Here is everything Florida head coach Billy Napier had to say after his team’s 24-17 victory over Missouri on Saturday afternoon in Gainesville. The Gators did not play the cleanest game, turning the ball over twice on offense and recording just 65 first-half yards while their defense surrendered nine third-down conversions, but Napier credited his players with sticking together and finding a way to be successful on the scoreboard.
Opening statement:
“It’s always good to win on Homecoming. I think that we talk specifically to the team about taking great pride in representing such a special place. The University of Florida is a special and unique place. It’s impacted a lot of lives for the better, and I think our guys worked extremely hard to be well-prepared today. And it was a team win. It wasn’t necessarily the best in any of the three phases of the game, but we did just enough. To score on defense, to have a game-changing play in the punt return, rush for 200 yards, certainly Anthony made his plays that impacted the game. And defensively, at times we played really good out there. Obviously, game up some third downs. It was truly a team win and the intangibles that we’ve developed in this group of players, I’m proud of that. They continue to kind of respond and to play through the ups and downs of the game, and we’re thankful. A good team win.”
On what allowed Florida’s offense to be markedly more successful after halftime:
“We only had 19 plays, I think, in the first half, so we had very few opportunities. And a lot of those 19 were situational football. They were red zone, they were third down, so very few plays – kind of what we would call normal down and distance – so we had a lot left on the call sheet. Really, some of those same concepts, we were just a little more precise and I thought out guys up front did a good job. Good vision. Obviously, you could see the backs, we got it to the second level. And then Anthony made plays with his feet, huge plays with his feet in the game on fourth down, on third down. It was a team win. It wasn’t anything great offensively, defense or special teams, but the combination of those three got it done. A ton of respect for Missouri. They got a tough, resilient football team that is very capable.”
On Ventrell Miller:
“I don’t know how many times they got a play that looks like it’s going to develop and then 51 just comes out of nowhere. Ventrell is productive as a player, but it’s more impactful than just the production. That’s the thing that’s significant. I mean, the guy’s inspirational relative to his example, his consistency as a person, his leadership, his presence. He makes other people around him better and certainly that showed up today.”
On Florida’s defensive performance:
“You know, the only thing you would probably be frustrated about on defense would be some of those third and longs we gave up. But, outside of that we put them on a short field after the sack-fumble. Overall, they did extremely well. We made progress, I think, relative to the challenge Missouri presents – gap integrity, the outside zone, the shots. We kept everything in front of us for the most part.”
On sophomore cornerback Jaydon Hill, who recorded two interception, including a pick-six:
“He was the first person we called out in front of the team to give out game balls and we give one to him today. What a story, right, if you really dig into what the young man has been through – the ACL in high school, the ACL here early in his career, then the LCL. The discipline to continue to rehab, the toughness to stay the course. He’s got passion about the game. I always felt like watching him in spring ball that he was one of the best players we have. That showed up today. His character … the guy stayed the course. He was a difference-maker today.”
On his assessment of his team at the halfway point of the season:
“We have not executed our formula to win games at the rate in which we would desire at any point. I think we’re very much a work in progress but I do believe in this group relative to the fight they show, the competitive spirit, the intangibles. I think we’ve developed some togetherness, there’s some chemistry there. I think that’s getting stronger. We’re learning how in practice. I do think we’re built to play winning football. We’ve got a formula that’s won a lot of games. I think we’re getting better at that process and I’m hopeful we can win more in the future.”
On Xzavier Henderson’s long punt return:
“It was the one area of the kicking game going into the game that I felt like we had an opportunity to make some money, to make some hay. Great call, got a fieldable punt. You know special teams is about winning one-on-ones. When we pull that clip up we’re going to see our guys. Gators are winning one-on-ones. I think that Xzavier’s been waiting for the opportunity. We got him loose. We talk about giving him an opportunity and we finally did that today.”
On Adam Mihalek’s pair of missed field goals:
“They were both deep. I think that’s one thing to consider there. I think I could help him. That’s what I think about. I think I could help him by managing the game there a little bit. We got a couple of two-play sequences there where I could coach better. But, ultimately, we put him out there and we expect him to make it. Adam has been huge for us so far this year. He missed a few today, just like there are several things I could have done better today. No player goes out there is perfect. Adam will respond to that going forward.”
