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Florida football: Five ways the Gators could lose to USF

By Benjamin Henderson

Sep 3, 2022; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson (15) is congratulated by offensive lineman Kingsley Eguakun (65) after he scored a touchdown against the Utah Utes during the second quarter at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 3, 2022; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson (15) is congratulated by offensive lineman Kingsley Eguakun (65) after he scored a touchdown against the Utah Utes during the second quarter at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Florida football HC Billy Napier
Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier thanks his team for a good scrimmage after Blue beat Orange 34-0 as the Florida Gators scrimmaged themselves during the annual Orange and Blue spring game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL, Thursday afternoon, April 14, 2022. [Doug Engle/Ocala Star Banner]2022 /

Florida football: Billy Napier gets caught looking ahead

Florida football has had two high-leverage games to open the season. Next week the Gators travel to Tennessee for another high-leverage game. This USF game is sandwiched in between all of that and it would be easy for Napier to have one eye on Knoxville.

Could Florida run a base defense and still win? Probably.

Could Florida run basic plays up the middle with Trevor Etienne and Montrell Johnson and still win? Probably.

One could even argue that Florida doesn’t need to put anything on film this week that Tennessee could game plan for next week.

And while Florida football is still far more talented than USF, the Bulls are ranked 65th in the 247 Sports talent composite. This is in line with Vanderbilt, Syracuse, and Wake Forest. Florida fans have seen in the past how sleepy first-half efforts against a team like Vanderbilt can allow opponents to hang around longer than they should.

If Napier spends the week telling the starters that they might be done by halftime, it puts them in a different mindset heading into the game. If anything, this is the type of game Florida should come out with even higher energy to assert its will early and crush any dreams USF may have of an upset.

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