No. 9 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) returned to Neyland Stadium on Saturday for the first time since Sept. 14. The Vols were victorious, 23-17 in overtime, against Florida (3-3, 1-2 SEC).
Florida head coach Billy Napier met with media after the game and discussed the Gators’ performance against the Vols.
“I have a ton of respect for the young men in that locker room and the way they competed in the game,” Napier said. “They were prepared, in the right frame of mind, attacked it and played extremely hard. They played with passion in all three parts of our team. The tell of the tape is the missed opportunities in the first half on offense. We had many opportunities to score points and we left a ton of points out there in a couple of short-yardage situations, and obviously, with the sneak, we fumbled it at the one-yard line. Defensively, I have to say that our guys kept us in the game.
“I thought we had a great plan. I thought we played really good and kept the routes in front of us and played good on the perimeter. I thought we did a nice job creating some negative plays. Obviously, we did a good job on conversion downs and being able to effect the quarterback. What a game. We had a few injuries there and Graham (Mertz) getting banged up was a big part of the game. DJ (Lagway) rose to the occasion and got us back in it and tied it up. I think we left a lot of opportunities on the field in the first half in terms of points. It was one of those games where the margin was really small. Our staff had the team ready to play, and we had a good plan. I think our kids fought their tails off. I have a ton of respect for that. We made some plays in the kicking game. We had the miscue right before half. We had a substitution issue there, but we would not be in the game without our special teams performance. Our punt returns were critical. I thought we controlled the field position throughout.”
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