Florida Football: Five plays that doomed the 2023 season for the Gators

Florida Football Doomed Plays

• Trey Smack misses a field goal at the end of regulation vs Arkansas

For us here at Hail Florida Hail, this exact sequence is the moment we had our first genuine seeds of doubt about Billy Napier.

The losses to Utah, Kentucky, and Georgia weren’t great, but within the context of what Napier is trying to build, they could be washed away as growing pains.

Even the fact that Florida was tied up with Arkansas with eight seconds to go wasn’t as massive of a red flag as it was for others, given the Razorbacks had played everyone tough all season, were coming off a bye week, and were energized by having a new offensive coordinator.

But with eight seconds to go against Arkansas, Arlis Boardingham caught a pass that got Florida a first down and the ball at the 21-yard line.

Everyone on Earth knew that all Florida needed to do was run up, spike the ball, and set Trey Smack up for a game winning 39-yard field goal.

Everyone except the kicking unit for Florida football, that is. What ensued was Florida trying to run its kicking unit on the field while Graham Mertz was trying to line up to spike the ball. Florida was assessed a five-yard penalty and was lucky there wasn’t a ten-second runoff due to the clock being stopped from the first down.

Backed up five yards with all the chaos that just happened, Smack missed the kick.

This wasn’t a complicated sequence to execute, yet the Gators looked utterly lost on what to do. That has nothing to do with talent; that’s on coaching.

It is not hyperbole to state that if Smack makes that kick, the Gators win the game and are currently getting ready for a bowl game.