On capturing Florida’s first SEC win in a year after losing six straight SEC games:
“I think it shows we’re capable. I think you guys are evaluating the team much like I evaluate the team, we’re a very capable group but still not as precise and detailed as we need to be in a lot of areas but we’re getting there. The one thing about that group as you can hear, they’re a very competitive fiery group, right so I think we’ve got the right makeup, we’re growing up some young players and ultimately at some point here we continue to get better, there’s going to be some momentum that comes with that, and I’m hopeful that we can remain humble and that we can evaluate this game independent of the outcome and see the things that we could have done better and then go back and work on an improve and get ready for the next one.”
On what led to Missouri converting third downs from distances of 15, 18 and 22 yards:
“We’ll see I can talk to you about that on Monday but you know I mean third and long, the national average is under 15 percent right, so, when you give up that many there are some things you need to look at, but it’s all very fixable I think.”
On Anthony Richardson’s overall performance against the Tigers:
“I think we gave him more opportunities. That’s a tough defensive group if we haven’t figured it out, they’ve been playing good defense outside of the Kansas State game, which, really if you think about that game the offense turned the ball over quite a bit on the short field, some return game touchdowns, so that group has played really good defense the entire year and Anthony he did enough, did enough to win. His team won today so when you’re playing quarterback, that’s the goal.”
On developing toughness and togetherness within his roster:
“You’d like to think you spend an entire year developing it and we talk about integrity a lot with our players, the ability to tell yourself the truth, often times you are doing things halfway or you are doing things that are wrong or you are doing things you shouldn’t be doing, do you have the courage to correct those things, does your yes mean yes, does your no mean no, and often times that comes with a commitment level to the other players on the team relative to the way you’re living your life, you talk about togetherness, being a great teammate, embracing your role, working hard to earn more, being a loyal guy, a guy that people can count on and then the discipline part which is huge relative to self-discipline and also your ability to execute in a critical moment and do your job when it matters most for the team. So toughness is a huge part of it, and I think the mental toughness is something you work, that’s an offseason program, that’s a summer approach, that’s how you practice in training camp. I do firmly believe that these are all things you can develop and there’s no ceiling to how good you can get at them, they are not going to get any taller. Maybe they get a little bit faster, maybe they jump a little bit higher. Maybe their 5-10-5 shuttle gets a little bit better but all these things that we’re talking about here those are things can players can work on, and they can continue to grow. That’s ultimately what we’re trying to do with this group of players.”
On Florida’s progress through six games:
I’ve got a long list of things we can do better, and that list, it’s there every morning when I wake up and it’s there when I go to be at night. And all we can do is we just continue to work, right. Every single day we’re working to improve, we’re working to eliminate the deficiencies that we have. We’ve got lots of people that contribute to our team, not just players but staff members, so we’re concerned with making that list smaller, right. And I think every team in this game, you know, that list is always there, so I think we’ve got a lot of work to do is what I’ll say.”
On calling a timeout before halftime that allowed Missouri to have time to set up a field goal attempt:
“I wanted to make sure we had the right personnel on the field, right, and it felt like a little helter skelter there relative to not only their ability to get on the field but our ability to get 11 out there, right, so, also wanted to execute the rush. And we’re talking about a chip shot to some degree, relative to the distance, you know what we would do normally, you’d call timeout or two and freeze the guy. So I wanted to make sure we had the right personnel, relative to substitutions. We just played with a dime package on the field, we’re trying to get the base, and also wanted to try to execute the rush as best as we could there, and we end up freezing the guy. He made the kick but I felt like we made that decision in the best interest of the team.”
On Anthony Richardson having to go to the medical tent after a scramble:
“Yeah no, he got a little bit banged up, nothing major. He was able to go back in the game. Yeah, there’s no question, he went through the complete progression and pulled the ball down and made the first down.”
On Princely Umanmielen’s performance:
“Yeah I mean Princely had a great week, right. He had a good, performed well last week, and certainly had a great week of practice. Got a ton of confidence in Princely relative to his ability and his role in the team, and guy’s contributed in a really good way a lot of times this year. Right, so, Princely’s got tools, man. He’s got a bright future, and certainly was big in a lot of times today.”
© 2005-2022 CBS INTERACTIVE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc.

source