Ad Disclosure
Blackmon: ‘Belief is powerful.’ How Gators sacked Seminoles to seal Billy Napier’s surprising turnaround
Published:
TALLAHASSEE — Florida pounded bitter in-state rival Florida State 31-11 on Bobby Bowden Field on Saturday night, cementing one of the 2024 college football season’s unlikeliest turnarounds.
Left for dead after embarrassing September home losses to Miami and Texas A&M by a combined 37 points, Billy Napier put his head down and pushed through the adversity, guiding Florida to a 6-3 finish that included signature November wins over then-No. 22 LSU and then-No. 9 Ole Miss. Florida led 2 other top-10 teams — Tennessee and Georgia — before losing their starting quarterbacks in both games and falling in defeat late.
In many ways, Saturday night’s win at FSU was a combination of the blend of improvements, talent and belief upon which Florida’s stunning run through one of the nation’s most difficult November slates was built.
Florida won in Tallahassee for the first time since 2018 behind a big-play defense, which produced torrents of pressure that led to 8 Florida State fumbles, with the Gators recovering a season-high 5. Florida’s defense, which began to show signs of massive improvement after Napier and his staff simplified things during a late September bye week, put on a show in Tallahassee, also producing season-highs in turnovers (5), sacks (8), tackles-for-loss (14) and quarterback pressures (22).
The most pivotal fumble recovery was the type of effort play that exemplified the Gators’ relentless play during their 3-game winning streak to close the regular season.
With the game very much still in the balance in the second quarter, Florida State was driving and pushing to tie the game or at least secure a field goal, already well within their outstanding kicker Ryan Fitzgerald’s range. The Seminoles handed the ball to star running back Lawrance Toafili, who was enveloped by a host of Gators. As Toafili fought for extra yardage, Florida junior linebacker Shemar James ripped the ball from Toafili’s hands and gave it back to the Gators at their own 29.
James was one of Florida’s stars in their momentum-shifting win over LSU on Nov. 16, and he led the Gators in tackles (7) on Saturday night. Behind his outstanding linebacker play and Florida’s outstanding defensive line, the Gators limited Florida State to just 99 yards rushing and 2.3 yards per carry. Unable to consistently run the football, the Seminoles found themselves in 3rd-and-long consistently, with freshman quarterback Luke Kromenhoek often forced to run for his life amid wave after wave of Florida pressure.
Florida’s defense was needed on a night its offense was far from perfect.
DJ Lagway, starting his first road game, missed 5 of his first 6 throws, a combination of early inaccuracy and 2 unfortunate drops.
Lagway settled in and drove the Gators 60 yards after the James fumble recovery, only to throw an interception when Marcus Burke ran the wrong route near the end zone and Lagway’s anticipation throw was hauled in by Florida State’s Azareye’h Thomas.
But in an homage to Napier’s preaching of complementary football, every time Florida’s offense sputtered, Florida’s defense played meaner than a brace of ornery alligators. On a rivalry weekend when so many heavy favorites were either pushed or defeated, Florida didn’t flinch.
Florida’s youth continued to lead the way.
Freshman corner Jameer Grimsley, whom Napier flipped from Alabama late in last year’s signing class, had inch-perfect coverage on a deep shot on Ja’Khi Douglas, Florida State’s best receiver, on the next possession, spoiling Mike Norvell’s attempt to quickly shift momentum. A play later, sophomore Kamran James, a former top-100 recruit from Napier’s first full recruiting cycle, burst through the Florida State line to swallow Roydell Williams for a 4-yard loss and force 3rd-and-14. Then another freshman, Jaden Robinson, playing an hour from his hometown of Lake City, sacked Kromenhoek for a 7-yard loss on 3rd down. Just like that, the Seminoles’ chance to seize momentum at the half was gone.
Florida’s offense awakened to do the rest.
Lagway marched the Gators 80 yards in just 2 minutes, never facing 3rd down. A beautiful throw under pressure to Chimere Dike in tight coverage started the series with a 21-yard gain, the latest “Lagway did what?” moment in a season that has become defined by them. It was the second stunning Lagway throw of the night to Dike, with the first defying belief as the freshman shook off an All-ACC defensive lineman to fire a strike downfield.
https://twitter.com/GatorsFB/status/1863027776678502573
Lagway connected with Dike again on a perfect back shoulder throw to move Florida to the Seminoles’ 2 before capping the drive with a touchdown pass to Burke to give the Gators a 14-0 lead at the break.
The Florida defense and run game did the rest in the second half.
Montrell Johnson, a hero of Florida’s win over Ole Miss, burst 65 yards through the middle of the Florida State defensive line for the clincher, staking the Gators to a 24-3 lead early in the 4th quarter.
MONTRELL JOHNSON JR. TO THE HOUSE‼️ pic.twitter.com/B0RqLT50Np
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) December 1, 2024
Johnson, who was injured on a hip drop tackle (banned tackle in the NFL but legal in college) against Tennessee, exemplified the role of Florida’s veteran leadership in orchestrating Florida’s surprising run to the program’s first winning season since 2020.
Johnson could have hung it up to prepare for the NFL Draft over the last month and no reasonable person would have begrudged the decision. Instead, he fought to get back, playing sparingly in the win over LSU and emerging as Florida’s leading rusher against Ole Miss and FSU. Johnson’s fight was exactly the type of resilience from leadership needed in the locker room after the terrible start.
“There’s no reason he needed to be on the field other than love for his teammates and honestly, love for this university,” Florida center Jake Slaughter, who flipped to Florida from Florida State as a recruit, said last week. “He understands what it means to be a Gator.”
Johnson, who was offered the No. 1 for exemplifying the commitment, production and leadership Florida wants from players in its program, eclipsed 3,000 career yards on the long touchdown run.
Johnson’s run may as well have been a passing of the torch to Florida’s younger leaders.
The run capped a drive that was Lagway’s 5th of 90 yards or more on the season, the most by an SEC freshman quarterback since Alabama’s Jalen Hurts in 2016. The Gators improved to 5-0 this season in games Lagway has started and finished, and the significance of Lagway’s second rivalry win (Florida led Georgia as well when Lagway was injured) wasn’t lost on the celebrating Florida locker room.
There’s still a long way to go, but as Florida’s players handed out victory cigars and danced in the visiting locker room in the bowels of Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday night, the palpable sense that this was only the beginning resonated.
“There are no shortcuts. You have to work and there’s no guarantee of a return,” Napier said. “You do the work during the week and the ball gets spotted and you have to go execute. You have to win 1-on-1s. You have to communicate at a high level. You have to play with extra effort, you got to play with physicality. Our group started to figure that out. We also have some young guys that can really play. And they started to gain confidence. Belief is powerful.”
Belief, a bullying brand of nasty defense, and a star-in-the-making at quarterback.
It’s a proven formula in football.
In Saturday night’s win over Florida State, we saw the latest sign it’s starting to work again at the University of Florida.
Neil Blackmon covers Florida football and the SEC for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
