The Gators found themselves down 42-0 barely halfway into Saturday's game at Texas.
Carter's Corner: Gators Knocked to Rock Bottom Before Standing Up in Loss to Longhorns
Saturday, November 9, 2024 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
AUSTIN, Texas — As I trudged down eight flights of stairs from the press box to the postgame press conference somewhere deep in the bowels of Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium — believe me, the room was a puzzle to solve based on my wayward route — I thought about what to write.
As Gators head coach Billy Napier, receiver Chimere Dike and linebacker Shemar James talked about Saturday afternoon's 49-17 loss to No. 5 Texas, I contemplated column angles.
First, the Gators had no chance without injured quarterback DJ Lagway, and it showed. Next, the defense returned to earth with several key players missing because of injury. Both seemed too obvious and too tired. Keep trying.
As I walked to the busses past the long faces of players, coaches and fellow University Athletic Association employees, I tried to devise a way to say something nice about a vulgar game to anyone in Orange & Blue.
I eventually surrendered as I waited in line to board the flight home. I'm not a magician, and with words as my only ruse, there was no way to create a false illusion. There was nothing pleasant to say about the Gators' first trip here in 85 years to play the Longhorns.
What kept flooding my mind was a pair of images that many of you saw if you stayed with the game on ABC until early in the second half. When Texas led 42-0 barely two minutes into the third quarter, I glanced up at the TV hanging from the ceiling above my seat. The cameras showed Gators AD Scott Stricklin standing glumly on the sideline. A short time later, they showed Steve Spurrier seated in a private box, a sour look on his face.
Finally, I settled on this thought: That score and that moment must be rock bottom for the Gators with Napier in charge.
Gators head coach Billy Napier during Saturday's loss at Texas. (Photo: Maddie Washburn/UAA Communications)
The Gators were 21.5-point underdogs Saturday, so most expected the Longhorns to roll to victory in their first Southeastern Conference matchup with Florida. Still, as much of a bumpy ride the Gators have been in the post-Urban Meyer era, they don't get blown out often. It happens, but when the score was 42-0, it marked the second time since Spurrier's Gators trailed Nebraska 62-18 in the 1996 national championship game that Florida had trailed by 40-plus points. In the 2020 Cotton Bowl, they trailed Oklahoma 55-13 before adding a late score.
For those searching for the sun on a gloomy day, give the Gators credit for not tossing in the towel. Backup quarterback Aidan Warner directed a 15-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Trey Smack's 23-yard field goal, ensuring Florida's NCAA-record scoring streak reached 457 games. Florida drove 56 yards on nine plays on its next possession, scoring on Jadan Baugh's 2-yard run to make it 42-10. After Texas went up 49-10, the Gators made the final score more respectable on Ja'Kobi Jackson's 7-yard run with 8:27 left in the game.
Truthfully, not many teams in Florida's position would have competed with talented Texas on this glorious Saturday afternoon.
The Gators started their third-string quarterback, a walk-on who played at Yale last season. They were without their senior starting tailback (Montrell Johnson Jr.), two starting receivers (Eugene Wilson III and Elijhah Badger) and starting right guard Damieon George Jr. Meanwhile, the defense is so depleted that of the 36 active defensive players available, 35 played in the game in some capacity.
Napier or the players didn't make excuses.
"We struggled to get anything going early,'' Napier said. "And look, you're not going to win turning the ball over four times against a team like that. Not good enough. Overall, it got out of hand in the first half, and you look up, and the game is over.
"We have to evaluate the effort. We have to evaluate point-of-attack issues that we had, and we just flat out have to play better."
Lagway, who left the Georgia game a week ago due to a hamstring injury, came out for warmups and told Napier that he felt as good as he had since the injury. Napier made the right call by starting Warner and telling Lagway to watch the game in his jersey and shorts.
The Gators have three regular-season games remaining. LSU and Ole Miss will visit The Swamp in the next two weeks, and then they will travel to Tallahassee to face the downtrodden Seminoles in the regular-season finale. If Lagway and some other injured players can return, the Gators will remain in contention for a bowl berth if they can win two of the final three.
That seemed a fantasy with the scoreboard aboard Bevo's pit flashing Texas 42, Florida 0. Still, the opportunity is as real as Saturday's low point.
Ja'Kobi Jackson celebrates after his 7-yard touchdown run against No. 5-ranked Texas on Saturday. (Photo: Maddie Washburn/UAA Communications)
"This team has obviously been through some adversity,'' said Dike, who had a team-high five receptions for 95 yards. "I was proud of the guys for going out there to battle in the second half. A lot of teams would have given up. But at the same time, we have got to execute better. We got to improve."
Another concern is the Gators' woes away from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in recent seasons. Florida dropped to 4-21 in its last 25 games away from The Swamp, a stretch that started with losing to Alabama in the 2020 SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.
Being at home the next two games provides a much-needed boost in Florida's bid to become bowl-eligible.
"It's a roller-coaster game, so you know we just got to get back in the film room and get better," James said.
Two days after receiving a public vote of confidence from Stricklin in a letter to Gator Nation announcing Napier would continue as Florida's coach, Napier didn't sound like a coach defeated by the Gators' performance despite the 32-point loss, the most lopsided defeat in his three seasons.
He instantly focused on the players when asked about the administrative support.
"First of all, I'm thankful for our players,'' Napier said. "I think, ultimately, that's a reflection of the players. We would not have made some of the progress that we've made over the last four, five, six weeks without a great group of players … the character there, the core of that group, their leadership.
"The staff has done a good job. Again, I do think when you look at the roster as a whole, we have a ton of young talent that I think will continue to develop. They're learning, they're going through this experience, and I think that will prove beneficial in the future."
Perhaps one day, those young players can recall the rock bottom of 42-0 when reflecting on the program's turnaround.
