Florida Gators Drop out of AP Poll After Loss to USF

The Florida Gators were ranked inside the top 15 and looking like a playoff contender before its disastrous loss to USF.

The Florida Gators' time as a ranked team has quickly come to an end. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Following an ugly and disastrous 18-16 loss to USF in Week 2, the Florida Gators, who were ranked 13th, dropped out of the AP Top 25, which was released on Sunday. 

“Not good enough, and it's my responsibility,” Gators head coach Billy Napier said after the loss. “We have to do much better.”

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From start to finish, the Gators just seemingly couldn’t get out of their own way. Penalties, dropped passes, poor throws and missed tackles highlighted the afternoon for the home team. 

“I think we had over 100 yards in penalties. It extended their drives, and it slowed down our drives,” Napier said. 

As for the penalties, the most costly one came on the final drive of the contest. Just a play after the defense got called for a pass interference, defensive lineman Brendan Bett was flagged for spitting on an opposing USF player. 

“It's unacceptable. I think we've got a lot of players in that room as well that have the same belief that it's unacceptable,” Napier said. “When a guy does something like that, he's compromising the team.”

This dead-ball foul from Bett let the Bulls off the hook after they tried running the ball and got nowhere. 

Then, shortly after this, USF running back Alvin Isaac turned what should have been a negative play into a 29-yard gain and into Florida’s half of the field thanks to a couple of missed tackles. 

That is where the game was lost for the Gators. The Bulls managed to inch their way closer to the Gators' end zone while slowly draining the clock. Finally, USF kicker Nico Gramatica put the nail in the coffin with a game-winning 20-yard field goal as the clock expired.  

Things won’t get any easier for Florida when looking at its schedule, either. They travel to Death Valley on Saturday to face No. 3 LSU. 

Then, Florida stays on the road with a trip to No. 5 Miami the weekend after. Additionally, they still have No. 7 Texas (Oct. 4), No. 16 Texas A&M (Oct. 11), No. Georgia (Nov. 1), No. 17 Ole Miss (Nov. 15), No. 15 Tennessee (Nov. 22) and No. 10 Florida State (Nov. 29) on the schedule. 

“Look, this will be a challenge. It will be a challenge for every individual in the organization, player and staff,” Napier answered when asked about the challenge ahead for him and his team.

Napier will have to fend off the heat from fans and media throughout the rest of the season, and it won’t be easy. It all begins with the matchup against LSU, which is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. and be broadcast on ABC.