How bad is it for the Florida Gators right now? Can Billy Napier salvage the program?

and we are live and welcome into Gator bites on the 1010xl podcast Network also be in simcast on the Florida Gator 1010xl Facebook page today's Gator podcast is brought to you by Southeast Orthopedic Specialist the Northeast Florida's leading Orthopedic Center providing an unparalleled level of care across numerous locations in both Jacksonville and St Augustine that includes Riverside North Side the Southside the beaches Fleming Island and St John's he is Graham Marsh I'm the hacker Ryan green you are Florida Gator fans and I imagine most of you are still very upset about 4117 last Saturday to the Miami Hurricanes the defeat that we have talked about all week Florida's back on the field tomorrow against Samford with what appears to be a new starting quarterback DJ lagway The Freshman appears to be getting the start because Graham Merz is still in concussion protocol and we'll get there as I welcome in Graham Marsh Graham I know you've had a couple of podcast to get things off your chest I've had an entire week of hacker after dark on 1010 XL to get things off my chest and yet here we are six days later and it doesn't feel a whole lot better than it did last Saturday evening no it doesn't really at all um and I think that kind of speaks to the state of the program like you know I watch football very emotionally I'm I'm an emotional person when I watch games yeah when I was your age I was to yeah so now of course I'm an objective broadcast journalist right right right right right um no bias towards any team whatsoever no not at all um yeah so you know knowing that I'm emotional about the game and we'll feel certain ways based on what what I see happening right in front of me during a game typically before I I mean I'll say stuff and I won't have much of a filter but typically before I start to like really believe it to myself I need to give it three to four days maybe like Wednesday or so of that week is when I'll start being like okay how do I actually feel about the situation what did I actually feel that was true about those feelings nearly everything I felt in the swamp on Saturday watching them get their butt kicked right in front of my face was still what I felt Wednesday Thursday and now Friday I mean I felt anger in the sense of not so much to the team but honestly I felt anger towards Billy Napier and I like Billy I've defended Billy on this radio station I've been one of the guys that said Florida's fired coaches too quickly I've been one of the guys that said look man we're in this position being Florida you've had six- head coaches in less than two decades I think you there's an argument you fired Mullen too quickly there's an argument you fired mus champ too quickly why do you keep constantly resetting uh I like what Billy and apier has done with the football staff I like what he's doing recruiting wise I just genuinely like the guy and have been defending him and they go out there on Saturday after eight months they had eight eight months to get ready for Miami because of course they didn't go to a bowl game last year they knew the ramifications they knew not only what it meant for their program they knew how important it was to Chris Ball in Miami and they go out there and they look like that no excuse that's pathetic it's indefensible I I I like Billy held press conferences this week I didn't even care yeah I I don't care what the tape looked like I don't care that um they're going to respond from this or he believes in the team I I don't care you had eight months and that's what you put on the Hallowed Ground of benh Hill Griffin Stadium Florida field in front of your fans that to me was embarrassing and it was pathetic will you allow me to get an extra thing off my chest I would love for you that just came that just came to me uh yesterday so um as as I'm sure you're aware on Thursdays in Gainesville um they do the uh the coach's radio show right and I worked on that back when in my College days when Dan Mullen was there and I would be part of that part of that crew and helping them out and whatever and it was it was cool thing whatever so Billy naier does it now right saw a quote that Billy said during the show the defense is closer than you'd think wait a minute yeah wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute the defense is closer than we'd think I mean I mean you watched the game Saturday right they had no pressure on cam ward he could do whatever he wanted now granted cam Ward's a hell of a player let's give Cam Ward his credit his flowers let's give Miami their flowers Miami beat Florida to death cam Ward had all day to throw the ball just the Miami weapons at skill position you look at the Miami receivers and running backs compared to what Florida had at running back and wide receiver just completely night and day man completely night and day and the thing that irritates me the most about both of it cryst was 12 and 13 coming into the year Billy was 11 and 14 they were the same guy they were also hired 8 days apart in 2020 what was it 2021 I guess eight days apart they're on the exact same timeline they had the exact same record after last season save one game Miami went about building their program differently than Florida obviously and Miami comes into your house and does that to you the defense is not closer than we think the offense is not closer than we think that