (Lagway) obviously got some great experience last week, and then we just kind of went with our gut there, kind of what we felt like was best for the team.
“We’re still committed to playing DJ (Lagway). I think today, he showed that he’ll get a little better the more experience that he gets, I think he’ll improve.”
Napier went on, saying, “So I think we’re getting the best of both worlds there. Both guys make our team better. We used DJ (Lagway)’s legs a little bit today, knowing that Graham (Mertz) was really healthy. So again, I think this is the best thing for our team. And both guys play really well.”
Napier talks about the struggles against the runs up the middle
“We got to get it fixed,” Napier said. “If you want to play really good defense, you got to be strong up the middle. It’s discouraging because it’s at the core of what you do. And I think we’ve got the personnel in there to be really good.
“And again, you got to give Mississippi State some credit, they ran it into the light box and then they threw it when we were loaded up in there so the RPO conflict was on full display today. (Jeff) Lebby’s good at that. That’s what he’s made his living doing.
“So we got to get to this stuff where maybe we can show something and change the picture a little bit. And we did that a little bit in the second half. We got to get better. There’s no question.”
Napier talks about the upcoming bye week
“Well, I think ultimately, we’re gonna take a day and get them out of the building tomorrow,” Napier said. “We have to develop practice plans that reflect the areas where we need to improve, and that’ll be the challenge on all three parts of our team.
“We’re going to get some guys back that are injured and unavailable now, which will be beneficial. But ultimately, it’s back to the basics here. We got to really take a good look at where our issues are at, at the self-scout, and then getting ready for a Power Five opponent coming to the Swamp, which will be a handful and be a challenge there.”
Up next for the Gators
The Gators will be out of action for Week 5 due to their bye week. Florida’s next opponent will be the UCF Knights on Oct. 5. The time is yet to be determined.
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Publish date : 2024-09-22 05:26:00
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