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Florida gets boost from MSU road win in USA TODAY Sports re-rank

The Gators moved up 10 spots in USA TODAY Sports’ re-rank after Week 4.

Florida football put a stop to its bleeding on Saturday in Starkville with a 45-28 win over the Mississippi Bulldogs. The win was the first against an FBS opponent in the Gators’ last eight tries and evened the team record on the season to 2-2 (1-1, SEC).

While the triumph on the road was an important step forward for Billy Napier and Co., it came against what might be the weakest program in a brutally difficult 16-team Southeastern Conference. Nonetheless, the national sports media is seeing the Orange and Blue in a bit more positive light entering the Week 5 bye.

That change in perspective was reflected in this week’s USA TODAY Sports college football re-rank by Paul Myerberg, who gave the Gators a solid boost after their first conference win of the season.

Florida’s Week 4 re-rank position

Myerberg elevated Florida 10 spots this week from No. 81 to No. 71 following the Mississippi State victory. That puts the Gators between the No. 70 Kansas Jayhawks and No. 72 San Jose State Spartans.

The Florida State Seminoles fell two spots from their previous ranking from No. 80 to No. 82.

USA TODAY Sports Week 4 re-rank top 10

The Georgia Bulldogs remain in the top spot followed by the Texas Longhorns, Ohio State Buckeyes Tennessee Volunteers and Alabama Crimson Tide representing the top five teams, respectively.

The Ole Miss Rebels, Penn State Nittany Lions, Oregon Ducks, Utah Utes and Miami Hurricanes wrap up the top 10 programs in the re-rank.

Up next for the Gators

The Gators will be out of action for Week 5 due to their bye week. Florida’s next opponent will be the UCF Knights — who sit at No. 14 in this week’s re-rank — on Oct. 5. The time is yet to be determined.

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USA TODAY Sports asks if Billy Napier is a fired-coach-in-waiting at Florida

USA TODAY Sports’ Blake Toppmeyer believes that Billy Napier is destined to be fired sooner than later.

The central focus around the Florida football program in recent days has been on [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag], who currently resides on a scorching head coach hot seat after the Gators began the season 1-2.

Napier and Co. came into the season knowing that they faced the hardest schedule in college football but still had high aspirations for the skipper’s third year in Gainesville. That pink cloud quickly turned to grey after the Miami Hurricanes tore through the Swamp in the Week 1 opener, and since then, the Gator Nation has been in full panic mode.

Following Week 3’s gridiron action, USA TODAY Sports writer Blake Toppmeyer published a column that included the question of Napier’s fate at Florida, asking “Is Billy Napier a fired-coach-in-waiting at Florida?”

His self-response was extremely clear on his position.

“Yes. All that’s left is the writing of the check, so unleash the hot boards,” Toppmeyer begins.

“Well, maybe one element remains left to determine: Who will hire Napier’s replacement? Athletics director Scott Stricklin hired (and fired) Dan Mullen and replaced him with Napier. He’s squandered the right to lead this coaching search,” he continues.

“When Florida fires Napier, he’ll become the fourth consecutive Gators coach to be axed before the end of his fourth season. Stricklin argued before the season that Florida can’t keep cycling through coaches at this rate. True. So, get the next hire right.

“The only thing worse than firing Napier in Year 3 and paying him a buyout of more than $25 million would be sticking with a hopeless coach for a fourth season that no Florida fan wants to pay to see. It’s over.”

Head coach options for Florida

“Where should Florida turn after Napier? Lane Kiffin fits the bill, but his Ole Miss Rebels are on the shortlist of national championship contenders. Kiffin has no reason to leave. Eliah Drinkwitz (Missouri), Jedd Fisch (Washington), Alex Golesh (South Florida) and Lance Leipold (Kansas) form my next tier.”

Chris Doering’s latest thoughts on Florida

Now serving as an analyst with the SEC Network, Gatoes legend Chris Doering was asked at the Knoxville Quarterback Club on Monday if he believed Napier would still be the coach in October when the Gators came to Knoxville to play the Tennessee Volunteers.

