GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Gators emerged to face the heat Monday afternoon, less than 48 hours after a humiliating 41-17 loss to Miami in the season opener.
They lost as a team and seek to rebound as a team on Saturday when Samford visits The Swamp. Still, like anything else in life, the players must process the wreckage individually.
"It was very tough. It was embarrassing,'' senior running back Montrell Johnson Jr. said. "I don't even want to talk about it."
"To be honest, leading up to today, I'm still kind of speechless,'' sophom*ore receiver Eugene Wilson III said. "It's kind of hard to find words, even speaking about it with my coaches, my parents, my friends back home."
Offensive lineman Austin Barber took the bulldozer approach. He is focused on clearing away the rubble and the task ahead.
"Can't change the past. [I'm] just looking forward. I think the guys know that,'' Barber said. "We have the guys in this building that can put that aside and look forward. It was one game. That was not what we wanted, but we keep building off some of the good things we did."
While the players endured the beating on the field, head coach Billy Napier is taking the most brutal punches on social media, message boards and radio shows.
Napier understands the frustration after the No. 19-ranked Hurricanes and quarterback Cam Ward picked apart the Gators for 529 yards of total offense and dealt UF its sixth consecutive loss and first defeat in a home opener since 1989. Meanwhile, the Gators managed only 261 yards and finished the game with quarterback Graham Mertz (concussion) in the locker room and true freshman DJ Lagway running the offense.
"I mean, you're going to get criticism when you perform the way we did Saturday in certain parts of our team," Napier said. "Sometimes you deserve criticism. I have no excuses. We got to go get it fixed."
The quarterback position is in flux as the Gators attempt to get their first victory since last season at South Carolina.
Lagway enters the week atop the depth chart with Mertz in concussion protocol and his availability uncertain for Saturday's game against Samford, a 38-29 loser at West Georgia in its season opener. Lagway replaced Mertz for the final quarter against the Hurricanes and finished 3 of 6 for 31 yards and an interception, plus 20 yards rushing on four carries. He led the Gators on a nine-play, 58-yard scoring drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown by sophom*ore tailback Treyaun Webb.
By then, Miami led 38-10, and many in the sellout crowd had departed. The Gators have a plan devised for Lagway if he is the starter against Samford.
"We would play a brand of football that reflects his experience and his strengths,'' Napier said. "No different than we do each week. But I've got a ton of confidence in DJ. We've had him since January. He's a completely different person and player than he was when he first arrived. He's got a really good knowledge of our system. I do think coach-to-player helps a young quarterback. There's an advantage there that maybe you wouldn't have had a year ago."
Before Mertz's injury, the UF offense struggled. Mertz finished 11 of 20 for 91 yards and never was able to develop a rhythm. Florida struggled on third down, converting 1 of 9, a key concern for Napier in the loss.
Still, he said after watching the film that there are areas the Gators were efficient and can build on. He was pleased with the overall effort, the play on special teams and despite Miami's success on offense, Napier said the defense showed signs of improvement on tape.
But the bottom line is they must play much better in all phases and missed an opportunity against Miami by allowing the Hurricanes to take the crowd out of the game early.
"One thing I can say is we have a group that's working hard," Napier said. "I do think that we have character. We got to go to work on the football part. I think we got to become a more consistent team, and we have to execute better."
Most of the Gators spent part of their off-day Sunday at the Heavener Training Center to watch film and rehash what they could have done better. Wilson said he spent time in the trainer's room and then watched clips of his performance with a critical eye.
He sees some good and bad and realizes the mood outside the building is not optimistic. He tried not to look at social media but couldn't resist.
"It's just human nature,'' Wilson said. "It's not necessarily a good feeling, reading all those tweets and all that, but at the end of the day, they don't know this person, they don't know what we've been through, they don't know the expectations we're supposed to have. We don't allow anything to really shake us."
What shakes him is the loss.
"We're better than that,'' he said. "We don't want to have this feeling no more."
The 24-point defeat is now part of history, and the Gators know there is nothing left to say other than on the scoreboard. They returned to practice Monday with an eye on Samford.
Outside the building, much of the attention remained on the Miami loss and Napier, who dropped to 11-15 during his tenure. He has been part of winning and losing teams but never in the spotlight as bright as this one.
"Hey, look, we've got to be at our best, or we're going to face the consequences,'' he said. "It kind of puts your back against the wall a little bit in terms of long-term, some of your goals.I think 'all hands on deck' in that regard.
"What I would hope is happening right now, no matter if I'm the equipment guy or I'm the strength coach or offensive line graduate assistant, I'm thinking about, 'Man, in that 10-day prep, what could I have done better that maybe would have affected the outcome to some degree?' I think it's just a challenge to each part of your building, each person, not only football players now, we're talking about staff members as well. You got to use it. I think that's the key."
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