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Florida head coach Billy Napier, along with quarterback DJ Lagway, and cornerback Devin Moore, met with the media on Saturday evening to discuss the Gators’ 26-7 loss to No. 4 Miami.
BILLY NAPIER
Opening statement…
“Heck of a football game, and hats off to Miami. They have a really good football team. I think they played well enough to win tonight and credit Coach Cristobal and his team and how they played complimentary football. I do think our kids battled their tail off. I think in particular, defensively, it was an incredible effort. Obviously, not good enough on offense. We didn’t generate enough yards or points. The first half was a trial of errors. Not many plays where we executed well at all. We had mental errors in protection on third down and really struggled to stack any good plays together. Had four three-and-outs and six punts in the first half. I do think the kids responded at halftime. The staff did a great job and put together a good script. We found some running game there early in the second half and able to kind of make it a football game there at 13-7. And get a takeaway, and in position there with a fourth down, got to have it, come up a little bit short on the 30-yard line. At that point, the game kind of gets out of control with a couple of short fields late. In general, our kids competed. I’m proud of the way the kids showed up and the effort in which they played with. Now, the execution on offense, obviously, was not good enough. We struggled to get off the field on third down in the first half on defense. I do think that Tommy Doman had a good day in the punt game, but it was a game of field position. We played on a long field in the first half, and obviously we got kind of got back into some normal field position in the second half. But in general, had our shots. We had our chances. There were some plays to be made in the second half in particular. But that’s a good football team.”
On the inability to convert on third down…
“I think, in particular, in the first half, we had some busted protection. I do think there’s opportunities there when you look at it big-picture wise, where we got to make some plays. We got to give Miami some credit, too. They pressured us. They affected the quarterback. And it wasn’t good enough. I think the first half in particular was a game that was about third down. They stayed on the field. They got us off the field.”
On whether prior history against QB Carson Beck helped UF contain him…
“Look, I think we have a good defensive unit. I think we’ve got good personnel. Our staff does a great job. And we played the early downs. I do think that he did a nice job on third down in particular in the first half. But in general, our defensive staff and players did a great job of executing the plan.”
On taking ownership over the offensive struggles…
“When we watch the tape, it will be a combination of a lot of things. I think every position is contributing to our issues. Obviously, we’ve talked about DJ and what he’s been through this offseason. I do think that there’s some rhythm missing there. And that’s what, we’re going to go back to the drawing board. I think the opening date is coming at a good time there. And we got to evaluate everything we’re doing on that side of the ball.”
On the talent of Miami’s running back tandem…
“Obviously, a couple of those touchdowns are on short fields at the end of the game. But in general, they’re effective. I think their OL does a nice job. It’s a vertical run game. They’re both big and both heavy. And they’re tough to tackle. They’re both really good players.”
On the consideration of a field goal at fourth and four…
“Well, it’s fourth and four, a 53-yard field goal and rolling into the fourth quarter. Analytically, it was a go, but if you think about it, it was a touchdown game at that point. Even if you get the three, it’s still a touchdown game. So, I think we got it on the short field, we hadn’t had many of those the entire night and it felt like we had the play there, we just had to get our depth on the route. The play was there, we completed the pass, we just have to get our depth.”
On the confidence that bye-week corrections could be beneficial like last season…
“We’ve got to generate some points. We have to get more first downs. We’ve got to find some rhythm on offense, bottom line. I think we have a good group in the kicking game and on defense, those guys continue to show up and play. We’re lacking consistency, we’re lacking detail and we’re struggling to stack plays.”
On what gives him confidence they could have a turnaround similar to last season…
“The young men in that locker room, that’s what gives me confidence. I know what they’re capable of. In particular offensively, we’ve got to help them and we have to do our best from a leadership standpoint and from a coaching standpoint with each group. I think the makeup of the group is what gives me confidence.”
On the communication with Lagway and his demeanor between series…
“He’s battling. He’s a young player who’s had a unique offseason. He’s battling his tail off to try to do his job for his teammates. I think his team rallied around him this week. They respect him as a person, as a leader and as a competitor. They know what he’s been through, and I think that’s their intent, and they certainly showed up and played that way.”
DJ LAGWAY
On how frustrating tonight’s offensive performance was…
“It’s very frustrating. You know, we gotta clean a lot of things up. We’re not playing nowhere near the brand of football we gotta play. So, yeah, we gotta clean a lot of things up.”
On the issues that led to the three and outs…
“You know, the weather and stuff like that was playing a big part. Just trying to get our footing. Trying to figure out where the defense was going. We came out in the second half, we kind of had a rhythm. Had a feeling, started running the ball. Started to make some plays…”
On the inability to convert on third down…
“I’d say we gotta execute. Offense, we’ve got to execute what coach is calling and we just gotta do better.”
On Miami’s defense talking away the deep ball and the difficulties they posed…
“It wasn’t tough at all. Just taking what the defense gave me. I learned a lot from last week, so just gonna take what the defense gives me. Can’t force anything.”
On the touchdown drive…
“We showed a lot of toughness, a lot of heart. I wish we could’ve had more drives like that, to continue to build on. But we came out there and were resilient, fought hard and we just fed off each other.”
DEVIN MOORE
On his thoughts on the game…
“We keep the main thing the main thing. Keep on fighting, trust your brothers, and just go to work. We gotta keep on going to work, clean some things up… keep working.”
On watching his teammates go down…
“It’s incredibly tough any time you see a teammate go down. Put in so much blood, sweat and tears with those guys, I see it every day on them. It’s a horrible feeling just seeing them on the ground. But it’s a next-man-up mentality and guys who were the next ones up stepped up to the occasion, for sure. Definitely proud of those guys.”
On what he can say about the Miami team…
“They did a great job. They came out physical. We tried to match their intensity. We got some things to clean up, but they’re a good team, for sure.”
On how the defense buckled down after Miami’s two scoring drives…
“Just made some adjustments. Guys started making plays. We cleaned up a few mistakes we had on the sidelines, and just trusted each other, trust the coaches to put us in the right position and trust that your brother will make that play.”
On his evaluation of the defensive effort…
“Definitely wasn’t good enough. We got some things to clean up, for sure. There’s a handful of plays out there, if we made those plays, it could change the direction of the game, for sure.”
On Cormani McClain’s growth in the past couple of months…
“Incredibly excited for my brother, Cormani. I’ve seen the hard work he put in, the extra field time with coach, just the extra little details that he really dialed in on and it’s showing.”
Transcripts courtesy ASAP | Videos courtesy GatorVision
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