Florida Football: Forget Tennessee, Kentucky is Billy Napier’s true first test

Prior to the matchup against Tennessee, we here at Hail Florida Hail, along with others, wrote that the game against the Volunteers was the biggest game of Billy Napier’s career. Following a 6-7 season during his first year at the helm with Florida football, Napier needed a statement win in front of a sold-out crowd and a bevy of recruits in attendance.

But beating Tennessee was a luxury if we go back to our preseason predictions.

Beating Kentucky is a necessity.

Napier must demonstrate that the 2023 Gators are ready to beat teams when it is a necessity.

Florida Football: Wanna play a game?

"Hello Billy, it seems you have a problem. The team you coach wins big one week but can’t seem to do it again the next. There is a seeming lack of balance that you have. So I’d like to play a game. It’s a simple one, really. All you have to do is count to 11. If you can’t manage this simple task, the online commentators have their keyboards ready. You have three and a half hours."

It seems like the easiest Saw trap in the world to survive, right? Rather than having to drill out your cerebral tissue, fielding a motivated football team for 12 Saturdays a year should be easy.

Yet, as we saw last year, Florida football struggled with this.

It beat Utah only to lose to Kentucky and almost lose to USF.

It beat Texas A&M and USC, only to lose to Vanderbilt.

Florida beat Tennessee to give Napier the biggest win of his career, only to sleepwalk through practice the following week and beat UNC Charlotte in a very ho-hum fashion.

The reality is that if Florida is a changed team in year two under Napier, beating a team like Kentucky is a sign of true growth.

Anybody can get hyped for a sold-out home game at night, but can you bring that same energy to a noon kickoff on the road?

Don’t get it twisted. Beating Tennessee was massive for this program and showcased the ceiling that is possible under Napier. Florida winning or losing against Kentucky doesn’t change that ceiling.

The goal is to raise the floor of this program.

It would be one thing if the Gators didn’t have the roster to compete with the Wildcats, but that is far from the case. At worst, these rosters are even in talent. At best, one could say Florida has a significant talent advantage (42 four-stars compared to Kentucky’s 29)

We’re not going to say this is live or die for Billy Napier as it relates to his head coaching career at the University of Florida, but it is a test to see if this squad has learned anything from last season.