was awful on Saturday that's a comment that you know what that is that is a cya comment that is a cover your you know what comment and I don't care how they look against Samford tomorrow all due respect to Mya moer Wolfson High School might look good against Samford tomorrow Samford lost to West Georgia last week who was playing their first division one college football game and West Georgia beat him 4839 all right this is not your older brother Samford team Florida can go out they're blindfolded and win by 50 tomorrow I don't care what happens tomorrow it's all about A&M if they go out there if they play poorly you'll care well right but I mean dude if they if they lose to Samford tomorrow he's getting fired correct he won't make it off the field no he he will get fired if he loses Samford again they lost to West Georgia last week so assuming they beat Samford which I think is a pretty safe assumption A&M and we'll get to the comments you're a gator Alum you've worked on those shows I want to talk about that press conference and I want to talk about the thing he said about the basement I think that kind of got blown up out of proportion I did too to me this was a simple matter of you knew the importance of the game you were at home you and cristall are on the same timeline hired at the same time two years in and they are that much better than you it was very very frustrating yeah and the the defense is better than you'd think comments that should be the commentary by outraged about not the central Florida thing in my opinion um and the reason that should be the comment you're so outraged about is because the last two off Seasons heading into the year what has been the Billy nap your message to the media to fans what have you it's been you everybody's count us out but we're a little bit better than you think we are we're a little bit better than people think we are it's the quiet confidence and we're we're kind of a sleeping giant right now and everybody's counting us out and no one knows how good we're going to be but we're going to shock the world and we're this and that whatever and then football gets played and they prove everybody that had their doubts right mhm don't tell me one more time that anything is better than we think it is because it's not we see the game dude but I don't care if if if what you see in practice makes you think it's a little bit better than people are giving you credit for Saturdays is what counts when you show up on Saturdays and you play football games you got to produce and when cam ward has enough time back there every time he throws to have a cup of coffee call his mom take a nap go study for his next test at Miami and then throw a pass and by the way it's going to be a touchdown give me a break shut up stop telling me that so and so is better than you think this unit's better than no it's not no it's not and that was arguably the worst defensive line performance I've ever seen from a Florida Gator unit yeah they got no pressure whatsoever which was unbelievably disheartening and gets the numbers Man Billy can say everything he wants and and Strickland the ad can say everything that they want I mean Strickland knows what's going to happen if he has to fire Billy it's probably not going to be good for him so I mean there's a whole thing there is going to be a domino effect the bottom line is Billy ap's record against the rivals Florida State he's 0 and2 Georgia he's 0 and2 at that's 0 and4 LSU he's 0 and2 right that's 0 and six Miami is now 0 and one Tennessee they did beat last year lost the first year what is that one and eight he's one and eight in nine games against Tennessee Georgia LSU Miami and Florida State and one and eight he's one and eight and there's also zero reason to believe that that record is going to improve this year no it's not going to impr he's already played one rival and gotten blown out of his own stadium in week one and I got a news for you like I'm just going to gohe and break the news everybody hearing I I think this will not be news to this is not going to be news to you they are going to lose in Knoxville Tennessee just going to break that news for you now they're going to lose in Jacksonville Florida it's going to break that news for you now big time um Florida state looks terrible so we'll see at the end of the year they're not going to go into do and win but I I I hear you I probably tend to agree but that that one I won't just count as a loss right now the other two we can count as else they're they're not going into Tennessee and winning it's not gonna happen they're not gonna beat LSU yeah yeah they're not gonna beat LSU correct they're not gonna be LSU so that's three more games and and look I mean and I hate to just like turn the corner here because I was defending Billy Napier and am I saying Billy Napier needs to be fired well if he loses to Samford then that's a different conversation I don't think Billy Napier needs to be fired aside from losing to Samford who lost to West Georgia without some catastrophic things happening against Texas A and M and UCF and Kentucky and all that what I'm saying is it made me look bad I had eaten incredible amount of crow and I've gotten grief from my gator buddies you're an Alum I got Gator buddies that are alumni they've asked me why are you defending Billy apier he's terrible I said well I like what he's doing there there is Merit to the direction the program's going in that Merit