The Florida Gators were up 7-0 against LIU just three plays into the game when Bryce Thornton took a fumble back for a touchdown. From there, Saturday night's contest played out about as one would have expected.
After the game, Billy Napier gave his thoughts on how the night went and what fans should expect moving ahead to USF.
Notable Billy Napier quotes following Florida's win over LIU
"In general, a lot of positive. It's been a long time since we've shut out an opponent in The Swamp, and I thought the defense got a score, and I thought we tackled well. We flew around all night.
Obviously, a little bit of a slow start on offense, but once we kind of identified their defense and settled in, a lot of good stuff, so."
It was indeed a mostly positive night, and the defense did look like LIU could have played for another 60 minutes and still not get scored on.
DJ Lagway's night
"Really, that was his first scrimmage if you think about it. He didn’t participate in the scrimmages, been practicing for about two weeks, so, yeah, he’ll get in his rhythm. He’ll continue to get better. You saw him get better as he kind of got comfortable and settled in."
Napier wasn't particularly pleased with how the offense performed, and Lagway didn't exactly set the world on fire despite scoring three touchdowns.
Napier also admitted what most fans were concerned about, that the missed time for Lagway all offseason was going to result in some rust.
Tramell Jones is QB2
"Yeah, well, first of all, I think Tramell has earned the job. He’s really had a strong surge the last few weeks."
Storyline-wise, Tramell Jones earning the backup QB job was probably the most notable thing to come out of Saturday night.
Jones came to Florida as a four-star freshman, but didn't really emerge on the radar as QB2 until the back end of camp. Even this week, it felt like Aidan Warner and Harrison Bailey were still battling it out for the job, and Jones was just getting window dressing.
But Jones played the entire second half, and Napier confirming he has the job is noteworthy moving forward.
Can be better
"But I’m going to hammer home about 15 plays that weren’t good enough."
If you think we are being critical at times for the sake of being critical, Napier himself admitted there were still a number of plays that needed to be better.
Vernell Brown III goes viral
"Yeah, it wasn’t a very complicated decision based off what I watch every day. But, yeah, those are the ones you don’t forget, right? That picture’s in your mind just like the Pearsall catch a couple years ago. Those are unique and people will be talking about that catch for a long time. Yeah, it was incredible."
Beyond Napier's reaction to Vernell Brown III's catch, it is notable how he came out with glowing praise for Brown III compared to some comments he had earlier in the week about some other players on the roster.
Trey Smack has a rough night
"Yeah, Trey will bounce back. He’s an elite competitor, and some of those were deep, and we got to help him. But we’ve got a ton of confidence in Trey. That’s why we put him out there, and we kept putting him out there. We’ll see. There’s no telling when you look at the tape, you got to play good around him, good snap, good hold, good protection. He’ll bounce back. He’ll be fine."
Kicker Trey Smack struggled as he missed field goals from 40, 39, and 57 yards.
He did hit from 56 and 41 yards, and it highlights the juxtaposition of Smack.
He has the ability to hit it from anywhere, but for his career, he now has the same percentage (66%) from between 40-49 yards as he does from beyond 50 yards.