Florida's Win Over Utah Builds Early Confidence in the Billy Napier Era
Photo: Billy Napier; Credit: Alex Shepherd
The Florida Gators opened the 2022 season with a monumental victory over the seventh-ranked Utah Utes on Saturday.
Taking down a veteran squad with significant buzz to be a playoff team this season has the potential to be a program-altering win in the grand scheme of things. That's exactly what it can be at Florida given the circumstances they entered the season under.
New head coach Billy Napier became the first Gators head coach to enter his tenure with a win versus a ranked opponent, moved to 35-0 when leading at halftime and moved to 17-3 in one-score games during his five-year stretch as a head coach. He immediately catapults himself into record books with an impressive first outing as his team showed a drastic difference from the team Florida fielded standpoint from an execution a season ago.
Following the Gators' 29-26 triumph, Napier, quarterback Anthony Richardson and running back Montrell Johnson all commented on what the win meant for the program.
"Well, this group’s got fight in it," Napier said about the team postgame. "I don’t think I’ve said that publicly. One thing about our team that I respect is they compete. I’ve got to slow them down sometimes in practice."
The Gators' head coach attributes a large part of that fight to the competitiveness of his group. That was something a friend of his informed him as he looked to take over the job at UF.
"I can remember a good friend of mine when I took the job who had worked here before, he said, ‘These kids at Florida are the most competitive kids I’ve ever been around.’ I would agree with him. They’ve got a little bit of a different edge about them."
That edge can continue to grow with more confidence as a unit.
Starting quarterback Anthony Richardson believes the win over the No. 7 team in the nation boosted that confidence moving forward.
“It’s definitely a big win for us," Richardson said. "A lot of guys' first game in the Swamp. Coach Napier’s first game in the Swamp. We just knocked off a top-ranked team. There’s great energy in the locker room right now. I feel like it boosted some guys’ confidence.
"A lot of people were doubting us. That’s just how the world works. Some people love you, some people don’t. We just fought through that and won the game.”
Richardson played a major role in that, due to a high-level performance with contributions through the air and on the ground.
Accounting for 274 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns on the night, and an acrobatic display of athleticism on a two-point conversion in the fourth quarter, Richardson lived up to the billing of dynamic playmaker he's received this offseason.
Running Montrell Johnson — the only touchdown scorer against the Utes not named Rihcradson — echoed his quarterback's sentiment.
"A win like this boosts our confidence a lot," Johnson said. "It shows that all the doubters and what they've been saying about us is wrong. And I think it's only up from here."
Even with the victory, Napier isn't fully satisfied, emphasizing the significant amount of work still needed to do for his team to operate at his level. That will specifically include ridding his unit of self-inflicted wounds like penalties (seven for 38 yards) and turnovers (one lost fumble but put the ball on the ground twice).
However, that doesn't take away from the magnitude of the week one victory that gets the Gators rolling in the right direction.
"We were fortunate to overcome many mistakes tonight but the intangibles that the team showed, they continued to respond right up until the end and they made a play," he said. "We’ve got work to do. We won a game and it’s a special moment. We’re going to enjoy it and we’re going to come back in [on Sunday] and get ready for SEC play.”
Not only does a win at home to begin the season push Florida in the right direction for this season, but it helps expedite the rebuilding process of the program in game one of the new regime.
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