In spite of loss, Napier happy for chance to return

Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff WriterNov 9, 2024, 05:32 PM ET Close Dave Wilson is a college football reporter. He formerly operated at The Dallas Morning News, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun.AUSTIN, Texas– On Thursday, embattled Florida coach Billy Napier got a vote of confidence from athletic director Scott Stricklin, who announced that Napier “will continue as head football coach of the Florida Gators, “pointing out the progress the team has actually made this season.On Saturday, a banged-up Florida team got a suggestion of simply how far it requires to go, losing to No. 5 Texas 49-17 in a game the Gators routed 42-0. Florida fell to 4-5 and 2-4 in the SEC.”Overall, [it] left hand in the very first half, “Napier stated. “You search for and the game is over. We need to examine the effort. We have to assess point-of-attack problems we had, and simply flat-out have to play better.”Editor’s Picks 1 Associated He spoke for the very first time since Stricklin’s letter to fans, where he

said he wanted to take a”disciplined, stable technique, “asking fans to “continue supporting Billy and his dedicated team while we interact to build a championship program.” Napier stated after Saturday’s loss he appreciated of the opportunity to continue attempting to straighten the program’s concerns.” Well first of all, I’m thankful for our players. … We would not have made some of the development that we have actually made over the last 4, five, six weeks without a terrific group of players, the character there at the core of that group, their management. I do think that when you take a look at the lineup as a whole, we have a ton of young talent, and I believe they’ll continue to establish and they’re learning. They’re going through this experience, and I believe that’ll show beneficial in the future. “Stricklin’s declaration cited close losses to No. 7 Tennessee and No. 3 Georgia as reasons for optimism for the future of Napier’s young group. But this was not a close loss. The Gators’halftime deficit was the largest in a Florida conference game over the past 20 years.Freshman quarterback DJ Lagway, who was hauled off the field after a hamstring injury against Georgia recently,

heated up but was unable to play, after the Gators already lost starter Graham Mertz for the season with a knee injury. The Gators ‘starter, Aidan Warner, is a former walk-on, who moved from Yale. He went 12 of 25 for 132 backyards and 2 interceptions.”Aidan battled his tail off out there today, did some good things for a guy who’s making his first start versus a truly great defense, one of the much better defenses in the nation, “Napier stated.” It was excellent to see him move the team a bit in the 2nd half.”Napier stated Lagway stated he felt as great as he has all week during pregame, however the coach decided he wasn’t rather ready to go.”

I think you run the risk of putting him out there with the soft tissue injury. He’s not rather ready to do it, but we’re confident he’s made some development.

“On the other hand, the Texas offense scorched the Gators’ defense for 562 backyards, as Quinn Ewers finished 19 of 27 efforts for 333 yards and a career-high five goals, with two other likely goal passes bouncing off the hands of receiver DeAndre Moore.At halftime, the Longhorns had 353 yards on 35 plays, balanced 5.6 backyards per carry and a Texas offense that had had a hard time to break off big plays of late had 297 yards passing as Ewers had one of his best games of the season.”We didn’t affect the quarterback, “Napier said.” You search for and it’s 10 backyards a play in the first half.”Napier, in his third season at Florida, fell to 15-19 with the Gators, with home games remaining versus LSU and Ole Miss and a road trip to Florida State. “You enter into the game, understand you’re playing with your 3rd quarterback and have to safeguard them, and we did not do that, “Napier said.”So we lost a bit of our stinger since of that.” Despite the outcome

, in the postgame news conference, pass receiver Chimere Dike and linebacker Shemar James revealed what James called the “relief “of Stricklin’s letter in assistance of Napier

.”I have complete belief in him,”Dike said.”I believe that today was undoubtedly difficult for our group, but we’re going in the right instructions. We’ve got a great deal of young guys who continue to enhance and I’m excited to see him in the future of this program.”