got snapped in half on Saturday afternoon at Florida field when Miami came in there and did that to you now if Texas comes in there and does that or if Georgia comes in there and does that or if Ohio State comes in there and does that all right this was Miami who went seven and six last year yeah and you looked like you did not belong on the field with them on your home turf yeah it was the varsity versus the junior varsity it was and that to me was just a really really eye opening um obviously we're going to get the lagway and what that means moving forward but you were in that Stadium I was I mean what was what was the believing it was just gross like it was uh Dylan Denmark and I who do the podcast together and we we were at the game together we I said it I believe and he agreed that's the worst game I've ever been to In The Swamp Georgia Southern I wasn't at Georgia Southern okay um if I was at Georgia Southern they probably number one and even like Georgia Southern was was really really terrible don't get me wrong Georgia Southern was at the end of the season things were already falling apart mus champ was already yeah you knew they were cooked he was a dead man walking yeah this was like you came into this game with like high expectations and hyp and by the time man this is this should put it in context no one was excited to sing W back down the Miami fans seem like they were yeah no one wearing uh some some fans wearing orange nobody wearing blue was excited uh or I guess white was excited to wear or sing W back when we are the boys and W back down came on at the end of the third quarter everybody was like whatever like it's 38 to 10 yeah I know and and and if your pro if your product on the field looks so bad that a group of fans that are Absolut that absolutely love those two traditions and haven't been able to do them since last year and this is game one this is the first time they get to do it again in the swamp for this season and no one's even excited about it then you've really broken the spirit and broken the soul of Gator fans that's a good I want to get into that in one moment today's Gator podcast Gator bites is brought to you by Southeast orthopedic specialist for the highest quality care you can rely on Southeast orthopedic specialist for any Orthopedic injury or concern you can log on to their website by going to se- ortho.com and you can listen for Southeast Orthopedic Specialist the good Dr Kevin Murphy on Thursday mornings in the 7:00 hour with Jeff and Dan right here on 1010 XL for his weekly analysis of injuries in sports I said this on social media Saturday night and I've even stronger about it now six days later coaches can survive coaches and staffs administrations they can survive fans frustration they can even survive fans anger I know you're about to say what they can't survive is apathy once people stop caring ask Willie tager yeah once Florida state was getting 45,000 people in do Campbell and the Tallahassee businesses that were losing money on that and the booster clubs saw that and once apathy set in Willie tagger was out the door very quickly they could have survived frustration they could have survived anger they're not surviving apathy are we very close to apathy taking over for Gator Nation we're we're just about there I would say I I think um I mean you're right they're going to beat Sanford tomorrow and I would say and they'll feel great in doing it it'll be 65 to 10 and and everything will be wonderful but to me it means nothing till A&M rolls in the next week yeah and I would say if if they L you and I you and I spoke about this you you were kind of the first person to to put me on on this and I totally agree that the A&M game was a sneaky more important game than people were giving it credit for because everybody preseason was talking about Miami if Mike ELO could to to steal your line from you because this is you you've been the one to say this but if Mike ELO comes in at game three and beats Billy Napier in year three not only beats him but at this point I think they might take care of him pretty good even the& didn't look great but Notre Dame's a really good football team if A&M wins that game and like takes care of them apathy's apathy's arrived yeah and I appreciate you saying that and I look a this what I said about a month ago because I was thinking about it that's A&M's first road game under Mike Elco it's elco's first SEC game as a head coach they're gonna A&M's gonna Crush MCN State tomorrow and they're going to same thing as Florida they lost to Notre Dame although they looked a lot better than Florida did they're going to crush a onea opponent and then they're going to come to Gainesville it's only going to be game three for Mike Elco in year number one and in game three if he takes care of Billy in Florida and who's in year three in the swamp at that point man I mean what is what is left to be excited about here in 2024 knowing what's coming up down the line how do you think it's going to feel if Scooby Williams or Jaden Hill are making some plays too in that game yeah look the former Gators have gone to greener pastures a lot of former Gators have gone to greener pastures and maybe they saw the writing on the wall maybe they saw the iceberg up ahead and they were getting off the Titanic Prince Le man Mellen with Chris mccl and a lot of these guys ET etn right right well um Richie Leonard Caleb Douglas well Richie Leonard I bet regretting