The Gators positioned themselves in an ideal spot heading into their bye week Oct. 21.
Florida’s record was 5-2, and 3-1 in the SEC. UF carried the momentum of a comeback victory on the road against South Carolina and a top-25 victory over rival Tennessee earlier in the season.
However, the Gators have now dropped their last two games and face a gauntlet the rest of the way in search of clinching bowl eligibility.
While one loss is more excusable as it came against the No. 1 team in the country — the Georgia Bulldogs Oct. 28 — the other spells questions for Florida the rest of the way out.
The Florida Gators (5-4, 3-3 SEC) fell to the Arkansas Razorbacks (3-6, 1-5 SEC) 39-36 in overtime Nov. 4 in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
The Razorbacks suffered several close losses to quality opponents this season, but Florida was still expected to handle business against a team that was winless in the conference heading into the matchup.
The heartbreaking overtime loss raises questions about what needs to be done to try and right the ship and build on something UF head coach Billy Napier has failed to do — stay consistent.
Napier is 11-11 through 22 games with a 6-8 record in SEC play. He’s only beaten two teams ranked in the AP Top 25: then-No. 11 Tennessee earlier this year and No. 10 Utah in the season opener last year.
The Gators’ rivals have also overtaken them both over time and this season. Georgia has turned into a juggernaut that’s dominated the last three outings against UF en route to back-to-back national championships.
Despite two straight losses, Napier’s focus is still on his team and leading the players in the locker room and not on the outside noise, he said.
“It's not my job to preach patience,” Napier said. “It's my job to coach the team.”
He understands the criticism when the team loses, he added. Napier is still committed to staying focused and working on turning the team around.
“Look, when you lose games, there's going to be criticism,” Napier said. “It comes with the territory. We knew this was going to be a challenge, and we're right in the middle of it.”
Florida State won last season’s matchup and is undefeated this season and ranked No. 4 in the nation. Florida’s other rivals like Tennessee and LSU are slowly building back into strong programs. The Gators are just 1-5 against these four rivals, with two tough tests yet this year.
UF’s loss against Arkansas doesn’t put Napier on the hot seat, but it does fuel the frustration of Florida failing to win games it's supposed to. The Gators were undefeated at home prior to the game and favored in the matchup.
Clinching a bowl game with three games to go would’ve added to the momentum that Napier is creating on the recruiting trail with the No. 3 class in the nation, according to 247Sports.
However, that didn’t happen as the Razorbacks ran all over Florida.
Heading into the bye week, UF ranked 18th nationally in yards allowed per game. After Georgia and Arkansas gashed the defense, Florida dropped to 34th in the country.
Florida’s defense got to the backfield time and time again in the game as the unit combined for six tackles for loss and five sacks.
Despite the big defensive plays, Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson and running back Raheim Sanders torched UF on the ground. Jefferson, who previously had a season-high of 48 rushing yards, constantly found space and ran it for 92 yards on 17 attempts and had one rushing touchdown.
His stellar play using his legs helped the Razorbacks’ overtime drive. Jefferson kept the ball on 1st-and-20 and bullied his way through UF defenders for a first down before he eventually threw the game-winning touchdown.
Sanders spent most of this season hurt, and the UF game was his first game back since Ole Miss Oct. 7. The talented tailback took no time to get reacclimated and gashed UF for a season-high 103 yards and averaged 5.7 yards per rush.
The Razorback pair is a talented duo, but their performance is an outlier in what’s been a lackluster season offensively for Arkansas.
Razorbacks offensive coordinator Dan Enos was fired heading into the team’s bye week last week, and wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton took over as the interim play caller.
While the change added a spark, UF’s defense struggled to contain Arkansas. The Razorbacks ran it for 226 rushing yards — the most they’ve had this season by nearly 50 yards.
Arkansas also amassed 481 total yards of offense — also the most it managed this season, by 55 yards. Florida’s defense made some plays to hold Arkansas to four field goals, but the unit still couldn’t handle an offense that’s struggled all season.
The Gators special teams unit also continued to be an issue. The team ran 10 men onto the field for one of the field goal blocks. A botched snap led to a missed extra point, and the most crucial error came down to a miscommunication in substituting.
Redshirt junior quarterback Graham Mertz found redshirt freshman tight end Arlis Boardingham on a pass to get to the 21-yard line late in the game. He got the team quickly lined up to snap it, but as he tried to do so, the field goal unit began to run onto the field.
Mertz’ managed to spike it but the confusing sequence led to an illegal substitution penalty against UF which pushed the eventual game-winning field goal attempt back five yards.
Sophomore kicker Trey Smack would then miss the kick wide-right which sent the game to overtime.
Napier said it was a situation he hadn’t seen before and explained the miscommunication had to do with a player thinking he heard a coach say to get on the field.
“A player felt like he heard that specific word, that scenario,” Napier said. “We have a player that's in charge of that. And he did it. Ultimately, the players around him followed him.”
There was definite confusion around the situation, he said.
“That's one that I haven't been around before,” Napier said. “I think that player, he's doing the absolute best that — he's doing what he thought he was supposed to do. We'll get to the bottom of it.”
The Gators will still have a chance to clinch bowl eligibility with three games left in the season. The 2024 recruiting class ranks toward the top in the country and could still get even better.
Napier is slowly making progress in restoring UF back to where the program wants to be with wins against teams like Tennessee. But consistency is something Florida needs to build on if the team ever wants to get in contention for SEC Championships and the College Football Playoff.
Upsets happen every week in college football, but what separates the good teams and great teams is winning the games you're supposed to more often than not.
A win against a top 15 ranked LSU, Missouri or FSU would be massive for UF, but it would only emphasize the “what-if’ of not handling business against a team like Arkansas.
The Gators head to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for their next game against the LSU Tigers Nov. 11.
Contact Jackson Reyes at jacksonreyes@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @JacksnReyes.
Jackson Reyes is a UF journalism senior and The Alligator's Fall 2023 Sports Editor. He previously served as Digital Managing Editor and was a reporter and assistant editor on the sports desk. In his free time, he enjoys collecting records, long walks on the beach and watching Bo Nix.
