'Fire Billy' Napier chants break out as Miami extends lead over Florida

Saturday’s Florida vs. Miami game was shaping up to be one of the most interesting on the Week 1 slate. The two rivals were playing for the first time since 2019, and both Billy Napier and Mario Cristobal are entering their third seasons with their respective programs.

For Miami, it would’ve been hard to script a better start to the season. As for Florida, it was the opposite – and the fans made their thoughts known in the third quarter.

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Chants of “Fire Billy” and “Billy, you suck” broke out at The Swamp as Jeremy Crenshaw came out to punt for the fourth time. That led to another scoring drive for Miami, which extended its lead to 38-10 6:08 to play in the third quarter.

The pressure meter was increasing around Napier as the season opener approached. That is sure to get louder after Saturday’s game, which saw the Gators struggle on both sides of the ball as Miami jumped out to the 38-10 lead. In fact, ESPN analyst Greg McElroy called it a “must-win” game considering the schedule ahead.

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“I don’t think it’s just this weekend, Kev. I think Billy Napier all season long’s gonna be feeling the heat in the event in which his team underperforms,” McElroy said. “If you look at Florida’s schedule, it’s one of the most difficult in the sport. And knowing what they bring back – it’s not a bare cupboard, but there are some unknowns. It’s a defense that struggled last year. They’re hoping they made improvements. They were really young last year, they’re now a year under their belt, playing a lot of freshmen. Now, they’re sophomores and juniors. So they’re hoping that they take a big step this year.

“But if you look at the schedule, man, the wins are hard to come by for the Florida Gators. So to have a ranked Miami team, your rival in your building on opening weekend, it feels like a must-win. There’s very few that feel like a slam-dunk possibility for Billy Napier this year. Every win will be earned. So to have this opportunity sitting right in front of them, they almost have to have it.”

Things went from bad to worse in the third quarter, though. Graham Mertz suffered an injury and had to leave, which opened the door for highly touted freshman DJ Lagway to make his collegiate debut.

Mertz tried to find Eugene “Tre” Wilson III as time ticked away in the third quarter, but Mishael Powell picked off the pass and took it back 67 yards. After the play, Mertz stayed on the ground and immediately went to the locker room.

At the time of his injury, Mertz had completed 11 of 20 passes for 91 yards as Florida struggled mightily against a new-look Miami team. The Hurricanes held a 38-10 lead when he left, and that remained the case after a missed field goal after the interception.