After a setback, beating FSU is Florida's chance to right the ship
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Following the loss to Georgia, which dropped Florida to 4-4, Gators coach Billy Napier challenged his team to run the table the rest of the season.
The goal was to go 5-0, including a win in a bowl game they weren’t eligible for yet. The players have mentioned it in recent weeks, and so did Napier.
“Hey look, we’re 1-0. Everybody got me. We’re 1-0,” he told his team in the locker room after they beat Texas A&M. “Let’s be who we’re capable of being.”
The Gators following up that comeback win with their best performance of the season against South Carolina, which made them bowl eligible. However, their winning streak and momentum ended last Saturday with a shocking 31-24 loss at Vanderbilt.
The upset not only knocked the Gators off their 5-0 goal but gave them a losing record in SEC play for the second straight season. After the game, Napier addressed his team about righting the ship.
“Now, the ultimate challenge here as a leader is to be at your best when it didn’t go your way. Everybody’s character has gotta show up,” Napier said.
“We got an opportunity to make this right, OK? We’re going to get another opportunity with this group of men to go on the field and play winning football.”
That opportunity, of course, is the regular season finale Friday at rival Florida State. The Seminoles are No. 16 in the latest College Football Player rankings, and UF hasn’t beaten a ranked team since the opener against then-No. 7 Utah.
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“This week would be a big win,” Gators cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. said. “It’s Florida-Florida State, it’s probably the biggest game of the season, so winning this would set that standard.”
A victory in Doak Campbell Stadium would end Florida’s season on a high note, give the Gators momentum on the recruiting trail and mark their fourth consecutive win over FSU.
It would also be UF’s first victory over a rival this season after losses to Tennessee, LSU and Georgia.
“I felt as if we should take a lot of responsibility and we shouldn’t let a lot of our alumni down,” Gators receiver Daejon Reynolds said. “I feel like Florida’s been the big dog of every school in Florida and I feel like we owe that to them.”
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In other Florida football news
- In their own words: What does Florida-Florida State mean to the current Gators?
- The Gators are searching for consistency after another late rally comes up short.
- Gators in the NFL: Tracking how the former Florida players performed in Week 11.
UF recruiting roundup
- The latest edition of GO’s Corey’s Corner: Gators Recruiting War Room (11/22).
- Four-star running back Mark Fletcher has locked in his official visit with Florida.
- The Gators have secured an official visit date from four-star tackle Caden Jones.
- A top-25 junior is planning to visit Florida during the spring after being offered.
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