Throughout the weeks leading up to the Gators’ season opener, head coach Billy Napier coined the phrase, “Spot the ball.”
The phrase, which blew up after Napier quote tweeted an ESPN post acknowledging Florida’s difficult 2025 schedule, became an expression to represent the Gators’ disregard for outside noise, to focus solely on the results on the field.
Well, Florida spotted the ball several times on Saturday — 15 yards, 10 yards and five yards behind the original line of scrimmage.
The Gators were plagued by penalties throughout the entire contest. Florida committed 11 penalties for 103 unearned yards as it failed to build momentum. Countless drives were interrupted by careless mistakes.
“It's my responsibility," Napier said. "We can live with the technical penalties, there's always going to be a handful of those. The ones that keep you up at night are the ones that are player decision making, so there's got to be some ownership there.”
Florida (1-1) collapsed against the South Florida Bulls (2-0) 18-16 Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
The culmination of mistakes reached its tipping point when UF defensive lineman Brendan Bett was ejected for spitting on Bulls offensive lineman Cole Skinner during the final drive of the game.
Florida led 16-15 and committed two costly penalties to push the Bulls downfield, who eventually scored when Nico Gramatica kicked a game-winning, 20-yard field goal as time expired.
Before the game-ending drive, Florida surrendered a safety when Gators long snapper Rocco Underwood botched a snap that landed in the end zone, extending the Bulls’ lead to 15-9. The two points became the deciding factor in the game.
“You add in the bad snap for the safety, and then you lose the explosive play battle, and you lose the turnover margin,” Napier remarked. “You don't deserve the right to win.”
The penalty-ridden game marked a significant shift from the Gators’ first contest.
Florida finished without a turnover, forced two fumbles and didn’t commit a penalty the entire contest Aug. 30.
“Overall, the operation was pretty clean,” Napier said following the opener. “We played turnover-free football. We played penalty-free football. We got some takeaways.”
In addition to Bett’s ejection, Gators junior cornerback Dijon Johnson committed a 13-yard pass interference penalty on the final drive. South Florida drove 87 yards on the final drive, 28 of those yards were unearned due to penalties.
Florida experienced even more errors during the late stages of the first half. The Gators had two touchdowns called back due to penalties.
Gators running back Ja’Kobi Jackson scored from 20 yards out, but the touchdown was erased due to a holding penalty by offensive lineman Kamryn Waites. Later in the same drive, tight end Tony Livingston caught a 14-yard touchdown, but it was called back due to an offensive pass interference penalty committed by tight end Hayden Hansen.
Florida settled for three field goals in the first half despite entering the red zone twice. In the second half, the Gators had the ball seven times and were forced to punt on five occasions.
“The red zone missed opportunities caught up with us,” Napier said. “I think that we can do much better. We can coach better. We can play better. Obviously, I don't like these any more than our fans do.”
There were similar patterns of struggle among the Gators’ defensive unit.
Florida committed an illegal substitution penalty on fourth down in the first quarter, allowing the Bulls to move five yards upfield and eventually nail a 38-yard field goal. The team had 12 men on the field when South Florida snapped the ball.
Additionally, the Gators missed several tackles throughout the game and failed to impose much pressure on Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown. Brown rushed 17 times for 66 yards. He added 263 yards through the air and a touchdown.
In 40 games coaching Florida, Napier’s record is 20-20. Despite the obvious struggles, he remains committed to manning the program and “fixing” some of the recurring mistakes.
“I'm concerned with doing the best job I can do for the players, leading the staff in getting the football fixed,” he said. “Ultimately, that's going to decide how far we go around here.”
The Gators will resume play against the No. 3 Louisiana State Tigers at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Contact Luke Adragna at ladragna@alligator.org. Follow him on X @lukeadrag.
Luke is The Alligator's Sports Editor and is a senior sports journalism student. In his free time, he enjoys playing with his cat named Pete and going down a rabbit hole of niche professional athletes (shoutout Charles Sims).
