COLUMBIA, S.C. — The dominate-and-win-every-game-or-get-fired crowd on social media can get old.
Gators head coach Billy Napier has been a target. Miami's Mario Cristobal took a turn on the dartboard this week. UCF's Gus Malzahn can relate. Remember when FSU's Mike Norvell was not qualified to be a bag boy at the local grocery story, much less in charge of the Seminoles? That's life on the sideline in the 2020s.
Coaches are paid handsomely and criticism comes with the job. Still, perspective is important and for Napier, 19 games into one of the country's largest overhauls seems a little soon to hand out a final grade.
The Gators certainly have gone through some public growing pains in the first half of the season, but the roster is young and significantly improved from a year ago. Florida's trip to South Carolina is the latest opportunity to prove the program is making strides.
But win or lose Saturday afternoon at Williams-Brice Stadium, the most astute fans should be able to see some promising signs. Napier is building for the long haul in the player acquisition business, and that starts far from what he does on the sideline.
It's the blueprint he works from for every player he signs and the reasons why.
"We're trying to develop right now a set of things that revolve around that [talent-fit-immediate-impact equation] — for me it's not necessarily about whether they're going to be able to play as a rookie, it's more about are they going to stick,'' Napier said. "Because I think player retention is a really important part of today's world. You've got to get it right on front end or you'll have this never-ending cycle of turnover that's hard to deal with. So, you'd like to get stability in the roster and then you can spend time on other things."
Napier's talent evaluation deserves a passing grade so far, evidenced by the impact of newcomers on this year's team.
But to use a word Napier often uses, ultimately wins and losses will determine the final grade. That is the case for every coach at every school.
Most true freshmen to play in every game this season: 1. Florida 11; T2. Clemson, LSU 7; 4. Texas A&M 6; T5. Iowa State, Arkansas State, Baylor, Kentucky, Oregon, Tennessee 5. ... shot by @mollyksrpic.twitter.com/RwFJkkCEBI
While Napier and his staff have been solid in the transfer portal with offensive players such as O'Cyrus Torrence, Montrell Johnson Jr., Graham Mertz and Ricky Pearsall, they have built a young defense primarily by traditional means on the recruiting trail. They also got most of them on campus as early enrollees, which speeds up the process.
The Gators still have holes, but not as many as in Napier's first season.
And if the plan goes accordingly, they won't have as many holes in Year 3 as Year 2. Look for another wave of newcomers to arrive in January to continue the rebuild.
"I think it's a big deal,'' Napier said of getting players on campus early. "I think you kind of know, but sometimes we're wrong. The guys you thought weren't going to be ready to go are ready to go, and the ones you thought were ready won't be ready. So kind of sorts itself out. There's no doubt that some positions where maybe you have a need, if you can get them here in January, I think that's a huge advantage."
In this week's edition of The Opening Kickoff, here is a closer look at the Florida-South Carolina matchup:
THREE STORYLINES
Much like two weeks ago at Kentucky, this is an important barometer game for the Gators. We all know how that worked out for the Gators. If Florida wants to stay in the SEC East race heading into its matchup against Georgia in two weeks, it must win on the road at South Carolina.
The QB matchup between Florida's Graham Mertz and South Carolina's Spencer Rattler pits a pair of highly touted prospects from the 2019 signing class. Rattler was ranked No. 1 overall in that class according to 247Sports, while Mertz was No. 7. Mertz leads the SEC in completion percentage and is coming off a 30-for-36, 254-yard, two-touchdown performance against Vanderbilt. Rattler has thrown for 1,411 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. He is 1-1 against the Gators, beating them in the Cotton Bowl while at Oklahoma in 2020, and losing last year at The Swamp.
Winning on the road is never easy, but the Gators have struggled with a 1-7 record away from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium under second-year head coach Billy Napier. The storyline was a prominent one this week and will remain so until Florida rediscovers winning in a hostile environment.
THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH
South Carolina has allowed 23 sacks in five games, ranked last in the SEC. The Gators have an opportunity to exploit that weakness with defensive linemen Princely Umanmielen and Tyreak Sapp. Umanmielen and Sapp share the team lead with two sacks apiece.
RB Trevor Etienne missed last week's win over Vanderbilt with an injury and watched as teammate Montrell Johnson Jr. rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown. Johnson overtook Etienne as the team's rushing leader and now has 388 yards to Etienne's 358. Having both available is a plus as we saw last year when Johnson and Etienne both rushed for 100 yards against South Carolina.
TE Arlis Boardingham has emerged as a go-to weapon, catching a career-high seven passes for 99 yards and two scores a week ago. A redshirt freshman, Boardingham has 13 receptions for 150 yards and three scores after appearing in only one game in 2022.
THREE DIGITS
38 — Points scored by Gators in their last three wins over Gamecocks (38-27 in 2019, 38-24 in 2020, 38-6 in 2022). 5.1— Average number of penalties (39 yards) at home for Gators under Napier. 9.3 —Average number of penalties (65.5 yards) on road for Gators under Napier. THREE QUESTIONS WITH … GATORS C JAKE SLAUGHTER
A redshirt sophomore, Slaughter has made four starts in place of injured veteran Kingsley Eguakun.
