Billy Napier says Gators ‘left a ton of points out there’ in loss at Tennessee

Billy Napier had an opportunity Saturday for his second win over a top-10 team as Florida’s coach, but the Gators fumbled away their lead in a 23-17 overtime loss at No. 8 Tennessee.

Here’s everything Napier said after the game.

Opening statement:

Billy Napier: “OK, the — I think the first thing to be — yeah, I mean look, I have a ton of respect for the young men in that locker room and the way they competed in the game. They were prepared and in the right frame of mind and attacked it. I do think that we played extremely hard, played with passion, all three parts of our team. Certainly, the tale of the tape is the missed opportunities in the first half on offense. We had many opportunities to score points and left a ton of points out there. A couple short-yardage situations and obviously the sneak-fumble on the 1-yard line. But defensively, man, I have to say, our guys kept us in the game. I thought we had a great plan. We played a really good — we kept the routes in front of us and played really good on the perimeter. I thought we did a nice job of creating some negative plays and then obviously, did a good job on conversion downs and being able to affect the quarterback. Yeah, what a game. You know, obviously had a few injuries there and certainly Graham getting banged up was a big part of the game and then DJ obviously rose to the occasion and got us back in it there with a big throw at the end to tie it up. We left a lot of opportunities on the field in the first half in terms of points and, ultimately this was one of those games where the margin was really small. Our staff have the team ready to play, they had good plans, I think that our kids fought their tail off. I have a ton of respect for that. We made some plays in the kicking game, obviously had the miscue right before half and there’s no question that we had a substitution issue but we would not be in the game without the special teams performance. Those punt returns were critical. Certainly I thought we had control of the field position throughout. What questions do we have?”

On the decision to kick the point after at the end of regulation:

Billy Napier: “We had a play that we felt good about and then obviously they burned their timeout and I think we felt from the 3 there we were playing pretty good on both sides of our team at that point in time so we thought, ‘Let’s go play overtime. Let’s go give our guys a chance to play some more plays.’ Defensively, we kept ourself in it. Wasn’t quite ready to do that at that point in time.”

On the debacle at the end of the first half:

Billy Napier: “It was relative to an injury, just to be cut and dry. It was a substitution error based on an injured player who stayed on the field. Yeah, that’s exactly what it was.

“The injured player that had been substituted on that unit did not come off. He stayed.”

On Graham Mertz and Montrell Johnson:

Billy Napier: “I think it’s tough. Obviously Graham played phenomenal in the game. I thought he was lights out. Really prepared well and came to play. He does have an injury, a lower-body injury. Obviously, we’ll give you some updates on that when we get to next week. It was significant enough that he couldn’t complete the game. I think that Montrell Johnson was in that category as well. He wasn’t able to return and then RJ Moten had an injury that was a little bit of a setback.”

On this team being really close to a good team:

Billy Napier: “I would think the defensive performance and then just our ability to move the ball throughout. We had opportunities in the red area. I think we’re three of six in terms of scoring opportunities, and ultimately that was the tale of the tape. Fumble on the 1-yard line; 3rd-and-1we get stopped, forced to kick a field goal; we go for it on 4th-and-1, great play by their corner running over the top, great tackle; and then we missed the field goal in overtime. Technically speaking, just a ton of missed opportunities in terms of points in the first half.”

On what stuck out to him defensively:

Billy Napier: “We played with good gap integrity. I thought the line of scrimmage, on the edges, we tackled well, we mixed in the pressures. We were able to create some negative plays, made some long-yardage situations, and then ultimately we got off the field. We were pretty good on conversion downs throughout the day. So defensively, we we kept ourselves in the game. We had a chance to really take control of the game in the first half, and we missed on those opportunities.”

On freshman running back Jadan Baugh:

Billy Napier: “Those guys are all capable players. Jadan and Ja’Kobi, both are rookies. But I do think they’re both very capable. Certainly, Jadan has already done some good things this year, and we have a ton of confidence in both players. They practice the right way. They have character, smart, they’re tough and they’re productive. So we’re going to continue to get those guys involved.”

On the mood of players:

Billy Napier: “It’s the hardest part about it. They played their tails off. I had a front-row seat to it. They played extremely hard in the game. There’s no guarantees in this game. You have to put yourself out there, with no guaranteed reward. It takes courage to do that. I think ultimately, there’s an opportunity here for our team. I just really believe there’s something good on the other side of this.  I do think that it’s a challenge. I think that ultimately we’re all going to be tested, we’re all going to be challenged. This game it’s going to be that way. If you’re a competitor, you play this game, you’re always going to be challenged, you’re always going to be tested, there’s always going to be scenarios where you don’t get the results you want. And do you have the discipline to reset, do it again? Or will you get distracted? Will you compromise your character? I don’t think we have that issue. I think we got a bunch of guys that care about each other, that played their tails off, that prepared the right way and competed. I think we just came up with a handful of plays short. That’s where, as a coach, it’s a punch in the gut relative to you just want to do everything you can do to help the players.”

On injuries playing into competition at practice:

Billy Napier: “We will continue to operate, it’s working. That’s what I would tell you. I think our kids have bought into it. It’s helped our level of play in all parts of our team.”

On the team playing hard, fighting in spite of injuries:

Billy Napier: “We got a group. We’ve got a great combination of players relative to veteran leadership and we have some young guys that have the right mindset and have the right makeup that have an opportunity to contribute. There’s a lot of guys, so many people that contribute to what you watched out there tonight. A bunch of them didn’t get a chance to make the trip but they worked their tail off all throughout the week to help the team prepare. It’s one of the best things about this group. Obviously, this will be a challenge here. We will have an opportunity to respond. We will play football next week.”

On the performance from DJ Lagway:

Billy Napier: “One of the things about DJ that I respect is that as a competitor he has this unique ability to raise his level of play at critical moments. I think you obviously not only picked the right route progression but had to move and threw a strike in a critical moment. And, look, I thought he even did some of his more impressive stuff in the first half when he was playing. I thought he did a lot of really good things. For a rookie to go, play on the road in that environment, to step up in a big time, big moment. He’s got that in his DNA. There’s a bright future ahead of it for him.”

On his confidence if Lagway has to lead the team moving forward:

Billy Napier: “Well, he started one game earlier in the year and then obviously he’s had an opportunity to contribute each week. He’ll be more prepared. But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I have absolute confidence in DJ Lagway.”

On the failed jet sweep to Eugene Wilson III on fourth and inches:

Billy Napier: “We got them all blocked. I think the guy that had Tre man-to-man ran over the top of the play and made a heck of a play. We blocked the perimeter really well. DJ Made a good decision. I think it’s an outstanding play by the corner that had Tre, to show up on the other side. It was a good physical tackle and a really good play by the defender.”