'They flat out beat us': Florida head coach Billy Napier credits Kentucky

Florida head coach Billy Napier wants to build his football program around physicality and toughness. The former Arizona State offensive coordinator and Louisiana head wants to run the football on offense, play good defense, and win with complementary football. The Gators failed the mission on Saturday.

In the 33-14 loss to Kentucky at Kroger Field in Week 5, Florida was outrushed 329-69 and fell into a 16-0 hole in the first quarter. Napier admitted after the game that Kentucky was the more physical team in this SEC East matchup.

“I think hats off to Kentucky and Coach [Mark] Stoops, they were ready to play and they flat out beat us. They were the more physical team, they controlled the line of scrimmage, the edges of the formations, they protected their quarterback and we did not win the line of scrimmage or the edges and they affected our quarterback,” Billy Napier told reporters after the game. “We had a handful of penalties that were obviously a factor, the early turnover was a factor and then just fundamentally, very disappointed in our team.”

Florida had major issues fitting the run, found it difficult to protect quarterback Graham Mertz in the pocket, and could not get their ground attack rolling. In his postgame press conference, Napier was questioned on his play-calling philosophy and if Florida was prepared. The second-year head coach stated that his team had a good week of preparation but failed to execute in the game. That ultimately led to a blowout win.

Facing another SEC team that prides itself on physical play, Kentucky was the one who owned the game with physicality. The Wildcats made a statement at Kroger Field.

“I don’t know that we’ve been beat up like that,” said Billy Napier.