that now but Caleb Douglas why would Richie Leonard be regretting that I know his team sucks but this one sucks too yeah Rich Leonard's regretting going to Florida State I don't think he's regretting leaving Florida that's true it's bad when you're both Florida and Florida State and the only silver lining couple weeks into the air is that your arch rival's terrible too yeah yeah that's the only thing you can say that's positive Dan hickin in here yesterday to shoot our weekend in Jacksonville segment we do once a week and he said the only enjoyment Florida and Florida State fans are going to get this year is watching each other yeah all right you're Gator Alum orange and blue blood pumping through your veins you know a lot of Gator alums you go to a lot of the games do your fan I mean where are they with where are you where are they with Billy Nair right now I don't want to go to a game as long as he's the coach anymore I think that speaks volumes and I don't think I'm I don't think I'm alone and look I mean to to get back to your apathy Point here if like like like just just right now because the conversation is how close are we to that look right now okay if if you had if you had to put money on it A&M is a big opponent coming in right that's not the Sanford game that's not a cupcake like that's a big opponent that should make that should make Gator football fans want to be in the swamp for 330 game ABC next week what what capacity or what uh how many people are going to show up do you think I would think it'll be I mean I would think it would be a decent crowd next week if they lose to A&M all it'll be decent do you think it' be sold out I don't think so I think it'll be sold out quote unquote sold out but there'll be empty seeds but I bet there'll be you know five six 7,000 empty seeds I bet I bet about 75 coming to that game like 75 80 yeah and that doesn't sound terrible and it's not but almost any other year that game would sell out would actually legitimately sell out no problem you know what I mean and I don't think it's I personally don't think it's going I I agree it might be the air quote sold out with because of resale and all that stuff but you're going to see some good empty seats I think in the upper the upper side of the uh what used to the student side it's kind of all one thing now it's a little bit different how they break it down but that that side the side the Sun hits pretty bad will have a decent amount of empty seats up top and then I think it only gets worse from there I want to get to Billy uh I want to get to DJ lagway in a moment quickly to Billy's basement comment no basements in Florida we get it I I don't care about that obviously he was caught up in the moment um what I was told was and I had Nick deor of Gator on one and on three on my show on hacker after dark and I didn't know this so I'm happy Nick kind of clarified it when Billy said that on Monday about the Twitter rule rural Central Florida people being you know Twitter whatever that was the third straight question he had gotten about social media criticism MH he answered the first two as politely as he could that was the third one in a row so that could be frustrating yeah I get that from Billy nape here you're basically didn't ask the same thing three times in a row although you're 11 and 15 you kind of got to take it every news Outlet snipped what they knew would get clickbait what they knew people would be upset about and apparently if you keep the quote going like the seven seconds they don't show you after what was clipped out he said something along the lines of but then again maybe we deserve that criticism they didn't show that yeah they didn't show what he said they they took out the part of the quote which they knew was going to get the most reaction and it did I saw Mike Greenberg and and um Paul fine bomb and all these National guys just ripping Billy Napier look there's plenty of reason to rip Billy Napier and I think I've done a pretty good job you've done a pretty good job in the last 20 minutes of giving our opinion on what's going on at Florida but that comment about the basement thing and and getting criticized on social media I thought was blown way out of proportion yeah well the national guys like Greenberg that picked it up you know didn't give any context to it whatsoever mind you well yeah I thought was pretty unfair because you think Greenberg's up on a Monday watching Billy naier press conferen some some producer told Mike Greenberg or gave him the exact quote hey I want your reaction to this and Greenberg turns his mic on and just goes without really knowing what's happening right because he heard a coach that everybody knows stinks right now say something controversial and I would I would wonder if he even heard it normally in those situations the producer just gives him the qu yeah yeah I agree here man here's what's going on they're terrible right now so this type of thing is going to happen almost anything anything that's not completely on the straight and narrow that he says is going to blow up and make him look like an idiot this happened at the end of M Way's tenure this happened at the end of mullen's tenure when you start losing M way said some wild stuff though he did he said some wild stuff he did um the but the point is when they were winning with mwin everything was oh this is this kind of ASU G whiz thing is funny and then when they were losing it was like