Florida Gators Not Selling Missouri Short Prior to Homecoming Bout

Photo: Billy Napier; Credit: Zach Goodall

They may come in at 2-3 (0-2 in SEC play), but the Missouri Tigers present a bigger challenge than some may expect for Florida.

As Missouri rolls into Gainesville for Florida’s homecoming weekend looking to play spoiler after two straight weeks of close contests to open up their SEC slate, Florida is preparing for a Tigers team vying to turn the corner in year three of its current regime.

Billy Napier faces off against an old coaching foe from the Sun Belt conference in former Appalachian State head coach and current Missouri leader Eli Drinkwitz — who he is 0-2 against as a head coach — adding some fuel to the fire.

It’s a group of coaches and players that Napier regards highly.

“I have a ton of respect for Missouri,” Napier said during the weekly SEC teleconference on Wednesday. “You know, they've got good players, they've got a good coaching staff and certainly, they've proved that. They've been very competitive against a good Auburn and Georgia teams in the SEC each week.

“So, you know, an absolute fight, we all understand and know that. I mean, this is the SEC and you've got to be ready to go each week."

Stepping into the fold against a team that presents a daunting matchup on the offensive side of the ball for Florida, Napier provided some insight into what the Gators expect to see from Missouri.

“They've got a really good front,” Napier said regarding the disruptive Tigers defensive line. “Unique players inside and on the edges. You know, I think they've got some height and length on the edges, and they've got some depth there. They roll a lot of players with the inside players in particular. But on the edge 6-foot and half and 6-5, 270 pounds, two different players there — and their backups obviously have height and weight as well.

“They’ve done a good job and they’ve added some transfers, they’ve got veteran players, some senior players who have played a lot of football for them. It’s one of the strengths of their team.

“They have depth and I think they do a good job of putting those players in position to have success. So they certainly have affected the quarterback and a big part of the game is trying to stay out of those passing down and distances. No question that will be part of the matchup this week for sure.”

So far this season, the Gators have remained steadfast in its approach to protect quarterback Anthony Richardson against opposing pass rushers. Florida’s offensive line has allowed just three sacks in five games to present a much-needed strength heading into Saturday’s contest.

Only one of the sacks came over the pass two weeks, where the Gators signal caller has found his groove to connect with wideouts for 693 yards and four touchdowns after two weeks of struggles prior.

According to Napier, keeping Richardson’s jersey clean comes is a product of the consistent approach to the system up front — implemented by the duo of offensive line coaches Rob Sale and Darnell Stapleton — as well as Richardson’s mobility.

“Number one, we conceptually are built in a way where we try to eliminate negative plays, obviously sacks being one of those, right? I also think we've got a really good plan there to develop the offensive line. I think we've got a good understanding of protection. A lot of it is conceptual. I also think it's a commitment and a premium put on the offensive line and their development.

“It also helps when you have an athlete at quarterback, right? I know we always were really good in that stat the last couple years. Certainly, we had a really good athlete at quarterback. I think that contributes to that, as well.”

In order to combat the front seven of Missouri, a catalyst to their standing as the 38th-ranked defense in the nation to this point in the year, wide receiver Justin Shorter said it will be up to the pieces around Richardson to speed up on the day.

“I would definitely say just having trust, whether it's us being able to do our homework, which if we receive pressure, to field something like that, we have a slant, we should be able to speed it up,” Shorter said when asked how the wideouts can aid Richardson against a pestering pass rush. “We should know he has someone, people trying to pressure him, trying to get in his face.

“I'd definitely say just having knowledge of the defense, we can help him. Some routes you might have to run a little bit faster because he may not have that much time.”

Those skills aided them to not only go toe-to-toe with another low-level to mediocre squad in the conference this season in Auburn two week ago, but to nearly upset Kirby Smart’s top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs last Saturday.

Playing at a high level for the greater part of three quarters, the Tigers fed off the raucous crowd at Faurot Field, the defense and the leg of Harrison Mevis — who connected on five field goals (two from beyond 50 yards in the second half) — to control the lead until just at four minutes remaining in the contest.

However, the Bulldogs found their footing as the game went on, scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns to overtaking erase a 13-point Tigers lead late to squeak out a 26-22 victory in the hostile road environment.

Offensively, Missouri heads into Gainesville struggling to produce at an efficient rate. However, so does Florida defensively.

Despite averaging 26.8 points (89th in the nation) and 375 yards per game (90th) this season — already poor numbers that drastically worsen when working against the power five teams — Missouri presents the formula for a breakout game, according to Napier.

“I think Eliah does a fantastic job on offense,” Napier said. “They've got an identity. They've got a set of concepts that they really believe in from a run perspective. They're committed to that. They do a good job with the play-action shots. They have a good perimeter game and dropback game to go with that. Always had success moving the ball, if you really dig into his history. Creative, really good play-caller, a good game planner.”

But, even with the production defensively and offensive potential, Missouri has lost three of their five games on the year — only walking away victorious against Louisiana Tech and Abilene Christian while losing to the three power five opponents they’ve faced.

As a result, the game still garners the expectation that Florida should handily walk away triumphant, although there is less certainty than when the Tigers were beaten 40-12 by Kansas State in week two.

That outcome would bode well for a Gators squad looking to not only erase the poor taste — as wide receiver Justin Shorter described — in their mouth from their trip to Columbia (Mo.) in 2021, but also snap a six-game losing streak in conference play.

“Very, very sick feeling. I just do not like losing at all. I've never been like that. We can play, you know, I lose, I'll be upset the rest of the night. I really say we have that sick taste in our mouth. We're going to come here, play by play, give it 100%.”

Tight end Keon Zipperer said it’s not something he wants to go through again this season.

Meanwhile, Ventrell Miller, the Gators sixth-year middle linebacker, echoed Shorter’s sentiment as he focused on where Florida stands this season compared to the emphasis on retribution for the overtime loss a season ago.

“I think everybody really just knows we emphasize it's a big week coming up, knowing that we're 0-2 in the SEC conference,” he said. “I think the guys are just motivated to go out and get that first win. We've been working extremely hard at practice to come and do that.

“It's been a different energy at practice.”

Florida will look for that energy to translate to the field on Saturday at noon ET in what is a crucial contest for the team to earn a conference victory before the difficult stretch of LSU, Georgia and Texas A&M arrives next week.

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