Florida’s win over Texas has complicated the college football landscape.
The Gators’ performance improved significantly as key players, including quarterback DJ Lagway, returned from injury.
Florida’s defense overwhelmed Texas quarterback Arch Manning, leading to a decisive victory.
OK, now we’re all confused.
There’s No.1 Ohio State, unquestionably on top of this weekly trip down the rabbit hole of a college football season, based in no small part because of its ugly win over Texas in the season opener.
Now what?
If you’re confused about a battered and beleaguered three-loss Florida team finally getting healthy and playing to its potential in a 29-21 physical pounding of Texas, what do we make of the rest of this ever-evolving season?
The SEC is eating its own. Penn State, a preseason national title contender, just lost to a team that fired its coach in the first month of the season. And what in the name of Bear Bryant are we getting from Alabama quarter by quarter?
So let’s reset and circle back to what we know, at least in the moment: maybe embattled Florida coach Billy Napier was right all along.
Maybe the coach who has been fired more times in the court of public opinion than the bickering cast of ‘Apprentice’, was right when he said the Gators were a couple of plays away from being dangerous.
Well, welcome to the world of no one wants to play this team. Which is a simplified version of you blew the first month of the season, and now here we are.
Florida had the better defense. Florida had the better skill players. Florida had — and this is going to shock a lot of folks in Miami and Baton Rouge — the best quarterback on the field.
If Napier actually trusted DJ Lagway in critical third down and distance situations, this could’ve been much worse for Texas and quarterback Arch Manning.
The Florida defense, the only thing consistent about a wildly inconsistent month of September for the Gators, made Arch look like his bewildered uncle, Peyton, thirty years ago in The Swamp.
Texas couldn’t block Florida, and a variety of blitz packages confused Manning over and over. He missed throws, he threw interceptions, he took sacks.
Meanwhile, there was Lagway, who missed the entire offseason dealing with three injuries (shoulder, core, calf), finally completely healthy for the first time this season. Napier declared early this week Lagway had his best practice of the season on Wednesday, and he saw ‘a look in his eye.’ Lagway said things were getting ready to ‘pop.’
And that leads to this uncomfortable reality for many in the ‘Fire Napier’ camp: It’s time to see this Florida team through another lens.
Lagway is healthy, and the offense has dramatically changed with the emergence of freshman wide receiver Dallas Wilson ― who missed all of September with an ankle injury. The Florida staff believed Wilson could have a Jeremiah Smith-type impact on the offense.
Then he showed it Saturday with six catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns, the first Florida freshman with two touchdown catches in his first game since the Steve Spurrier golden era. Now Florida has an experienced, physical offensive line and elite-level players at quarterback, running back (Jaden Baugh) and wide receiver.
Those five interceptions against LSU, and the listless offense against Miami, are a country mile in the rearview. So are the weekly calls for Napier’s job ― despite some curious play calls and game day coaching acumen that nearly, somehow, cost Florida a game it should’ve won by two or three touchdowns.
Which fits perfectly with this crazy ride of a season.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
