Florida football: Twitter reacts to Gators’ bizarre 4th-down play call
By Will Thomas
![Sep 30, 2023; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier during a timeout in the second quarter against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports Sep 30, 2023; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier during a timeout in the second quarter against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/d69f523af767accd59e839fd7f1aa9e727ec5484501a7ac7ec361204c2a5dcb9.jpg)
Florida football is taking on the Georgia Bulldogs right now in Jacksonville, trying to knock off the number-one team in the country.
One way that you can almost ensure that you won’t do that, however, is by calling ridiculous plays on critical downs that don’t work out.
On a 4th and inches inside their own territory, the Gators ran a funky trick play to try and convert. They didn’t.
Florida fans on Twitter didn’t react very well when it went downhill.
Florida football: What???
Here’s the play incase you missed it:
This is what we call getting too cute, Florida. Pass between the QB’s legs to get the 4th down conversion, and it does not work. pic.twitter.com/ROLVGQjAN3
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) October 28, 2023
The lead-up to this play was interesting as well. The Gators thought they had converted a first down on the last play of the first quarter, but it was overturned after the break with seemingly little actual evidence.
But that doesn’t justify the decision to snap the ball through Mertz’s legs.
That RB pass on fourth-and-1 from the UF 34 -- down 3 in the first half of a rivalry game after losing a review -- should be the nail in the coffin of Billy Napier as the #Gators' offensive play caller. Final straw.
— OnlyGators.com: Florida Gators news (@onlygators) October 28, 2023
After the failed conversion, Georgia quickly went down and scored to make it a two-score ball game.
But it’s a little hard to complain about that after the events that led up to it.
You deserve to get scored on after that
— David Soderquist (@HightopDave) October 28, 2023
A lot of the other reactions from fans are not safe for me to put on this website. But I’m sure you can all guess what the vibes of them are.
Napier got too cute with the play calls. This fourth down was just one example of it. The double toss back to Pearsall that almost resulted in a fumble was also unnecessary.
You can’t afford to do things you aren’t used to doing when you’re playing the best team in the country. After a better offensive game plan against South Carolina, Napier is right back in the doghouse for his playcalling before this one even got to halftime.
And unless something changes in a big way, this could get ugly quickly in Jacksonville.