Doering wasted no time in his response: “I don’t think so.” He went on to elaborate on how he perceives the players and fans are handling this current misery.

“Apathy is worse than anger, and I feel like there’s apathy starting to set in a little bit in Gainesville, and so you have to eliminate that,” Doering noted. “I’ve talked to some of the folks in higher-up positions, and they have to decide whether or not things are repairable. And it doesn’t seem like that.”

Up next for the Gators

Florida will play their first road game of the season as they travel up to Starkville to play against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday, Sept. 21. Kickoff is set for noon ET and will be broadcast on ESPN.

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Gators amazingly unmoved in USA TODAY Sports’ re-rank after Week 3

USA TODAY Sports still has Florida re-ranked in the same spot since losing to Miami in the opening weekend.

The first quarter of Florida football’s 2024 schedule is in the books and so far things are not looking good in Gainesville. With a pair of home losses already logged and the toughest schedule in the sport still ahead, the Gators are having a hard time finding solid ground.

As a result of the poor performance seen from [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s squad — which has the skipper on the hottest seat in college football — the Orange and Blue are completely absent from the major polls and are an afterthought in many of the other rankings.

Among those include USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerberg, who submitted his re-rank following Week 3’s action with a surprising result for Florida.

Florida’s re-rank position

Myerberg still has the Gators ranked No. 81 — the same spot he had Florida last two weeks — despite the home loss. That puts Florida between the No. 80 Florida State Seminoles and No. 82 Western Kentucky Big Red.

What is not surprising is that UF and FSU are sharing their misery on this week’s re-rank after the ‘Noles began their season 0-3. This year is the first since 1955 that both schools had losing records after three games.

USA TODAY Sports Week 3 re-rank top 10

The Georgia Bulldogs remain in the top spot followed by the Texas Longhorns, Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee Volunteers representing the top five teams, respectively.

The Ole Miss Rebels, Oregon Ducks, Penn State Nittany Lions, Kansas State Wildcats and Utah Utes wrap up the top 10 programs in the re-rank.

Up next for the Gators

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Florida among USA TODAY Sports’ Week 3 misery index teams

At least FSU is more miserable than Florida, right? RIGHT?!

The Southeastern Conference schedule-opening matchup between the Florida Gators and Texas A&M Aggies in the Swamp did not go quite how the home team had hoped. Instead, the Orange and Blue once again looked overmatched on its own turf in a 33-20 defeat.

It was difficult to tell what was worse on Saturday — the weather or Florida’s performance. Once again, [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]’s Gators put up a sloppy and undisciplined effort which has been the trademark of the program since the [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag] days.

USA TODAY Sports columnist Dan Wolken assembled his misery index for college football’s Week 3 with rival Florida State Seminoles making the headlines. However, Florida was first in line after them and there was plenty to say about the Gators’ current turmoil.

“The Seminoles’ in-state rivals are even deeper in the mud than they are, but the only thing saving the Gators from being No. 1 this week is that expectations weren’t high in Gainesville to begin with,” Wolken begins.

“Still, it’s a true illustration of Billy Napier’s current predicament that the Gators have failed to even clear the lowest possible bar anyone could have set for them,” he continues.

“Saturday’s limp 33-20 loss in the Swamp to Texas A&M was even more one-sided than the final score and illustrated one of the main issues with the Gators. They don’t play hard. They don’t step on the field with as much passion or confidence as their opponents. They have no aura. And this was one of the few games on their schedule that, on paper, they had a great chance to win!

“But when you are on the wrong end of a 3-0 turnover ratio and make just 2-of-9 third downs, you’re not going to beat anyone with a pulse.”

Up next for the Gators

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Gators earns ‘loser’ status from USA TODAY Sports for Week 3

It should comes as no surprise that the Gators headline this week’s losers bracket from USA TODAY Sports.

Florida football earned the “loser” title in two of the three first weekends of the 2024 campaign from USA TODAY Sports after another weak showing on the collegiate gridiron. On a rainy day in the Swamp, the Gators were whipped by the Texas A&M Aggies, 33-20, falling to 1-2 on the season and 0-1 in SEC play.

