Billy Napier credits Jeff Scott, USF after Florida dodges upset bid

Florida flirted with disaster on Saturday, barely escaping from South Florida. The Bulls had a last-second opportunity to tie the game with a field goal but due to a bad snap, it missed wide. Head coach Billy Napier now has his second win in Gainesville but just barely.

During his post-game interview on the field, Napier was asked what he learned about his team. He rattled off a few things but wanted to credit USF and how they played under head coach Jeff Scott. Napier credited their off-season additions and how good a team they had.

“Some of the same things we learned the last couple of weeks,” Napier said. We got fight in us. We got the intangibles. This group responds. We need to execute better, we need to do the simple things better. We made it hard tonight. But credit to South Florida. Jeff and his team, Year Three. They continue to add some really good players in the offseason. Lot of respect for South Florida and how hard they played. We got the win tonight but we got a lot of things to focus on and improve.”

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Napier was then asked when he felt good about the game, citing the interception from Tre’Vez Johnson late in the second half. He thinks the short field set the offense up for success, getting into the end zone for their only touchdown of the second half.

However, he spent little time on his own team. Napier continued to sing the praises of South Florida, crediting Scott and the program they have rolling down in Tampa.

“Well, when we get the takeaway,” Napier said. “Huge play by Tre’Vez Johnson to give us a short field to have an opportunity to go punch it in there and take the lead. But I can’t credit South Florida enough. I’ve coached at that level. A ton of respect for the program that Jeff is building. He’s got some momentum, he’s got a good football team.”

Florida was not itself on offense the entire night, especially quarterback Anthony Richardson. Napier will have a ton of work heading into next week, with the Gators traveling to Knoxville for an important SEC East showdown against Tennessee. A huge week is ahead of the entire program after just escaping from defeat.