Was this the most embarrassing bowl performance in Florida Gators history? No. But it’s up there! (Photo via Oregon State athletics)
The Florida Gators traveled some 2,000 miles west to a city known for its magic, and when it failed to magically find some answers to problems that have plagued the team all year, lost a bowl game to finish 6-7 for the second year in a row.
Handicapped from the get-go with the worst defense a Gator team has ever fielded since the integration of black athletes, an offense that was down its quarterback, All-American offensive lineman and top receiver, and a special teams unit that’s gotten progressively worse as the season went along, Florida never posed a threat and was humiliated 30-3 by Oregon State in the Las Vegas Bowl.
It was the Gators’ first-ever appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl, and in the state of Nevada. It was also Florida’s first-ever matchup with Oregon State.
It’s safe to say that the mention of either will conjure up some ugly memories for Florida Gators fans for years to come.
Oregon State dominated the game from start to finish. The Beavers scored first on a Tyjon Lindsey run— which turned out to be enough points to win the game all by itself— and coasted from there. Forced to turn to backup QB Jack Miller, Florida’s offense managed just 219 yards on the day— and most of that came in garbage time.
Miller wasn’t great, finishing 13/22 for 180 yards, but he didn’t exactly have a lot of help.
Florida’s receivers were constantly blanketed. The Gators’ offensive line failed to provide adequate protection for Miller and fared little better in run blocking. And Florida’s special teams was as terrible as ever, getting a punt blocked, missing a field goal and giving up an 11-yard run on a fake punt on a fourth and three.
For once, the Florida Gators defense was not the unit that led to defeat. It wasn’t a great defensive showing by any means. But Florida held Oregon State to 355 yards and 30 points— with seven points coming on an extremely short field following the blocked punt.
As the game wound down to its anticlimactic conclusion, there was only one question remaining: would Florida score? The Gators haven’t been shut out in a game since 1988 against Auburn, and for many Gator fans, it’s the final point of pride that remains after years of mediocrity and inconsistency. It took until the very last minute of the game, but Florida did indeed avoid the shutout on an Adam Mihalek field goal.
The loss cements Florida’s second consecutive losing season. That hadn’t previously happened since 1978-79, and as was the case in those two years, the two losing seasons came at the end of one coach’s tenure and the first year of the next.
That will provide little comfort to Gator fans, though, and to the boosters who fund the program. No rational adult is going to be calling for Billy Napier’s head after a season that featured a team that was mostly inherited, and not his. But at the same time, this offseason is going be critical for Napier to take the steps and pull the levers necessary to see to it that progress is made in 2023.
Because if progress isn’t made in 2023 and things don’t look drastically different in year two of Napier’s tenure, then his first season of 6-7 cannot be looked at as an aberration anymore. And when 6-7 becomes a non-aberration for a football coach at Florida… well, I think we all know what happens next.
So year one is now over for Napier and Florida. The offseason, i.e. the runup to year two, begins now. Get to work.
