What saved the season the most for Billy Napier?

Both lines have been great, but the turnaround on D is far more striking. It was just year after year of being totally inept going all the way to Mullen’s last couple of seasons.

It was so bad coming in as a baseline it was kind of crazy how slow Napier was at least showing some improvement. I think the Miami game had people thinking it was more of the same. But starting with the Tennessee game showed we could at least shut down teams with struggling offenses (whereas before we would even make bad teams look good). With the D piling up a sacks and turnovers you wouldn’t even recognize this D from years prior. One of the hallmarks of the last few seasons was an almost total inability to produce turnovers.

 

Defense, now that I have had some time to rewatch some of the games. The line is a game-changer

DJL isn’t too far behind. With him we have a respectable offense that can move the ball so we can stay within games against teams that we’re about equal-to in talent

 

Everyone who didn't needs to go back and change their answer to defense after last night...

I think we have more sacks and turnovers in the past 5 or 6 games than we had in the past 2 seasons combined. I'm making that up but it wouldn't surprise me if it were true. Never seen a change like it before.

 

RE the post above: The defense lowers the pressure on the offense, allowing an inexperienced QB and his coach, to not feel desperate on each possession to outscore the opposition. It’s a team game for a reason. No single deciding factor rules, though, like many, I credit the defense as the foundational reason for our recent success.

 

Exactly this. We'll said. Mertz would have won any number of more games with a defense like we've had the 2nd half of the season. Some lime to credit lagway with the defensive improvement but I don't get it. Our offense has been more explosive but we have struggled mightily to stay on the field and give the defense a break. Not sure we win any of our games without the defense making turnovers and sacks that were missing the past 2 and a half seasons prior.

 

Lagway changed the offense with his arm talent... but im going with defense, especially the Dline. They are Nasty. Jackson/Banks/Watson have held down the middle. Gumbs has made an impact, Sapp has flashed multiple times. The young gators mccray and James are gonna be studs. Shout out to the secondary also

 

Easily Lagway. I’ve never felt we’re out of a game with him as the starter

 

I already posted about the defense so I'm with everyone who said that. I always want to shout out Pyburn. Kid is the reason the defense turned around imo. Plays like a killer who doesn't give an eff and it is almost like that motivated everyone else to do the same. Big time player.

 

Again....love Lagway but this is why

 

The D went from a liability to a strength.

 

As the season worn on the Gator D did not wear out.
A year ago the Gator D look like a flock of lost sheep.
In the last half of this season they looked like a very experience wolf pack.

 

I am beginning to think maybe CBN and ADSS were sandbags us. UF was lagging in NIL, so CBN held back until the alumni stepped up with the $26 mil for the buyout… presto flip the switch and start playing well enough to keep the job and boom $26 mil for NIL…

 

DJ and it isn't close. The defense played with amazing effort because they believed they could win with him in the game.

 

Why would Napier want to restrict his offensive coordinator in what plays he could call? Napier seems willing to throw the ball downfield and take chances. Muschamp specifically thought he could win by being tougher than the other team, and therefore he decided he wanted a 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense. His secret insight into the game of football was that you could win games by winning time-of-possession. His blind spots were that you could also lose games doing that, and very few players wanted to play in a super-boring offense.

 

He's not going to hire an OC.

 

I voted for defense.

The most important thing and what I like most is that we have 4 good things to chose from as to "why we are better". Feels good for a change!

 

I really think the difference maker was the constant and unyielding message about doing the little things right, every day, every practice, working as a team and supporting your brothers. Most teams would have completely collapsed after Miami and A&M but this team held together, fixed their issues in practice and never stopped believing that the process would work. I think fans put way more belief in offensive or defensive schemes than they deserve. Football is really a simple game. The defensive line is just doing what defensive lines are supposed to do. Protect the right gap, outside contain and maximum effort. Odds are you’ll either bottle up the running game or somebody will break free and the quarterback has nowhere to go. Do that over and over and pretty soon you have 8 sacks.

 

Agree 100%. Football is a game of emotions. DJ brings a tremendous advantage in the intangibles column because his teammates believe they can win with him in the game. That absolutely cannot be overstated. There's a reason why Recruits want to come to UF now. There's a reason FSU lost so many guys in the portal last season. The kids know who the winners are and they way to play with them, and they'll play harder for them. You can see it in most team sports, right down to the the little leagues. Without DJ, there's no way the defense plays as good as they have.