Florida football took a beating on Saturday from the Texas Longhorns in their first showdown since 1940, falling flat in Austin to the tune of a 49-17 final score in which the home team left little doubt about which was the better team.
The blowout defeat gives the Gators five losses against four wins with three more games remaining to reach the magic six-win mark. [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s crew has suffered a great deal of attrition to the injury bug and a lack of depth has really come back to bite them.
As a result, the Gator Nation continues to lose its patience with the incumbent regime — despite the school pledging allegiance to its third-year skipper — as has the national media. The most recent loss did little to temper emotions, earning a spot on USA TODAY Sports’ misery index on Sunday.
“This has been a season of bloodlust in Gainesville,” author Dan Wolken notes. “Not only do Gators fans want head coach Billy Napier gone, they’re equally done with the athletics director who hired him. But Scott Stricklin’s statement Thursday that Napier would be returning for 2025 presumably ends that debate. Napier will be back, and apparently, Stricklin’s job is safe too.”
As the late Billy Mays used to say, “But wait, there’s more!”
“On Friday, however, Florida’s student newspaper The Alligator reported on disturbing allegations against men’s basketball coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] that led to a Title IX investigation. Suddenly, the entire athletic department looks like it’s going up in flames.”
Cue the “everything is fine” meme. Things are certainly not trending in the right direction and Golden’s alleged infractions undo what was once a lone silver lining for Florida’s two top sports.
“It’s impossible to say what this is all going to mean for Florida’s athletic leadership,” Wolken continues, “especially when the university is looking for a new president who would presumably make some of these decisions. Meanwhile, asking fans to have faith in another year of Napier gets awfully difficult after a 49-17 loss to Texas.
“Yes, the Longhorns are a much better program right now, but Florida failing to be competitive after Napier’s vote of confidence will only inflame a large number of Gators fans who believe wholesale changes are necessary to compete in the SEC anytime soon.”
Next up for Florida
The Gators return to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to host LSU in college football’s Week 12. The Southeastern Conference matchup will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on ABC.
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.