WATCH: Napier disappointed by penalties, UF's offense in Oregon State loss

LAS VEGAS — After a grand opening to 2022, Florida closed out the year on a low note Saturday in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Gators (6-7) dropped their third straight game with a 30-3 loss to Oregon State (10-3).

The performance was plagued by penalties, issues on special teams and offensive struggles that led to UF narrowly avoid its first shutout loss since 1988. Adam Milhalek’s 40-yard field goal with 37 seconds left preserved the program’s NCAA-record streak of consecutive games scoring (now 436).

Outside of that kick and a blocked field goal by Jordan Young at the end of the half, it was all Beavers in Allegiant Stadium. Florida was held to a season-low 39 rushing yards, with just 14 apiece from Montrell Johnson Jr. and Trevor Etienne.

The Gators committed a season-worst 11 penalties for 82 yards and allowed Oregon State to convert seven of 12 third-down attempts. Down 10-0 at half, UF gave up a fake punt on the Beavers’ opening drive that resulted in a touchdown. Then Jeremy Crawshaw had a punt blocked on the ensuing series that led to another score, effectively putting the game out of reach.

“It’s my job to have the team ready to play, and we weren’t as ready to play as we needed to be,” Florida coach Billy Napier said afterward. “The things that disappoint me are the penalties, some situational mistakes in the game, certainly a lot of things we can do from a coaching perspective. I do think we hung in there on defense. We didn’t produce much on offense.”

In the video below, Napier gives his opening statement and discusses Florida’s penalty issues, Jack Miller’s performance, and the four sacks allowed.

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Billy Napier opening statement

“A ton of respect for Coach [Jonathan] Smith and Oregon State. Got a really good football team. All three phases of their team, offense, defense and special teams, presented a lot of challenges today. Obviously got some momentum, won 10 games, and a really good group, well-coached group. Got some ability and we’ve got nothing but respect for that, so, we can do much better as a team. Individually, collectively, myself from a leadership standpoint. It’s my job to have the team ready to play, and we weren’t as ready to play as we needed to be. The things that disappoint me are the penalties, some situational mistakes in the game, certainly a lot of things we can do from a coaching perspective. I do think we hung in there on defense. We didn’t produce much on offense, but I thought our defensive players hung in there for a while.

“I do believe that, offensively early we had some penalties in the fringe red area that I think we had a chance to create some points and momentum in the game and missed out on that. Certainly, we could do more, right? I think from my perspective, I could do more to help our team, so, I don’t want to lose sight of a group of players in that locker room that are going to play for the Gators for the last time. That’s what we’ve been doing here for the last few minutes, just spending time with that group, really challenged the players, and we’ve got some unbelievable seniors that are going to play for the last time, just their example, their growth, the things that they’ve done to help us create a little bit different team dynamic.

“This is a group that did everything we asked them to do from a work standpoint, has been unbelievable. So, just a lot of great stories with some seniors, some of which don’t even play. They’re just on the team. I think that this game is about the people that you do it with, right? The people you coach with and more importantly the people you play with and the people you coach. So, ton of respect for some of these seniors and what they’ve done to help us. We’re gonna learn from today. I think that’s the key, right? It’s fuel for the fire, obviously, it causes you to evaluate a lot of different things. But hats off to Oregon State. They won the game today, no question about that.”