Billy Napier, Anthony Richardson explain what happened on his second interception

Since that wonderful performance against Utah, Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson simply hasn’t played at the same level in the Gators’ following two games. He struggled mightily against a stiff Kentucky defense, then made enough plays to win but was far from perfect against South Florida.

One of those imperfect moments was an interception on the first Florida drive after halftime. The Gators led by two possessions, 24-13, and had a chance to really put the game out of reach to open up the third quarter. But, on a third-and-eight, Richardson winged one right to the defender, who gobbled up the pass to give USF the ball going the other way. AR’s second pick of the night after he had one in the first returned for a touchdown.

After the game, here were head coach Billy Napier’s comments on the second pick. He didn’t hold back explaining where Richardson should be better, but admitted that QBs as young as him are bound to make mistakes.

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“Run play with an individual cut option right. They loaded the box up. We had one-on-one coverage over there. He made a decision to throw it. I have no issue with the decision that he made to throw it. It’s how he threw it, right. And, you know, he tried to throw a back shoulder fade when that wasn’t what was required, right. So simple play, got to be executed better. Certainly part of Anthony’s growth as a player, right. You know, you play that position. We put the ball in his hands and asked him to do a lot. He’s going to make some mistakes and certainly he can throw that one better.”

Richardson himself also got a chance to address that errant pass after the game. The Florida quarterback took full blame, explaining that he thought his WR could make a play in space but he just didn’t put the ball in the right place.

“Oh we were gassing them, you know, down the field. So the call, it was one-on-one, shot to the receiver or keep the run play on. And I saw [Justin] Shorter out there and I trusted him. I just didn’t give him a chance to make a play on the ball and the DB made a better play. So that was pretty much what happened. I just gotta give my guy a better chance to attack the ball and score.”

A bad turnover for Florida. But certainly something to learn from for Anthony Richardson and Billy Napier.