Florida Football: Beating Arkansas would mean everything…and nothing

If one were to project the record for Florida football before the season, Saturday’s game against Arkansas was one of the coin-flip games that would decide the ultimate narrative of the 2023 Gator season. And based on those preseason projections, the fact that Florida is currently sitting at 5-3 isn’t that shocking. It is about what we expected heading into the season.

Yet, given what lies ahead, the matchup with the 2-6 Razorbacks in The Swamp may still decide the fate of the Gators even if the national media won’t be paying attention.

Florida Football: Do what you have to do

Given that Florida is at home with a winning record playing a 2-6 squad, one may think that Florida football should be favored by more than the current 4.5 point spread. But the tight spread reflects that Arkansas has played much better than their record indicates and is coming off a bye week.

Make no mistake: Arkansas took BYU, LSU, Ole Miss, Alabama, and Mississippi State to the wire. At the risk of sounding like Scott Frost, this might be one of the best 2-6 squads in recent memory.

A win over Arkansas would put the Gators at 6-3, officially beating the preseason Vegas projections, and give Florida three shots to get to 7-5 before the season is done. A win on Saturday would prove that Billy Napier can grind out wins over competitive football teams with a level of consistency that the jury is still out on.

Considering Florida is one of only two SEC squads to have two Power Five opponents on their non-conference slate (South Carolina being the other), a win over Arkansas would essentially have the Gators at 7-2 had they scheduled a cupcake to open the season rather than go on the road at Utah.

Is anyone in the national media questioning the trajectory of Florida if that was the case?

Yet, perhaps the reason why a win over Arkansas would mean everything for the progress of this program is because it would prove Florida can win when there are no eyeballs on the team from a national standpoint.

If Jefferson Pilot were still around, this game would 100% be the noon game for them.

The Gators could win by 50, and when the nightly highlight packages run, the focus won’t be on Gainesville. It will get a cursory 45-second package before the pundits move on to Alabama vs LSU or Georgia vs Missouri. Anyone doing an SEC Roundup will have zero energy dedicated to this game.

Nobody in the national media will praise Florida football if they win this game because six other teams have already done the same against Arkansas, even if the Razorbacks are better than advertised.

But if Napier is building his program in the image of Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, he might like it that way. He wants to build a culture of guys who want to win because they want to win, not because they think some dude in a suit on TV will praise them.

Saturday is a massive opportunity to teach that lesson.