shut the bleep up right and what's happening when they and I agree with you I didn't really think that particular quote and comment was really that bad it was taken out of context and and Billy's apologized I don't even know if he needed to I guess from a PR standpoint but he apologized on Wednesday I guess the lack of context makes it sound like he was calling Gator fans just morons that don't know anything that just sit and have Twitter fingers I don't really think that's what he was saying I don't think that's what he was saying at all and I mean the Crux of the the Crux of the the point he was making was basically we got a shut out outside noise and worry about footb we got enough to worry about in here we don't need to worry about which is absolutely true yeah okay because they do have enough to worry about no question um I mean the one thing he probably said in the press conference that I agreed with was we got to worry about foot the football thing I mean it's it's a disaster man so I agree with you I didn't have a huge problem with it but as long as they keep losing things he says are going to be ripped apart man that's just how it goes so they're good slate of games this week which I want to get to um quickly to tomorrow I don't think we need an ex's and O breakdown of Samford again they lost to West Georgia last week and it was West Georgia's first game division one college football this is a paycheck game if this game is anything less than 40 points in the fourth quarter it's a disappointing showing by the Gators but it is DJ lagway and it appears he will get the star at Graham Merz and concussion protocol what everybody's asking the entire week if DJ lagway goes out there and goes 25 of 31 for 312 yards and three touchdowns and runs for another 90 yards on a score is he the quarterback for Texas A&M and I've said all week no I don't believe he will be Billy Napier knows he's coaching for his job and you honestly cannot tell me that Graham merch would not be the better option over DJ lagway against a team like Texas A&M but is that the best outlook for him to keep his job or is it to give fans hope they have this young five no you need to win you you said it you need to win who gives them a better chance to beat Texas A&M I don't care about hope next Saturday I care about having more points on the scoreboard than the Texas A&M Aggies hope is fine and Hope Springs Eternal and that's wonderful but at the end of the day there comes a time where you just need to win a game and if it's Graham Merz a healthy Graham Merz or DJ lagway against Texas A&M next Saturday I find it hard to believe that it would be lagway giving them the best chance to actually win the game merch did not play well against Miami man he did not dj lagway played when the Miami was in a prevent uh Miami didn't care 411 game I'm not telling you lagway looked like John Elway but I'm just telling you merch did not play well he didn't he was overshooting a lot of guys I'm not sure exactly how much separation the receivers were getting mind you that goes back into my whole thing about Miami having much better skill position guys in fact Shane Matthews did a breakdown of one of the badger um routes it was horrible it was a horribly Run route that Graham merch thought he was going to do something and Badger just didn't do it again that could potentially be coaching but you sound like you're on the Lago train if he looks good tomorrow which is fine I just cannot for the life of me picture a scenario where Graham Merz is healthy if you actually want to beat Texas A&M where you would think lagl gives you a better shot see like that's the I think I disagree with that yeah now look I think this is a moot point anyways because I think nap is going to start Merz next week and I regardless I would um so we're kind of arguing a hypothetical that's not going to happen in my opinion I think I think Napier is not the type of coach that takes big leaps he's not a big drastic emotional decision type of Coach so he's gonna play MZ if he's healthy I believe that said I don't know that Merz gives you the best chance to win I get he's more experience I get he's played college football for 1,200 years and I get that this offense is you know he knows the offense better and he knows the playbooks and terminology and lagwa is Young and yada yada y but what I saw against Miami was a terrible offense that can't move the ball to save its life this team is going to struggle mightily to run the football and they have one guy that can go out there and catch a pass effectively their other their other weapons have shown me nothing right by the way you're kind of making my point for me though I'm about to not okay okay I think that this offense as it currently stands with Merz at at the helm has no hope okay because you have maybe an average to above average Quarterback that's a high completion percentage guy more of a don't screw it up than a make plays above the X as a no type of player lague might be make plays above the X as a no type of guy and they might have to have that to have any type of success on offense not to mention the fact that his legs being an extra factor in the Run game and keeping handoffs will help them run the ball that I know for sure and I just think that the offense was so pissed poor I don't I don't see a world where merts at the helm they figured out and look way better I I think I think what we s what we saw against Miami