One of the reasons Florida football fans are so dissatisfied with Billy Napier is because we were sold one version of his personality, and he ended up being the complete opposite. I feel like I’ve lost my way. Football is a game where everyone needs to be fired up, not put to sleep.
And while there’s still reason to believe Napier isn’t the guy to lead Florida in any significant direction, Napier would be better for himself if the version of Napier we saw Saturday night is the version he shows up every night. I can give you a chance.
The problem with the irony of Napier’s infamous “You don’t make money by being afraid of money” when he was first introduced to Florida is that he almost never lived up to that nickname. With the exception of the first game against Utah, Napier is rarely aggressive with his play calls and rarely displays any emotion to show he is invested in the end result.
Napier, who had fallen to his own 34 points in the third quarter and was trailing by one point in fourth place, went for it on a run by Graham Mertz.
This drive didn’t end in points, but the end result consumed four more minutes and ended UCF’s hopes of a comeback.
But not only did he accomplish that in fourth place, he also made Napier feel like a different person on Saturday. In the second quarter, a UCF punter took a flop that wasn’t called in La Liga, and when it was called Saturday, Napier received an unsportsmanlike penalty for letting the officials know they should have done more work. received.
And you know what?
Good for Napier for hanging in there and representing Florida. One of the themes that has developed this season is fans begging and begging Napier to show him something like that. Too often, negative plays occur, whether it’s a bad call or bad execution, and the camera just turns to Napier with a look on his face that just wants both teams to have fun.
Will all of Napier’s deficiencies during his three years in Gainesville be cured by just one quarter down conversion or an unsportsmanlike penalty?
no.
But if he did something like that more often, the Gator fan base might be more willing to go to bat for him rather than throw him into the ocean.
