Failure to Execute Proves Costly for Gators in Season Opener

Gators head coach Billy Napier falls to 1-1 in season openers at Florida. (Photo: Maddie Washburn/UAA Communications)

Failure to Execute Proves Costly for Gators in Season Opener

Friday, September 1, 2023 | Football, Scott Carter

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

SALT LAKE CITY — So much of the pregame analysis focused on how the Gators would handle the altitude of playing at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Thursday night that you wondered if they would run from the tunnel wearing oxygen masks.

Turned out that altitude was not the problem in Florida's 24-11 loss at No. 14 Utah. Execution was.

"The first thing I told the team after the game was that 'execution wins,' I mean, let's call it how it is,'' Florida coach Billy Napier said. "It's simple. I feel that if we do what we're supposed to do at times, we're right in the game.

"Ultimately, the Gators weren't good enough tonight. I think our team will respond the right way, and I'm confident in that."

Signs of trouble Thursday appeared on the Gators' first drive after taking the opening kickoff. In his UF debut, quarterback Graham Mertz completed back-to-back passes to Kahleil Jackson and Ricky Pearsall to set up a third-and-1. However, a false-start penalty on right tackle Damieon George Jr. moved the Gators back five yards, and Mertz's third-down pass was incomplete, forcing a punt.

That was the story of the night for the Gators, who quickly fell behind on Utah's first play from scrimmage when Utes quarterback Bryson Barnes, playing for injured starter Cameron Rising, threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Money Parks to send the school-record crowd of 53,644 into a frenzy.

The Gators were down but far from out.

Florida vs. Utah — Quarterback **Graham Mertz** and receiver **Caleb Douglas** after their TD connection on Thursday night. (Photo: **Maddie Washburn**/UAA Communications)

Florida's best drive of the first half came after the teams traded possessions following Utah's quick strike. On the Gators' third drive, freshman receiver Eugene Wilson III took an end-around for nine yards on his first collegiate play, and then Mertz connected with Marcus Burke for 37 yards on a crossing route and tailback Montrell Johnson Jr. for 17 yards on a screen. The Gators had first-and-10 at Utah's 17-yard line when Mertz was dropped for an 8-yard loss, one of Utah's five sacks. The Gators came away with points thanks to Adam Mihalek's 32-yard field with 2:27 left in the opening quarter, but the Utes scored the next 17 points to seize control and hand the Gators their fourth consecutive loss dating to the end of last season.

Mertz turned in a solid performance, finishing 31 of 44 for a career-high 333 yards, one touchdown and one interception. But the Gators committed nine penalties for 45 yards, finished 1-for-13 on third-down attempts, and rushed for 13 yards on 21 attempts against a Utah defense that was missing injured defensive linemen Connor O'Toole and Junior Tafuna, and linebacker Karene Reid in the second half.

Making the 33rd start of his college career, Mertz echoed Napier's message in the locker room. It's no secret why the Gators lost after beating Utah in the 2022 season opener at home.

"Execution. That's the word; that's the theme. That's what I need to see from myself; I need to hold myself accountable to that, and I need to see that across the board. I am going to push the guys every day. We just have to execute."

The Gators put together another drive deep into Utah territory in the first half, highlighted by Mertz's 24-yard completion to Burke and an 18-yard pass to tight end Jonathan Odom. Facing a third-and-7 at Utah's 15, a delay-of-game penalty made it third-and-12 from the 20. Mertz scrambled for 11 yards to set up a fourth-and-1. However, another false-start penalty on George pushed the Gators back five yards and brought out Mihalek for 31-yard field goal. He missed, and on the ensuing possession, Utah drove 80 yards on 10 plays for a 14-3 lead when change-of-pace quarterback Nate Johnson raced for a 27-yard score with 7:50 left before halftime.

The Gators' most head-scratching mistake came when Utah was set to punt on fourth-and-3 from Florida's 49 following Mihalek's missed field goal. Instead, the Gators were penalized for an illegal substation – defensive back Jason Marshall Jr. and Wilson, who both wear No. 3, were on the field at the same time. Two players with the same jersey number cannot be on the field simultaneously. Given a second life, Johnson scored four players later.

Napier attributed the penalty to a lack of communication.

"It's something that we have had in the past and worked in the past,'' he said. "And we were rotating in punt return two-to-one. We go safe, Jason's out there. We're supposed to get him off, and we just didn't communicate. When we're in punt safe, you've got to communicate that better. There's no question that's another thing that we control that we didn't do the right way."

The Gators finished with more total yards (346-270) in the UF defense's first outing for coordinator Austin Armstrong, and they ran 12 more plays than the Utes (65-53), but Utah made the biggest plays and benefited from the rash of Florida mistakes.

The final mistake that cost Florida dearly was when Wilson returned a punt inside the 10-yard line instead of letting it bounce into the end zone. Wilson was dropped for a 1-yard loss, forcing the Gators to start their opening drive of the second half at their 7-yard line. On third-and-6, Mertz's pass to Pearsall bounced off his hands and into the arms of Utah safety Sione Vaki. Barnes scored on a 5-yard run three players later to give Utah a 24-3 lead.

The Gators trimmed the lead to 24-11 in the fourth quarter when Mertz connected with Caleb Douglas for a 19-yard score. Douglas made an acrobatic leaping catch for the score, and Mertz hit Wilson for a short pass on the two-point conversion.

But it was too little too late for the Gators, who hope to recover from their season-opening ailments by the time McNeese visits Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for the home opener in eight days.

"We fell short this game,'' said linebacker Shemar James, who stood out Thursday night with a game-high 13 tackles. "We get back to the drawing board when we get back to Gainesville and prepare for our next opponent. The opening play was a big one, but we bounced back from it in the second half. It was just our errors and comes down to execution."

There that word is again.