is what they are I think you throw Agway out there you're throwing him to the Wolves offensive Line's ter yeah you might you you're throwing him to the wolves and do you want to throw an 18yearold true freshman in his first start in an SEC game to the Wolves against that A&M defense ANM defense mind you that did very well against Notre Dame they didn't lose the game because of the A&M defense they lost the game because A&M couldn't score enough points Riley Leonard one of the best quarterbacks in the country struggled against that A&M defense and you're going to throw DJ lagway out there against them with that offensive line and all that I just I think that is a it's like that Anthony Richardson game no not the Gator fans all the Gator fans hold on hold on all all these Florida fans put Anthony Richardson in we want to see Anthony Richardson in Dan Mullen said okay you want to see Anthony Richardson there you go and how'd that work out there okay couple things couple things there were multiple games before that Georgia game they could have put Anthony Richardson and and let him get a little bit of reps before I mean Anthony Richardson suited up and played or he didn't play but he suited up in that Vanderbilt game they played before Georgia you remember that game at home was homecoming yeah he got some Anthony or got some snaps before that Georgia game that year a few but not sparingly he should have started that vny game in my opinion Emy Jones had looked pretty rough the weeks prior and the main reason it's different that Georgia defense might be the best college football defense ever that's like a historically good yeah A&M is probably not Georgia that's fair and I still think that A&M defense is pretty good and again this is earlier in the year to so that's a big difference that this is game three versus after the byee so that that's a big difference as well in my opinion and then the main thing is like look is there a you're saying that you're throwing W lagu of the Wolves he's a freshman that's unfair to put all that on him he's brand new to to college football and you're throwing a lot at him against a really good defense right away you're you're kind of setting him up to fail in a game you need to win all of that okay my I agree with all of that my point is I don't think they have a better alternative I don't think that Merz is going to go in there against A&M and look efficient and look good because they don't have an efficient and good offense and Merz is not a guy that plays above the X's and O's Merz is be at the controls get the ball to open guys when they're there and it's he was a 20 touchdown three interception guy last year last year they had a better they ran they ran the ball well last year Trevor etn was one of the best backs in the SEC and they had one of the best onew punches with him and Johnson they couldn't run the ball to save their lives against Miami and I don't see a world where it gets much better I I think and they had Ricky peol right I'm not saying that you're wrong I it's a differing of opinion and we'll see I I ultimately think you are right and that Napier will start Merz I think he should you obviously question that but I can you know what's going to happen man it's going to happen tomorrow lagway is going to go out there he's going to look incredible against Englewood High School or whoever they're playing Samford and Gator fans are going to be clamoring lagway lagway lagway let that A&M coaching staff get a week's worth of film on him let that A&M defense get a week's worth of film on him and and with that offensive line that Florida has and the lack of weapons and you're going to put lagway out there on national TV at 3:30 on Saturday afternoon against Texas A&M that just seems like a horrible idea to me I guess my I guess my whole point is that there's a very realistic world where everything you just said can happen and it's a bad idea and it cannot turn out well I I I don't disagree with you but I think my point here is I would rather roll the dice with that and see if maybe this guy's just so spectacular that he can he figures it out and he's that athletic and that good that they're just figuring it out because he's just that talented versus going with what I feel like I know is exactly what's going to happen with Merz they're going to run the same six or seven plays they run all the time A&M's going to be ready for it they're going to pick him off like once like the Miami game they're gonna and it's not mz's fault it's not it's not because Merz is a bad player it's because that right side of the offensive line is basically you and me blocking it's horrendous I I thought it couldn't get worse than Damen George a tackle last year I was wrong yeah it got worse it did get worse and then I'll doal one up Damen George at guard yeah is horrendous and Merz does not have Merz can move a little but he doesn't have the athleticism to overcome a terrible offensive line lague probably won't because he's a true freshman it's probably going to be tough for him but he might he might be able to make Houdini I I just I think that they are where they're at right now offensively is so low I don't think they have much of a choice but to try out the five star and see what he can do let's get to the games tomorrow Southeast Orthopedic Specialist brings you gator bites they Northeast Florida's leading orthopedic Center providing an unparalleled level of care across numerous