By: Nick Marcinko -- September 17, 2023 The Gators kicked off SEC play by defeating No.11 Tennessee 29-16 behind a strong first half on Saturday night. Gator Country provides you with everything Florida’s Head Coach Billy Napier had to say following their week three victory over the Vols. Everything Billy Napier said after Florida’s 29-16 victory over No.11 Tennessee | GatorCountry.com
I wish he could talk in more detail about the recruits that we there to see that game in The Swamp live... I'm kind of glad he mentioned that he might have been too conservative in the second half... against some teams that could come back to bite us in the backside.
Mertz didn't get hurt until the fourth quarter, right? And by the fourth quarter it's okay to play conservative football with the score being what it was. I would have liked one more score early in the third quarter, but Napier did the right thing... he won the game. I just re-watched the game, I think he got hurt in the middle of the 3rd quarter.
Mertz looked like he hurt his leg/ankle too. He shook it off but maybe that’s why also. Really, they scored on the first drive and then nothing forever so giving them extra opportunities probably wasn’t a good idea. Three scores up and they couldn’t break 20 in four quarters.