In this week’s Swampcast, the Sun’s Kevin Brockway and David Whitley discuss the state of Florida football going into a second open before a brutal four-game stretch in November.
The Florida Gators will begin that challenge facing rival No. 2 Georgia on Nov. 4 in Jacksonville. It’s the first of four straight ranked teams that UF will face, continuing Nov. 9 at No. 6 Texas. After that, Florida returns home to face No. 7 LSU on Nov. 16 and No. 18 Ole Miss on Nov. 23.
Whitley said if Florida football coach Billy Napier wins one of its next four games and beats rival Florida State to close the season, Napier deserves a fourth year as head coach.
“That would be enough because it won’t be another losing season,” Whitley said. “Another point is the hot list of guys to replace him, isn’t so hot anymore.”
Brockway said that Napier is taking a similar approach to the second open week than it did to the first open week. which resulted in improved defensive play. That trend, Brockway said, must continue with Florida facing four of the better offenses in the SEC in November.
“They are tackling better, better run defense and six takeaways in their last three games, that’s huge, too,” Brockway said. “For a defense that really going into last year and early last year couldn’t turn anyone over, all the sudden, you’re seeing them make plays.”
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1