Paul Myerberg composed his weekly winners and losers column on Sunday, with the Orange and Blue headlining the loser’s section. What he had to offer was not much consolation to Florida fans.

“This is getting uglier and uglier, leaving almost no doubt whatsoever that Florida is about to embark on yet another coaching search after yet another failed hire in four seasons or less,” Myerberg begins.

“If you’re keeping track, every UF coach since Urban Meyer resigned (again) in 2010 has been canned within that time frame: [autotag]Will Muschamp[/autotag] (2011-14), [autotag]Jim McElwain[/autotag] (2015-17), [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag] (2018-21) and now [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag]. Saturday’s 33-20 loss at home to Texas A&M was never even competitive despite being as close to a must-win game as you’ll find on the schedule,” he continues.

“Getting to a bowl game without beating the Aggies? The 1-2 Gators have essentially no chance at getting to six wins given the nastiness of this year’s schedule and the team’s obvious lack of talent, drive, consistency. And hope. Hope is also in very short supply.”

Up next for the Gators

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Gator boosters eyeing buyout of Billy Napier’s contract after TAMU loss

It looks like the boosters are going to open their wallets and move on from Billy Napier sooner than later.

Florida football’s head coach might not be on the sidelines much longer if recent reports are correct.

Following a home loss to the Texas A&M Aggies in the SEC opener on Saturday, it is becoming more apparent that Billy Napier’s job is in significant peril. The Gators have struggled under the third-year skipper during his tenure and are now on a trajectory for a fourth-straight losing season.

Let us not even talk about how long it has been since that happened in Gainesville.

USA TODAY Sports writer Matt Hayes broke down the situation in his Four Downs and a Bracket feature on Sunday, with Napier and Co. taking the first down position under the title, “The Billy Napier experiment is over.”

“A group of Florida boosters have pulled together money to cover the expense of firing coach Billy Napier, two people with direct knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports,” Hayes begins.

“The two spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the process, which will begin when interim Florida president Kent Fuchs makes an official decision. The only variable is when,” he continues.

“If Florida fires Napier, he will be owed approximately $26 million in buyout money. But that number could be mitigated because Florida is currently being investigated by the NCAA for its recruitment – and Napier’s role in the recruitment –of former high school recruit Jaden Rashada.”

University of Florida’s administration issues

“Fuchs hired Napier in 2022 and was one of Napier’s biggest supporters before retiring in February of 2023. Fuchs returned in an interim role this summer when Ben Sasse resigned as president,” Hayes says.

“Fuchs and the Florida administration desperately want Napier to succeed, and have given him everything he would need – financially, structurally, facilities – to do so. But the product on the field has progressively gotten worse, even after Napier promised this offseason that it would be different.”

Florida’s struggles on the field

“Texas A&M routed the Gators 33-20 Saturday in The Swamp, the second blowout home loss of the season, including the much-anticipated season-opening 41-17 loss to rival Miami,” Hayes notes.

“The Gators have given up an average of 38 points in their last eight games against power conference opponents.

“More damaging: For the second time in as many home games against FBS opponents, fans began filing out of the stadium early in the third quarter,” he adds. “The Aggies started backup quarterback Marcel Reed in place of injured starter Conner Weigman, and still led 20-0 at halftime, and 33-7 midway through the third quarter.

“The loss dropped Florida (1-2) to 12-16 in 28 games under Napier, including 7-15 vs. power conference teams. Another losing season — against the nation’s toughest schedule — would be Florida’s fourth in a row for the first time since the World War II era.

“Even the emergence of freshman quarterback [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] wasn’t enough to change the Gators’ fortunes. Florida had 63 yards in the first half, and its possessions ended with three punts and an interception.”

Up next for the Gators

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Florida unmoved in USA TODAY Sports college football re-rank after Week 2

Florida’s re-rank according to USA TODAY Sports remains unchanged after the Samford win.

