Florida football is gearing up for their toughest matchup of the season this Saturday when they play against the Georgia Bulldogs in Jacksonville.
The Gators are coming off a bye week and hope to use that to their advantage in terms of getting the opportunity to get players healthy and focus in more on an elite Bulldogs team.
Like Florida, Georgia also had a bye last week. Their last matchup was a dominant affair on both sides of the ball as they defeated the Texas Longhorns, 30-15, on the road. So, both teams will be well-rested heading into this rivalry.
Gators head coach Billy Napier spoke with the media on Monday and here are some key takeaways from his press conference.
Opening Statement
“We did a lot of good things last week, certainly the guys benefited from a couple days off. Georgia has a good football team. You know, offensively, starts with the veteran quarterback and a veteran offensive line and just a multitude of skill players at every position. I do think defensively, they have an identity, and it starts with the personnel, the height length, the personnel certainly speed at the second, third level as well.
“And then kicking game. They’ve got really good specialists, so they can kick. Their punter, staffer, obviously, returners. And they have good variables there that could cause some problems for you. So the entirety of the team obviously makes this thing a challenge.
“You know, I think for our team, it’s important that we zoom in on the parts of our process that can grow and improve. I think each individual player has got to continue to focus on getting better. One of the reasons we’ve been able to improve as we emphasize those parts of our team, we need to continue to play with really good effort. We need to continue to take great pride in how we compete.
“I do think spending our time and our energy on the things that actually can produce results for us and not wasting time on anything that can’t I do think that we’ve challenged our team to be very consistent, be an everyday guy, and we’ve got a lot of players that are doing it every day, then we’ve got a chance to be an everyday team. So this will require our best and we look forward to go into Jacksonville this weekend.”
On if the recent bye week was similar to the first
“Yeah, I mean, our kids have bought into the concept that practice is the most important thing that we do, and the attitude and the urgency and the focus, we have to be very deliberate about how we practice. To improve at this game, you have to do it on the grass, right? This is a repetition base game, it’s development, and it’s the quality of the rep from the start to the finish that matters. And I think we’ve bought into that concept, so I’m hopeful. And again, it’s very competitive, and it’ll be no different this week.”
The importance of shifting the narrative in Florida’s direction for rivalry game vs. Georgia
“Yeah, these are all, these are all good challenges. I mean, you know, I think George has been doing it. I think it’s the ninth year for Kirby (Smart) here. Obviously, he’s established, you know, systems. They’ve got good processes across the board, and the personnel has been built over time. There’s quality, depth, there’s identity, so you gotta beat them and I think ultimately the things that I mentioned earlier will help us do that.”
Napier talks about Georgia DL Mykel Williams
“He’s (Williams) one of the more talented defenders of the country this year and most years, I would say he’s been that way for a while. So yeah, he can be a challenge, obviously slippery on the rundowns, but very versatile in terms of where he rushes on third down as well. So he’s got the height and length and the bulk to be an inside rusher and an edge rusher. So he’s one of the better players in the country, for sure.”
Napier on playing against former players
“Well, it’s become the norm of college football. It’s already happened a handful of times this year. We played against players on the other side that were on our team in the past. So look, it feels like there’s a story each week about scenarios like that. So it wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last, unfortunately.
“I think for me, it’s gotten to a point where you just, you know, move on to the next one.
“And I think we’ve done what we needed to do to be productive at running back. You know, obviously Jadan (Baugh) and Ja’Kobi (Jackson), Montrell (Johnson) has been very productive for us this year. So you know that position for us is at the centerpiece of our offense, and I couldn’t be more proud of the guys that we have there, and coach (Jabbar) Juluke in particular has done a nice job. But we identify players, we we fit them into our blueprint. There, the framework for that position, and they produce. They have success. So yeah, we’ll be handing it to somebody this weekend.”
The importance of getting off to a fast start
“Starting fast in general, I would say the game of football is really important. It’s a contributing factor from an analytics standpoint, I think you could take a deep dive into that. You would see, start fast is very important. And so these games are no different. You know, this game would be much like every game we played this year. The key is that we are ready to play from a fundamental standpoint, so that we can win some of these one-on-ones, you know, these are these games are about point of attack wins. And then you got to have a certain mindset, mentality, you got to be ready to go. So this will be no different than the ones from the past.”
On DJ Lagway running the Florida offense
“I think in the perfect world, we would have a guy that’s a capable owner, you know. You want to have a guy that’s a that is a factor, you know, in the reed elements, you know, and then also, obviously the ability to push it down the field and DJ (Lagway), you know, we, we were very fortunate to find them early in the process, and have been blessed, you know, with the opportunity to go together, right? So more importantly is just the makeup of the kid, just from a character perspective, and the humility, the work ethic and Graham (Mertz) being around has been huge, and that’ll be a big factor going forward for DJ this year.”
On Lagway’s first “big game” of his collegiate career
“Yeah, I mean, I’m thinking they’re all big, you know. And we tried to build in this concept of, ‘Hey, you’re one play away’. And the urgency that you need to feel going all the way back to January. Look, you’re prepared as if you’re going to have to do this at some point. And playing him, I think, in every game has made for a preparation that becomes real. Like, ‘I’m going out there’. He’s been able to do that each week.
“So, yeah, so I think that helps…we played several top 10 teams so far this year. Obviously, last week was this, or two weeks ago was his first SEC start. And then Georgia. We all understand what comes with that.”
On Georgia QB Carson Beck
“This guy’s elite. He’s (Beck) an elite quarterback. I mean, he’s been fantastic throughout his career. (He’s) just really seen a lot of football, you know, their practice environment, the number of variables he’s seen, from the front pressure, coverage standpoint, and he’s just a big, tall, athletic guy to throw it all over the park. So, you know, any player that you play, you have to anticipate them being at their best. So he’s highly regarded for a reason.”
How to watch Florida vs. Georgia
The Gators go up against the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, Nov. 2 in Jacksonville. That game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on ABC.
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