Five players for Florida Football who weren't the problem against Miami

Yesterday, Florida Football was waxed by Miami inside The Swamp 41-17. After an offseason of narratives from Billy Napier that everything had been fixed, it turned out nothing had been fixed.

We have written our fair share of pieces on the site here at Hail Florida Hail blasting the result, but we do want to highlight some players who weren't the reason Florida lost.

The following are the five players who were not the problem in Florida's loss to Miami.

Austin Barber

When we were previewing the offense line all offseason, we kept pointing out that Austin Barber was adequate last season, but he wasn't elite. He was one of only 29 offensive tackles in the country last season to be called for four or more penalties on a passing play.

As it played out yesterday, the right side of Florida's line was abysmal, but Barber held his own. He played 39 snaps and did not allow a single pressure nor did he take any penalties.

Montrell Johnson

Even when it was announced he was cleared to play, there was still some skepticism from our end that he was actually cleared.

71 yards later in the second quarter, it appears he was, in fact, healthy and ready to go. Johnson finished the day with 106 yards off 11 carries and it isn't his fault Napier insisted the bulk of his runs go straight up the middle when it was clear Florida wasn't getting the push it needed.

Elijhah Badger

Much of the chatter leading into game week was that Kahleil Jackson was beating out Elijhah Badger for the third starting WR role. As it played out, Badger wound getting the start and looked as advertised when he was grabbed out of the transfer portal.

Badger was targeted six times for three catches and 43 yards. Perhaps more promising is that all six of his targets were beyond 10 yards, showcasing at least someone is capable of getting down the field.

And compared to Chimere Dike, Florida's other transfer WR who had just one catch for 11 yards, we want to see Badger featured more heavily moving forward.

Pup Howard

Another transfer to Florida in the offseason, we hyped up Pup Howard as one player we were legit excited to see in action and our optimism came true.

He looked like the most dynamic linebacker Florida had on the field and had a couple early open-field tackles before Miami decided, "Hey, let's target someone else."

Tyreak Sapp

While Justus Boone had an afternoon to forget, Tyreak Sapp was disruptive with the 21 snaps he got on Saturday afternoon.

Sapp had two hurries, two tackles, one assist, and one sack in his 21 snaps and should see an uptick in snaps moving forward.