No longer even one of the damaging hurricanes in reminiscence saved Florida from getting paintings accomplished right through its open date.
“We did not coddle them,” Gators trainer Billy Napier mentioned. “I can let you know that. It used to be actual in there for 3 days. So we labored extraordinarily arduous Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in complete pads. We were given after it.”
Napier hopes Florida can get after it Saturday evening when it hosts in-state rival UCF in a nonconference matchup in Gainesville, Fla.
Sitting on certainly one of the most up to date seats in sports activities, Napier went into the bye week with a win. The Gators (2-2) spanked Mississippi State 45-28 on Sept. 21 in Starkville, Pass over. There used to be hypothesis Napier might be fired if Florida misplaced to in all probability the weakest crew within the Southeastern Convention however with Graham Mertz hitting 19 of 21 passes for 201 yards and 3 touchdowns, the Gators rolled up 503 general yards.
Mertz has finished 75 % of his passes for 487 yards in 3 video games, lacking the crew’s 45-7 rout of FCS opponent Samford final month with a concussion.
Whilst the Gators have had further preparation time, the Knights (3-1) are available off an absolute clunker, a 48-21 Large 12 Convention defeat at house final week towards Colorado. They by no means led and had been shredded for 418 general yards.
The protection wasn’t just right and the offense could not soak up slack. Quarterback KJ Jefferson tossed an end-zone interception to stop UCF from taking an early lead, then misplaced a fumble within the fourth quarter that ended in a tack-on landing for the Buffaloes.
“Now we have were given to be environment friendly within the crimson zone and are available away with issues,” he mentioned. “Whether or not that is a landing or a kick, we’ve got were given to return away with one thing. That proper there’s primarily on me.”
The Knights are 3rd in FBS in dashing at 326 yards consistent with recreation, led by means of RJ Harvey and his 525 yards.
Florida owns a 2-1 lead within the all-time sequence, together with a 2-0 mark at house.
–Box Degree Media
