The next four games

Napier kept saying all pre-season that this is Mertz's team. But we're 5-8 with him as the starter and while I don't put much of the blame of him, I think Lagway gives the Gators a better chance to win. He spreads the field and is accurate on mid and long passes. But the O-line is still bad and our chances to win more than a handful of games is slim, with or without him.

 

Not sure why the post-game thread was locked, so I will opine in this one. I saw pretty exciting QB play from Lagway with obvious inexperience. Gotta take the bad with the good. If the running game can click with him under center, the long throws should be deadly. But he has to be in the game and the play calls designed to put pressure on the defense. Not sure whether it is in Napier's DNA, even when he is essentially on the edge of his UF tenure abyss.

Can Mertz bounce back from his less-than-inspiring game against Miami? We shall see. There are still problems along the Oline. That is likely going to be the case all season long with the right side maybe getting somewhat better with more reps.

I said this after the Miami game, the defense is marginally better than last year but not what we want or even need to get the program where it needs to be. Too many mistakes of the mental kind. Maybe we just shorten up the numbers and not worry about giving everyone participation trophies. aTm is a winnable game. Can they do just enough to get their mojo going?

After that, this team is going to be what it is going to be and that should be "interesting" to say the least. Does Napier have what it takes to get into another mental gear and remain there, or will he go out his way?

Again, we shall see.

 

I mean the fact is that we NEED a game changer at that position to have any chance of putting together some kind of decent season this year.
Mertz is a game manager. He might be the definition of one, and certainly one I would use to quarterbacks around the country of how to properly handle and manage a game as a quarterback. But he just doesn't have that game changer element in him that Lagway clearly has, though raw. He struggles with long balls, he's not a running QB though he quite capable he's not built for it, and he's not gonna make those wow throws like dropping a dime in the corner of the end zone where only his guy can guy it on a contested catch taking advantage of a 3 inch height difference kind of throws. What he does well and got him 3K yards last year and a 70% completion ratio is he does a pretty good job of going through his progressions, making the proper read, making a throw where only his guy can get it with a decent sized window or more. Management and fundamentals, he's one of the best I've ever seen. But being able to do things that can change the complexion of the team and game? Not so much.

 

Early line
ATM 3.5 over UF

 

that 45-3 loss at slUT was not as bad as the score indicated. I was there. Score at half 10-3 and they ran the 2nd half KO for a TD. Game not out of reach and we go for 4th on our end a couple of times giving them short field for TDs.

 

DJ can make throws that Mertz can't, plain and simple. I like Mertz and appreciate what he has done for the team but last week he made some bad reads and throws. DJ got pressure yesterday but stepped up into the pocket to buy time to make a throw, there were times Mertz needed to move in the pocket and didn't which got him sacked. Napier needs to start DJ but I fully expect to see Mertz instead.

 

DeBoer was not a project. He might have been a project for Fresno St when they chose him, but he was a HBC at a much smaller division for many years and had success there. The question was always, can he do it at the FBS level? He showed that at Fresno St so Washington took a chance and it paid off. At Sioux Falls, he posted a 67-3 record, winning 4 straight NAIA championships out of 5 seasons (his first season his team was the runnerup). He goes to Fresno St and posts a 12-6 record, he started there in the shortened 2020 season finishing 3-3, and then 9-3 in his final season there. His career record is 106-12.

 

I really like Mertz, but, I haven't seen very many accurate deep balls from him. I know the sample size is very small for DJ, but, my god he was dotting them up last night. The first deep ball was a thing of beauty. Receiver adjusted his route, DJ stepped up after alluding the pass rush and put it on him in stride. When is the last time we saw that?

 

I 100% believe DJ is the better option than Mertz at this point, especially given our inability to pass block consistently. I don't necessarily see that translating into wins, but it is better for the future of the program. My concern is against SEC defenses, DJ will have less time in the pocket then he had against Samford (which wasn't much) and the receivers will not get the separation they were getting against Samford, so we still need to get a lot better if we hope to win some games this year.

 

I was there too. Yeah, the 1st half was close. After that, we got blown the heck out. It wasn't close. Who was the vol receiver who returned that kick?

 

Please tell us more …

 

If he doesn’t make the decision to start Dj then no chance of sweeping…this should not be about loyalty to Graham…this is a fiduciary responsibility to UF and the team…ENOUGH ALREADY

 

And we beat them last year. They aren’t Georgia.

 

I’ve lost hope that Napier can call the game to beat the elite teams. We can possibly get to six wins and have Napier next year but without having elite oc and dc, it’s just prolonging mediocrity. He got a dc but failed to get an oc in the offseason and that’ll probably be the final straw.

 

A mobile qb helps a weak line and DJ isn’t just a scrambler that throws deep balls. He can play from the pocket, move the pocket and his legs have to be defended against. It’s much easier to defend a pure pocket passer that is limited downfield.

 

Yes and possibly.

 

Way to much X lost to Y who lost to Z, therefore Y is not that good and X is even worse. Anyone who has been a CFB watcher and fan knows that logic almost never works out, as fun as it is to speculate. Teams can be dramatically different week to week, it's about matchups.

aTm will IMO win the LOS on both sides of the ball. It's so hard to overcome that.

 

In other words all those coaches the poster listed as sure-fire hires were also projects at the time of being hired as a HC.

 

If you’re an immobile qb, you have to be able to throw over the top to keep the defense honest. Mertz doesn’t get the protection he needs but he also doesn’t help himself by making them play more honest defense. They just pin em back and come after him.

 

If you remove logic then it's just guessing. Thus, what makes you confident in your guess about A&M as a matchup? Any evidence, other than "I'm mad at my Gators OL/DL"?

I find the comparables valuable at least as perspective. A&M gave up 198 rushing to ND and 180 to McNeese state. Averages were 5.8 and 4.7 respectively.

Miami, who dominated us: 144 and 4.4. We held Miami's rushing better than A&M held ND or McNeese.

While I also am feeling it's hopeless, I also don't think A&M has put anything on film to be jacked up about.