Q:How has the season gone for you based on your expectations? Jake Slaughter A: It's been a lot different than I expected going in, with Kingsley being out, and I think it's been an awesome learning opportunity for me. Obviously, there's highs and lows with everything. You learn a lot about yourself and the guys around you, how to prepare. That's my big takeaway.
Q:What have you learned about yourself?
A: You are not prepared until you are prepared, so you can watch all of the cut ups you like, you can go ahead and you can think you are ready, but you're not ready until you are. You have a good idea of what they are going to do, what your game plan is, and then the bullets get flying, things can change in a hurry, but you learn as a player you've got to keep going, keep playing.
Q:What type of influence has Kingsley been while he has dealt with being injured?
A: As long as I've known him, he's been nothing but supportive. You can joke around about it, but he was anticipating a big year. He goes and whatever that, 'you can take my job this year. Get ready. Go get 'em. Be the best you can be.' All the little things you can learn he's taught me. He's really been a help in preparation, just how much experience he has going on a third year starting.
INJURY REPORT
GATORS — OUT: WR Andy Jean (lower body), WR Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman (lower body), TE Jonathan Odom (upper body), WR Caleb Douglas (lower body), C Kingsley Eguakun (lower body), DL Justus Boone (knee, out for season), RB Cam Carroll (knee, out for season), TE Keon Zipperer (knee), OL Caden Jones (foot). QUESTIONABLE: TE Dante Zanders (lower body). SOUTH CAROLINA —OUT: OL Cason Henry (lower body), TE Reid Mikeski (undisclosed), OL Jaxon Hughes (undisclosed), LB Mohamed Koba (knee, out for season), OL Markee Anderson (knee, out for season). QUESTIONABLE: RB Bradley Dunn (lower body), OL Jaylen Nichols (knee). DOUBTFUL: WR Antwane Wells Jr. (foot). PROBABLE: OL Jakai Moore (shoulder). THEY SAID IT
"We've had our struggles. Ultimately, the quality of the football hasn't been very good in those two occurrences this year. We have to play better football. A number of things contribute to that." — Gators head coach Billy Napier on what ailed the Gators in losses at Utah and Kentucky
"He's just a football guru. He's a dedicated guy. He's constantly in the film room. He's constantly with Coach [Ryan] O'Hara watching film, and I'll sneak in there sometimes and just kind of see what they're talking about and maybe gain some new knowledge and information I need." — Gators WR Ricky Pearsall on QB Graham Mertz
"I haven't mentioned that one time and don't plan on it. You know, last year Anthony Richardson — thank God he's playing for the Colts now. That was a long night in Gainesville and give them credit. They did a great job. They had a great game plan and we did not do much." — Gamecocks coach Shane Beamer on whether he planned to use last year's loss to Florida as motivation
The Gators lead the all-time series against South Carolina 30-10-3; Florida is 12-8-1 at South Carolina.
Gators C Kingsley Eguakun, who has played in two of six games, was not listed on the injury report this week. Eguakun has the most starts (28) with the Gators of any player on the roster.
Florida's 38-6 win over South Carolina last season stands as the Gators' largest margin of victory in an SEC game under second-year head coach Billy Napier. UF rushed for 374 yards.
Gators QB Graham Mertz has completed at least 70 percent of his passes in six consecutive games, the only UF QB to accomplish that feat in the last 20 years.
Florida's pass defense (166 yards per game) leads the SEC, while South Carolina's defense ranks last in the conference against the pass (301.4 yards per game).
Former Gators TE Nick Elksnis has appeared in two games for the Gamecocks and does not have a reception.
Gamecocks WR Xavier Legette has 32 catches for 606 yards, averaging 18.9 yards per catch and 121.2 yards per game, with three touchdowns. He ranks fourth among all FBS players in receiving yards per game.
Gators WR Ricky Pearsall has a catch in 34 consecutive games, the eighth-longest active streak among FBS players.
The Head Ball Coach Steve Spurrier remains the winningest coach at both Florida and South Carolina. He was 122-27-1 with the Gators from 1990-2001, and 86-49 with the Gamecocks from 2005-2015.
Florida LB Shemar James is averaging seven tackles per game, posting a team-high 42 tackles at midseason.
BOTTOM LINE
Florida beat Tennessee at home. South Carolina lost to the Vols by 21 in Knoxville. The Gators dominated South Carolina for 20 years in the SEC, but in their last four trips to Columbia, they are 2-4. One of those losses was the 40-17 no-show two years ago that set off alarms. A lot has changed since then, but Florida continues to struggle on the road. On paper this is a winnable game for Florida, but the Gamecocks will be fired up in front of a homecoming crowd. This is a coin-toss game for me, but (yes, a lot of buts in this bottom line) Florida's struggles away from The Swamp have to end eventually, and after what happened at Kentucky, expect them to return home in a better mood Saturday night.
Game Time presented by Tower Hill Insurance 11-7-25Game Time presented by Tower Hill Insurance 11-7-25
Friday, November 07
Up Next with Billy Gonzales presented by UF Health 11-7-25Up Next with Billy Gonzales presented by UF Health 11-7-25
Friday, November 07
Florida Football | Tim Tebow Media Availability | SEC NationFlorida Football | Tim Tebow Media Availability | SEC Nation
Friday, November 07
Play Breakdown with Billy Gonzales presented by Tower Hill Insurance (November 5, 2025)Play Breakdown with Billy Gonzales presented by Tower Hill Insurance (November 5, 2025)
