Florida still in basement of SEC ‘vibe check’ after Week 2 win

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier runs onto the field before the start of the game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, September 7, 2024 against the Samford Bulldogs. The Gators won 45-7. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]

Florida’s 45-7 win over FCS Samford on Saturday was not enough to pull the Gators out of the cellar in the SEC.

The Athletic’s latest “vibe check” ranks the Orange and Blue 16th out of 16 in the SEC after two weeks of play.

“Billy Napier was hoping for a better Saturday with an FCS team in town to kick around,” said Seth Emerson, a senior writer covering Georgia and the SEC for The Athletic. “Then the day started with Nick Saban going on GameDay and saying that while Napier inherited a culture lacking toughness, he had yet to turn it around. So much for Saban taking it easy on his former staff members. (And good for Saban, by the way.)”

It might sound like Florida is being held in the mud for off-the-field comments, but Emerson was not impressed with the Gators’ play on Saturday either.

“Florida then puttered around with Samford and was up only 14-0 at halftime before pulling away. Far from what was needed to take the pressure meter down. The Gators stay in the bottom spot for a second straight week.”

What The Athletic missed

While Emerson’s assessment is narrowly based on fact, it had to have been difficult to write two whole paragraphs recapping Florida’s win over Samford without mentioning DJ Lagway.

It’s nearly impossible to define the criteria for a list named the “vibe check,” but Lagway delivered future Heisman vibes in his very first start. Sure, Graham Mertz is likely to take over the starting job again once healthy, but there’s no doubt that the “vibe” in Gainesville is significantly better than last week.

Meanwhile, Emerson ranks Texas A&M 10th on his vibe-o-meter. Keep…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/florida-still-basement-sec-vibe-134532957.html

Author : Gators Wire

Publish date : 2024-09-10 13:45:32

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