The Florida Gators racked up a grand total of 141 yards on offense on Saturday against Miami. If this were an abnormal result out of nowhere, it would be a shocking result. But Saturday night wasn't in a vacuum; it was the result of a continued descent of an offense that Billy Napier refuses to give up.
And the failed 4th down call to open the 4th quarter perfectly encapsulates everything that has gone wrong in the Billy Napier Era.
Florida gets two yards on 4th and three
Despite everything feeling like it was going wrong for Florida, the Gators were only down 13-7 and had the ball to open the 4th quarter. Faced with 4th and three from the Miami 33, the Gators opted to go for it rather than kick a 53-yard field goal.
Going for it was actually the correct choice, but TJ Abrams proceeded to run a two-yard hitch and was stopped short.
Mind you, Napier had the benefit of the change of quarter timeout to go over his entire playsheet, and the best he could come up with was a two-yard hitch to TJ Abrams.
Should Abrams have run a better route? Of course, and players have to share the blame too.
But the Billy Napier Era has been defined by an offense that seems to believe if it's 4th and three, then you are only allowed to gain three yards. There is never room for error in the offense, and opposing defenses are never stretched, so they just sit on all the underneath routes.
Keep in mind, this is all on the heels of Napier refusing to even consider giving up play-calling. He scoffs, bristles, and snarls at the idea that someone else could open up this offense and take advantage of the talent that does exist.
At this point, Napier is either a narcissist who is so selfish he wouldn't be happy if Florida was winning but it wasn't with him calling plays, or he is so far in over his head that he doesn't even recognize there is a problem.
Either way, it is year four of the Billy Napier Era, and he is running a two-yard hitch on fourth and three.