Carter's Corner: Gators Can Take Another Step Up Mountain With Road Win at South Carolina

The Gators seek to take their winning ways at home on the road to South Carolina this weekend. (Photo: Molly Kaiser/UAA Communications)

Carter's Corner: Gators Can Take Another Step Up Mountain With Road Win at South Carolina

Thursday, October 12, 2023 | Football, Scott Carter

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida's recent woes away from The Swamp's friendly heat, humidity and roar have been explored this week as the Gators prepare for Saturday afternoon's visit to South Carolina.

Head coach Billy Napier ignited a series of sleepy questions early in the week when he mentioned that he emphasized to the players to get a good night's rest, especially on Wednesday night, to prepare for some tweaks to Thursday's schedule. Napier added that the Gators plan to arrive a little earlier at their hotel in Columbia on Friday, and that's true. The Gators are scheduled to walk through the front door about an hour sooner than they did at Kentucky two weeks ago when they got outplayed and outmuscled in a 33-14 defeat.

What will that mean on Saturday when Florida (4-2, 2-1) faces South Carolina (2-3, 1-2) at Williams-Brice Stadium? Perhaps time will tell us.

Gators center Jake Slaughter provided the best answer to these ears this week when he was asked about the home-road conundrum after Wednesday night's practice. The Gators are 4-0 at home and 0-2 on the road.

"You know it's hard to say. It really is,'' Slaughter said. "There's a lot of variables when you go into a game, and you're in a foreign area. Everything's different. It's going to be about us, not about the place we're at. Not about the fans. Not about them. It's about us and our execution."

This is a topic because the Gators are 9-2 under Napier at home and 1-7 in away games (1-5 in true road games, 0-2 in neutral-site games). It would all make sense if Napier was some new-age players coach who told the Gators that they could bring a friend on the trip and, once they arrived at the hotel, to stay out as late as they wanted, and the only rule was to show up at the stadium the next day on time and make sure not to forget your helmet.

Of course, not even Mike Leach was that unconventional.

Florida's schedule on the road under Napier is similar to UF teams for many years. The team lands at the airport, busses to the hotel, checks in, gathers for meetings, eats dinner, hangs out in the hotel, hunkers down for curfew and goes to sleep. And then, depending on kickoff time, players are woken up to prepare mentally and physically before typically heading to the stadium around 3 hours before kickoff.

Rinse and repeat, whether in Starkville or Knoxville.

Napier, Billy and Smith, Emmitt (2022 at Texas A&M) — Gators coach **Billy Napier** is greeted by former UF star and NFL rushing king **Emmitt Smith** after Florida's road win at Texas A&M last season, the last time the Gators tasted victory away from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. (Photo: **Maddie Washburn**/UAA Communications)

With kickoff Saturday set more than three hours later than the noon kick at Kentucky, the Gators don't need to rise as early for the Gamecocks. Napier mentioned an essential element in discussing the issue, saying that besides being mentally and physically ready, the Gators must tap into their feels, too.

"We're an underdog on the road in the SEC. This is an area on our team where we need to accept the challenge and take the next step by playing well and winning a game on the road.

"Ultimately, there's a pulse from the players that you've got to take into account. Most of it is mental. I do think that — I just met with the accountability group [Monday morning], and we talked about mentally being prepared, physically being prepared, but also emotionally being prepared. You've got to anticipate and visualize what it's going to be like. Bottom line is when the ball's spotted and we kick it off, we've got to be ready to mix it up."

The reality is that Florida's recent struggles away from home started prior to Napier taking over the program. The Gators have lost 15 of their last 17 games (see chart below) away from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, a stretch that started with their loss to Alabama in the 2020 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.

Can they tweak their routine and mindset for improved results? It's certainly worth a try. But you don't have to be an analytics guru to understand that Florida's worst stretch away from home since a 1-11 record over the 1978-79 seasons is reflected more by the program's recent trajectory than what is served at breakfast on the road.

When the Gators won a school-record 12 consecutive games away from The Swamp over the 2008-09 seasons, they featured some of the best players ever to wear a Gators jersey. Since 2010, a period with four different head coaches (plus three interim), Florida is 65-21 at home and 40-45 in away games (28-28 road, 12-17 neutral sites).

Hence, that is why Napier has the job of reversing Florida's road fortunes and rebuilding the program into national relevancy.

Napier was asked this week where the Gators are on that mountain climb.

"I think there's some clouds, and I can't see the top of the mountain yet," he said. "That's what I would tell you. We have to understand that it's easy to get about halfway up, easy to get about three-quarters of the way up. A lot of people do that. So, all these little small things that are happening right in front of us, those are the things that we have to focus on."

A road win at South Carolina won't complete the job, but it would be another small step up the mountain.

CHARTING THE GATORS

Florida has struggled away from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in recent seasons:

DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT	NOTABLE
Sept. 30, 2023	@Kentucky	L 33-14	Gators trailed 23-0 midway in 2Q and never recovered
Aug. 31, 2023	@Utah	L 24-11	Mistake-filled performance in a Thursday night opener
Dec. 17, 2022	Oregon State#	L 30-3	Needed late FG to keep NCAA-record scoring streak alive
Nov. 25, 2022	@Florida State	L 45-38	Noles scored late to win highest-scoring game in rivalry
Nov. 19, 2022	@Vanderbilt	L 31-24	4Q rally fell short despite 400 yards passing from AR
Nov. 5, 2022	@Texas A&M	W 41-24	Gators rushed 50 times for 293 yards to take control
Oct. 29, 2022	Georgia+	L 42-20	Bulldogs grabbed big lead early and withstood 3Q rally
Sept. 24, 2022	@Tennessee	L 38-33	First loss in Knoxville since 2016 dropped UF to 0-2 in SEC
Dec. 23, 2021	UCF***	L 29-17	Gators could not capitalize on momentum of win over FSU
Nov. 20, 2021	@Missouri	L 24-23 (OT)	Final game for Dan Mullen as Florida's head coach
Nov. 6, 2021	@South Carolina	L 40-17	Stunning loss to Gamecocks in lackluster performance
Oct. 30, 2021	Georgia+	L 34-7	No. 1 Bulldogs take advantage of UF miscues in rout
Oct. 16, 2021	@LSU	L 49-42	Tyrion Davis-Price gashed Gators for 287 yards rushing
Oct. 2, 2021	@Kentucky	L 20-13	Gators suffer first loss in Lexington in 35 years
Sept. 11, 2021	@USF	W 42-20	Anthony Richardson stole show with memorable game
Dec. 30, 2020	Oklahoma**	L 55-20	Sooners offense and opt-outs doomed Gators from start
Dec. 19, 2020	Alabama*	L 52-46	QB Kyle Trask passed for 408 yards, but Tide rolled up 605