locations in both Jacksonville and St Augustine that includes Riverside Norths side the Southside the beaches Fleming Island and St John's Texas Michigan Marquee game of the week in college football don't have to wait long for it a high noon kick in the big house what do you think between Texas and Michigan Texas wins that game probably my thing with Michigan though and again they lost a lot and Harbaugh's not there anymore more where Michigan like Ohio State's got a bunch of athletes the last couple years and Michigan's handled those athletes can Michigan handle the Texas athletes I think it's a very similar thing Michigan Power football you don't think they can athlete out athlete anybody well they've out AED Ohio State in the last couple of years they're probably going to have to do that tomorrow against Texas the question is can they do it yeah I still like that I better be better team all around they got to go there so that's tough I think the uh the SCC after a tough week one overall wise against other conferences I think they they kind of get ride a little bit with that there's a lot of these games so you like Texas I'll man I'm kind of leaning Michigan there to be honest Arkansas Oklahoma State SEC Big 12 that's should be a good one where is it at is it a neutral site game uh no it's in still water it's in Still Water wow okay Oklahoma State yeah I thought it was one of maybe those Dallas games or something apparently the game is in Still Water because of that I'll go Oklahoma State the person most uh most thankful for bil napia right now is Sam Pitman Yeah well yeah there's a lot of people that are thankful Mike Norvell is pretty thankful for Billy na right now uh Cal Auburn the game is on the planes nothing says ACC SEC battle like Cal going to Auburn for conference Supremacy Auburn wins I don't know much about Cal but apparently they they're like a bowl caliber team people think they're going to go six seven wins they beat the gator right now yes they would be the um I go Auburn Auburn's at home I agree with you we'll save that one for Raider USF have anything for Alabama does USF keep it close the first half first half sure um Byron Brown's Beast yeah uh but yeah no yeah USF it might be a two touchdown game at Halftime they'll score a couple of Point they'll score some points they have a couple touchdown drives probably but I bet they give up 50 plus easily Oklahoma should handle Houston Mississippi State goes to tempy Arizona a 10:30 Eastern kick tomorrow night Mississippi State at Arizona State that's a tough trip for the Bulldogs I'm gonna be honest with you I know nothing about Arizona State's current team I can't tell you one player on their roster uh Mississippi state's kind of got a new they got a new New Era going on too I got no idea all rude for him but I don't know if I'm going to stay up to watch that one imagine being a Mississippi State fan you got to stay up till 10:30 Eastern just for kickoff that thing's going to get over at 2: in the morning I'll be awake you'll be awake you'll be living it up in Miami getting ready for Jackson even if I was here dude I love late night ball do you that dude it's my fa man pack 12 after dark and it's Heyday I loved it dude all right two more games especially after the bars man you get you some Taco Bell you go home you watch you a little bit of uh a little bit of wash Washington State Oregon State on a Saturday night man nothing gets the blood flowing like that I remember those Taco Bell evenings believe me uh Tennessee North Carolina State where's this game this game's in Charlotte I believe Tennessee and NC State so it's at boa Stadium yeah it's where the Panthers playy Tennessee uh Tennessee wins that's a good game yeah it is a good game Tennessee wins by seven North Carolina State struggled last week against Western Carolina I think they were looking ahead to this game NC State I've been talking to people that cover that team they've kind of circled this one for a while this is a big game for them 7:30 National TV ABC they got Grayson McCall leading the hel former Coastal Carolina quarterback between Grayson call Grayson McCall and uh Nico em alava that's a good can you pronounce his name by the way no I'll go Nico it's dju in Tallahassee and Nico in Knoxville you can pronounce dju he's been a part DJ ouie Ang there you go all right what about n come on one try one try what is it em malava Nico IMO alava IIA malava IIA malava there you go I malava yep he's niiko all right oh the first and only tomorrow but the first of the year sec battle South Carolina goes to Kentucky ABC with the SEC at 3:30 tomorrow South Carolina goes to Lexington South Carolina survived yeah Old Dominion last Kentucky wins that Kentucky wins by 10 Napier's in trouble Shane Beamer might be in trouble Shane Beamer's a clown in about a month or two Shane Beamer's an absolute clown I think that guy is such a clown I don't think he's done much at all of consequence in his own career other than his last name being Beamer I think every time he loses he blames the refs he blames the media he blame he finds somebody to blame that's not named Shane Beamer I I I don't like that guy well it's going to be a good game I'm looking forward to South Carolina Kentucky other games of no Middle Tennessee Old Miss Old Miss shouldn't have any issue there Buffalo Missouri I wouldn't think Missouri would have any issue there georg's playing Tennessee Tech yuck A&M mcnees yuck