Florida football evened up its 2024 record on Saturday with a 45-7 win over the Samford Bulldogs in the Swamp, but despite the lopsided score the overall performance was not quite up to par.

The highlight of the weekend, of course, was freshman quarterback DJ Lagway‘s first collegiate start and the record-breaking numbers he put up against the FCS opponent. However, the rest of the team still showed some weaknesses that need to be addressed before Week 3.

As is his wont, USA TODAY Sports writer Paul Myerberg released his weekly college football re-rank from the top to bottom of the 134 FBS schools, and not much changed for Billy Napier‘s squad after the Week 2 triumph.

Florida’s re-rank position

Myerberg has the Gators ranked No. 81 — the same spot he had Florida last week — after the Saturday win in the Swamp, putting the Orange and Blue between the Texas Tech Red Raiders (No. 80) and New Mexico State Aggies No. 82). Only the Mississippi State Bulldogs, who dropped 17 spots to No. 84, rank lower than Florida this week among SEC schools.

The week prior, Napier and Co. were ranked No. 59 but the loss to the Miami Hurricanes (No. 11) dropped the program 22 spots in the rankings.

USA TODAY Sports Week 2 re-rank top 10

The Georgia Bulldogs remain in the top spot followed by the Texas Longhorns, Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee Volunteers representing the top five teams, respectively.

The Ole Miss Rebels, Penn State Nittany Lions, USC Trojans, Utah Utes and Kansas State Wildcats wrap up the top 10 programs in the re-rank.

Next up for the Gators

Florida will host the Texas A&M Aggies — who landed at No. 33 in the re-rank — inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 14. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ABC.

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San Francisco 49ers stars voice support for former Gator Ricky Pearsall

“When it comes to Ricky, we’re all just so thankful he’s gonna be OK,” Niners All-Pro tight end George Kittle told USA TODAY Sports.

Former Florida football wide receiver and San Francisco 49ers first-round pick Ricky Pearsall was shot last Saturday in central SF, and fortunately, had stabilized well enough from his chest wound to be released from the hospital the following day.

Since the jarring event, a couple of his new teammates have been offering words of support to the sports media.

“When it comes to Ricky, we’re all just so thankful he’s gonna be OK,” Niners All-Pro tight end George Kittle told USA TODAY Sports when asked about Pearsall, who was discharged from the hospital Sunday after being shot in the chest. He noted that hearing the news was “wild” at the time.

However, the Niners players are not fully privy to what occurred on Saturday afternoon and in the interest of allowing their teammate to recover, have given him space in that regard.

“I don’t know all the details,” he added. “I try not to ask him, because I feel like that’s an incredibly traumatizing event that I would not anyone that I know to go through. I think Coach (Kyle) Shanahan and (GM) John (Lynch) did a great job of just reaffirming to everybody to just let Ricky know that we’re here for him if he needs anything from us and to take his time.”

Nonetheless, it is pretty clear that getting shot in the chest — in the middle of an urban center in broad daylight, no less — is a tough situation to work through. And Pearsall’s peers respect that.

“I’ve never worked with someone who’s had to go through something like that, so we’re just all here for him,” said Kittle. “And I know that’s gonna take some time for him to process. But we’re clearly thankful he’s OK.”

San Francisco’s general manager also voiced his concerns early this week.

“(W)e felt the number one thing we had to be concerned with was Ricky’s well-being physically, emotionally, mentally, and ultimately decided that the best thing for Ricky was to have a little bit of time,” Lynch said Monday.

“When we drafted Ricky, we did it for the long term. And Ricky is going to be a fantastic player here. He’s eager. He was disappointed but understood that we put him on that list and what that entails. It’s four weeks, at least. We’re just going to take this as it comes.”

As the week progressed, yet another teammate spoke about how the near tragedy has affected him and his contract negotiations coming into the 2024 campaign.

“I felt more compelled to come back after that than anything,” All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams said Tuesday, when he ended his holdout and signed a revised contract extension – the club’s last major piece of football business after wideout Brandon Aiyuk landed his own four-year extension Thursday.

“In my mind, I just wanted to get back, get around the team.”

