We here at Hail Florida Hail are among the loudest voices who don't believe in Billy Napier as the head coach of the Florida Gators. We've seen this film before, and we didn't like the ending.
But in a season that is essentially already lost, Napier did the thing he is best at and pulled his annual rabbit out of a hat as the Gators turned Texas and Arch Manning into the frauds that everyone suspected they were in a 29-21 win at The Swamp.
Florida takes down Texas at The Swamp
It's hard to blame Florida fans for having little faith before the game, but let the record show that we did predict the possibility of a Florida win on Saturday.
At the core of it was Arch Manning being a TEMU version of Tim Tebow that would still get returned, but Florida's offense also did its part.
It's not that Billy Napier's offense changed all that much; Florida's finally loaded with playmakers who made plays.
Dallas Willson made his formal debut in Orange and Blue, and, shocking, he looked every bit like a five-star recruit after going for over 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns in his first college game.
Vernell Brown III, Jadan Baugh, and DJ Lagway looked like they were just playing a game of backyard football, daring Texas to stop them.
Even Jordan Castell picked up an interception, which was just the second interception of his career.
The crazy part about Saturday was that, even after ticket prices plummeted and fans pranced around with "Fire Billy" shirts before the game, this wasn't unexpected.
This is what Billy Napier does once a year to give himself just enough of a leash to keep his job.
But in a season that has had little to cheer for, in a season that has caused massive damage to the Gator brand, in a season that has caused even the most faithful of Gator fans to bail on Billy Napier, and in a game where even Billy Napier called timeout rather than allow a ten second run off, for just one afternoon in Gainesville:
It's great to be a Florida Gator.