Billy Napier’s quest for his first winning season at Florida has hit an early snag in 2024. The Gators fell 33-20 to Texas A&M on Saturday, bringing their record to 1-2 and leaving fans frustrated with the third-year head coach.
The loss was particularly disappointing for Florida, as Texas A&M started redshirt freshman Marcel Reed in place of the injured Conner Weigman. After giving up a field goal on the opening drive, the Gators found themselves down by 20 points in the first half. However, they managed to end the second quarter with an interception and opened the second half with a touchdown pass from Graham Mertz.
Later, DJ Lagway, who Napier had named Mertz’s backup earlier in the season, took over but failed to score on his drive. Mertz returned to the field for the next possession, but a pick-six ended that drive. Mertz finished the game 12-of-15 for 195 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, while Lagway completed six of 13 passes for 54 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
Napier, who signed a seven-year, $51.8 million contract in 2021 to replace Dan Mullen, led the Gators to a 6-7 record and a bowl game in his first season in 2022. However, the team regressed to 5-7 in 2023. Florida opened the 2024 season with a 41-17 loss to Miami, the most points allowed in a home opener in the program’s history, followed by a 45-7 victory over Samford before Saturday’s defeat.
Texas A&M racked up 488 total yards, the most Florida has allowed since Miami’s 549-yard effort in the opener. Napier now has just over a month to turn the season around before the Gators face a challenging schedule, including matchups with No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Texas, and No. 5 Ole Miss.
Florida’s next game will be a road test against Mississippi State next Saturday in another SEC matchup.
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