The 36-year-old Williams said he was drawn to Pearsall, who is 12 years younger, during a brief appearance at offseason OTAs and wanted to be present for his recovery.

“Ricky stood out to me,” said Williams. “He did go out of his way to come and introduce himself to me.

“I just instantly felt his vibe and could just feel he’s such a genuine person. …I wanted to be around for that.”

About Ricky Pearsall

The 49ers selected Pearsall with the 31st pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft. He spent three years with the Arizona State Sun Devils before transferring to Florida for his final two seasons.

Over 25 games as a Gator, Pearsall reeled in 98 receptions for 1,626 yards and nine touchdowns. He also added 175 rushing yards and three more scores on 11 carries.

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Gators fall to bottom of SEC in USA TODAY Sports’ college football re-rank

The Gators drop 22 spots from last week’s USA TODAY Sports’ college football re-rank.

After a nightmare start to the season losing at home to the Miami Hurricanes in Week 1, Florida football is desperate to quickly turn things around. But of course, it’s easier said than done.

Days and days of negativity have head coach Billy Napier and his Gators in need of something positive. And that could come this week when they play a Samford Bulldogs team that “should” be a feasible win for Florida.

But looking at today, the Gators are pretty much as low as they can get.

Sports writer Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY Sports re-ranked every FBS school during the preseason and just released his updated list ahead of Week 2.

Florida’s re-rank position

Myerberg has the Gators ranked No. 81, dropping down a whopping 22 spots from last week’s rank at No. 59. Florida is above the Florida Atlantic University Owls (No. 82) and below the Fresno State Bulldogs (No. 80).

Florida is also at the bottom of the SEC in the re-rank.

USA TODAY’s Week 2 Top 10 re-rank

Myerberg has the Georgia Bulldogs (No. 1) at the top spot followed by the Ohio State Buckeyes (No. 2) and Texas Longhorns (No. 3). The Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 4) and Notre Dame Fighting Irish (No. 5) round out the top five.

Next are the Oregon Ducks (No. 6), Penn State Nittany Lions (No. 7), Ole Miss Rebels (No. 8), USC Trojans (No. 9) and Utah Utes (No. 10).

Gators Week 2 Game

Florida (0-1) will go up against the Samford Bulldogs (0-1) next Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on SEC Network+.

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USA TODAY Sports tags Florida a ‘loser’ after Miami loss in Week 1

The Gators looked sluggish in their own backyard against an old in-state rival on Saturday. Are there any positive takeaways?

It was an ugly affair on Saturday in the Swamp, where the No. 19 Miami Hurricanes bested the Florida Gators, 41-17, to give the home team its first home-opening defeat since 1989.

Unsurprisingly, USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerberg named the Orange and Blue to his list of “losers” on Sunday following Week 1’s opening action. Suffice it to say, the team simply did not show enough on the field to warrant any real positive takeaways and the head coach’s hot seat is getting even hotter after the embarrassing loss.

“The clock is ticking on [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] after an ugly, hard-to-watch 41-17 loss at home to Miami showed just how far the program has fallen in his third season,” Myerberg begins.

“In a must-win game against a bitter rival, the Gators were barely competitive. The schedule was always going to be a problem: Florida is slated to play eight ranked teams, including five ranked opponents in a row to close the regular season.”

Coming into the matchup, both head coaches dealt with similar struggles in the first two years at their respective schools, but Miami was able to hoard a cache of talent this offseason that put Mario Cristobal a few steps ahead of Billy Napier.

“While the Hurricanes have clearly taken a step forward thanks to additions such as new quarterback Cam Ward, who threw for 385 yards and three scores, that the Gators were whipped in the Swamp is the strongest hint to date that Napier’s time is numbered and that this year’s team could be just the second since 1980 to lose eight or more games.”

The long story short is that the Gators are going to have to pick up the slack from their disappointing performance on their home turf or else things could get worse before they get better. They will get a chance to recalibrate against the Samford Bulldogs next weekend before opening the 2024 Southeastern Conference schedule the following Saturday against the Texas A&M Aggies.

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