Who will Florida football hire as its next coach? Swampcast discusses?
The Sun’s Kevin Brockway, Andrew Abadie and Noah Ram break down the aftermath of Billy Napier’s firing and the search for a new Florida football coach.
JACKSONVILLE − New coach, same result for Florida football in its matchup with No. 5 Georgia.
The Florida Gators (3-5, 2-3 SEC) played hard enough to pull off an upset but couldn’t finish the game off in a 24-20 loss to the rival Bulldogs before 76,131 at EverBank Stadium.
In UF’s debut under interim coach Billy Gonzales, the Gators took a 20-17 lead with 14:52 left in the fourth quarter on a 54-yard Trey Smack field goal. But Georgia regained the lead on a seven-play, 82-yard TD drive, capped by a 36-yard TD run by Chauncey Bowens with 4:36 remaining.
From there, Georgia’s defense held UF scoreless and ran out the clock.
Florida lost for the eighth time in its last nine meetings with the Bulldogs and dropped to 44-57-2 in the overall series between the border schools.
Here’s how Florida graded out in its loss to the Bulldogs:
Florida football offense: C
Florida was unable to convert in short yardage when it needed to most. On a fourth-and-1 play from UGA’s 18-yard line, running back Jadan Baugh was stuffed for no gain, resulting in a turnover on downs with 7:54 remaining and setting up Georgia’s go-ahead TD drive. Quarterback DJ Lagway completed 15 of 24 passes for 166 yards and used his legs a little more, rushing for 24 yards. Florida again struggled on 3rd down, going 2-of-11 on third down conversions and 0-of-2 on fourth down conversions. Florida receiver J. Michael Sturdivant slipped and was unable to come up with a catch after getting behind the defense on a critical third-down play in the fourth quarter. The pass also was underthrown by Lagway.
Florida football defense: C
UF’s defense again played hard for three quarters before wilting in the fourth, allowing the Bulldogs to march on a go-ahead 82-yard TD drive, capped by a 36-yard TD run by Chauncey Bowens. Florida made Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton uncomfortable at times with two sacks and five quarterback hurries. But when Stockton had time to throw, UF’s secondary had issues covering, as he completed 20 of 29 passes for 223 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception. Cornerback Devin Moore recorded his second interception of the season, which set up three points for UF in the first half.
Florida football special teams: A
Trey Smack went 2-for-2 on field goal attempts, including a 54-yarder that put the Gators up 20-17 early in the fourth quarter. It was Smack’s ninth career field goal of 50 or more yards, which is a new Florida record. Jadan Baugh returned a kickoff 36 yards and Tommy Doman averaged 47.8 yards on five punts.
Florida football coaching: B
Gonazles’ decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 from UGA’s 18 with UF up 20-17 didn’t pan out. The decision was the right one, but perhaps UF could have dialed up a play-action to catch the Bulldogs by surprise. All and all, Gonzales and his staff devised a decent gameplan and stayed competitive with one of the top college programs in the country.
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com