It was a season to forget when it came to Florida football in 2023 as the Gators once again limped to a sub-.500 finish for the third straight season while missing a bowl bid for the first time since 2017. Had it not been for some bone-headed mistakes, the team might have finished 7-5, but instead floundered to 5-7.
One of the major Achilles heels for the Orange and Blue was on defense, which was a young and inexperienced corps that had some bright spots but far more black eyes. As such, it should not be much of a surprise that Billy Napier’s team finished near the bottom of The Athletic’s final stop rate rankings.
The last time author Max Olson published his update, Florida was ranked No. 122 in the nation after a precipitous slide through the season. The Gators remained in that same spot, recording a 53.4% stop rate allowing 2.65 points per drive over 118 drives in 12 games.
The ranking represents the worst for a Sunshine State program, the second-worst team in the Southeastern Conference ahead of the No. 129 Vanderbilt Commodores, and only 11 spots away from the absolute worst out of 133 Football Bowl Subdivision schools.
Florida sits between the No. 121 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes and No. 123 North Texas Mean Green. Not exactly the company one wants to see their favorite college team surrounded by.
The highest-ranked SEC team in the final tally was the Georgia Bulldogs, who came in at No. 13. The Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 22) was the only other conference school to crack the top 25 while in-state rival Florida State Seminoles checked in at No. 14.
The South Florida Bulls also finished at No. 54, followed by the Florida Atlantic Owls (No. 58), Miami Hurricanes (No. 59) and Central Florida Knights (No. 104).
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