The Florida Gators' 2024 season got off to a horrific start on Saturday. Taking on the No. 19 Miami Hurricanes in a heated rivalry matchup, Florida got blown out, 41-17 at The Swamp. The game was never particularly close as the home side was outmatched in every phase of the game by Mario Cristobal's roster.
It's also another disappointing loss in the Billy Napier era for Florida and frustration is clearly growing among the fanbase. For his part, the head coach recognized the loss to the hated Hurricanes as "embarrassing" and had a blunt message for his players when speaking to media afterwards: "Keep our mouths shut, show up and work."
"It's embarrassing, to be quite honest with you," Napier said, via ESPN. "That's how I feel. That's how our kids feel. There's no excuses. Keep our mouths shut, show up and work. We have to do better. I do think that our players will show up and they will respond."
"I felt strongly that we would perform better," he continued. "But I'm not here to make excuses. We've got to get it fixed. We're going to get another opportunity next week, and we've got to play better and coach better."
It was an "everything goes wrong" day for the Gators. They gave up over 500 yards of offense and barely gained over 100 yards passing. Starting quarterback Graham Mertz threw for 91 yards before getting crushed trying to defend an interception return in garbage time and missed the fourth quarter with a concussion. There was nothing to like on Napier's side and it's an ignominious start to a season.
Napier is entering his third season at the helm for Florida. He amassed an 11-14 record over his first two seasons, both times finishing tied for fourth in the SEC. Now Napier is tasked with digging his team out of an early hole in 2024.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Billy Napier Had Blunt Message for Florida Players After 'Embarrassing' Loss to Miami.
