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Florida football: Five reasons to have hope for the Gators in 2023

By Benjamin Henderson

Nov 12, 2022; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier run out of the tunenl withlinebacker Lloyd Summerall III (99), defensive lineman Princely Umanmielen (33) and teammates prior to the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2022; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier run out of the tunenl withlinebacker Lloyd Summerall III (99), defensive lineman Princely Umanmielen (33) and teammates prior to the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 24, 2009; Starkville, MS, USA; A Florida Gators helmet is lifted in victory after a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium. The Gators beat the Bulldogs 29-19. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports /

Florida Football Reasons For Hope No.4: The team hasn’t been THAT bad

We here at Hail Florida Hail will be the first to admit the flaws of the Florida Gators over the past two seasons. A paper-thin defense, combined with some unfortunate bounces, has led to the past two seasons resulting in a combined 12-14 record.

At the risk of sounding like a Nebraska fan hopeful that Scott Frost was ever going to turn it around, here is a rundown of the 14 losses the Gators have suffered over the last two seasons:

  • 31-29 against Alabama. Missed extra point prevented a chance at overtime.
  • 20-13 against Kentucky. Florida had a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown. The Gators were also eight yards away from sending the game to overtime
  • 49-42 against LSU. The Gators tied the game with under ten minutes left.
  • 34-7 against Georgia. Not much to report from this one.
  • 40-17 against South Carolina. The fire Dan Mullen crowd came alive.
  • 24-23 against Missouri. Literally just had to stop a two-point conversion in OT to win.
  • 29-17 against UCF. This was the Super Bowl for UCF while Florida had their equipment manager calling plays (we’re assuming). It still took a second-half comeback by the Knights to win this one.
  • 26-16 against Kentucky. Florida was driving to take the lead, then threw a pick-six.
  • 38-33 against Tennessee. Had the lead up until seven seconds before halftime and were 39 yards away from winning the game on the final play of the game.
  • 45-35 against LSU. Was only down seven points with under five minutes to play.
  • 42-20 against Georgia. Florida was never winning this but was within one score of tying the game in the second half.
  • 31-24 against Vanderbilt. Absolute nightmare, and it doesn’t help the final margin of victory was the muffed punt recovered for a touchdown.
  • 45-38 against FSU. Were 26 yards away from tying the game and would have had 1st and 10, 13 yards away from tying it if the world’s most blatant facemask had been called.
  • 30-3 against Oregon State. At least they weren’t shut out.

In totality, of the 14 losses the Gators have suffered, 11 were still in doubt in the second half, and arguably, nine of them could be flipped to a win with just one play going differently for the Gators, whether it was one-third down stop or a fluke disaster play going against Florida.

Now it is true this works in reverse, and Florida could have easily lost against Utah, USF, Missouri, or FSU the past two seasons by flipping one play the other way, but it is an indication overall that Florida might not be the complete dumpster fire that is portrayed and with just the slightest of improvement these close losses could quickly become victories.

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