and then Florida Samford I mean Florida's going to win the game but uh they can't possibly struggle with Samford right they can't possibly it's I mean this team lost to West Georgia last week he can't struggle with Sam sford this is not the sford by the way that put like 50 on Florida a couple years ago remember that it's also a sford team that gave Florida State a pretty good game in Tallahasse a few years ago obviously Samford hit some down times if they're losing to teams like West Georgia we all I know everybody in Gator Nation thinks you know hates emry Jones dude he saved them in that game he played he set the if he didn't set the record they don't win I mean I think Florida wins the game 55 13 5516 sford at least scored last week they might have an offense but Florida wins the game and then all eyes are to Texas A&M and that's uh that's a big one yeah I'm trying to find the the spread here for theame oh jeez I can't even imagine what it is would a game like that even have a spread I guess it would um yeah it would uh Forida I would guesstimate Florida's 30 seven point favorite I can't find there's just so many college football games it takes you forever to find them yeah um yeah I mean something like that that sounds probably about right dude I I don't want to say they can't struggle against I don't think they will but I don't want to say they can't man what I saw Saturday man was the most disappointed I've ever been as a Gator fan it'll be interesting to see where they are emotionally cuz I would imagine you want to talk about a Gordon solely shot to the solar plexes that is what the gator had last week and that lost to Miami so you wonder where kind have no idea what you just said okay it's a it's a wrestling reference from the 70s and 80s a shot to the abdomen kind of taking the wind out of your sails the solar plexus is what they used to call them in wrestling literally did not know one I Gordon so is oh my gosh people are not going to believe that I'm not a wrestling guy okay um nevertheless it's taking the wind out of your Sals shot to the stomach maybe that's a better reference for you I think a lot of air went out of the balloon last week for the Gators it'll be interesting to see how excited and fired up they come out to be and what's probably going to be a 55 or thou 55,000 60,000 person crowd having said all that Sanford's awful so they'll win the game easily and then we'll have a lot to discuss next week heading into A&M um yes can I read can can I read some two two comments here from from our Facebook that yeah just to show the state of of Gator Phantom right now okay so I'm happy your eyes it's good I couldn't read that if my wife depended on it so okay so shout out Stephen Holmes Jr um he made a comment a while ago call me crazy but I feel like there's a lot of overreaction after the Miami game the team still has everything to play for sure they looked terrible but it was still one game and we don't know how the offense will look with DJ got to see how we look against A&M that will tell us all we need to know uh I disagree with that what part do you disree with uh pretty much everything you had eight months to prepare for an opener at home you knew how important it was you knew it was on the line not only for you but for your opponent you knew the recruiting element of it the state bragging rights of it the perception of it you knew all that you were at home start a new year you had talked a big game everything was in your favor people were actually picking you to win the game like me I was an idiot and you go out there and put out a performance like that no we we we learned a lot about this Gator team in a very negative way last Saturday I would I tend to agree with you more on that I think the I don't think I think the points he's making are fair but I don't Stephen I don't think it's an overreaction I don't think anybody that's really upset right now is overreacting I think it's warranted um Terry Terry Cox shout out Terry who agrees with me LOL we had the best skill guy on the field with Wilson and Merz couldn't hit the broadside of a bar and play DJ period he wasn't that bad but um but this is Terry Terry left the followup that I agree with more the offense is too predictable with Merz playing no that I agree with and that may be but you I mean I mean but but this is not NCAA Football on Playstation all right putting out an 18-year-old out there with that offensive line you're going to get him sacked five or six times what who knows what that's going to do to his confidence he's not going to have anybody making plays for him downfield he's going to be running for his life Miami didn't have an ounce of tape on him and they were in a prevent anyway um I I just think that it all sounds good in theory oh let's play the true freshman you know the Gatorade player of the year I mean that sounds great that sounds wonderful reality is different I always talk about this and Florida is living this right now you know June July August in college football those are the months of Hope right everybody's hopeful everybody thinks they're going to go to the 12 team playoff everybody's fired up There's Hope September is reality and that tends to strike you in the face in reality struck Florida in the face in a big way last Saturday the hope is that DJ lagway will be great and maybe he will be maybe I'm dead wrong about this but if you actually want to win the game against Texas A&M and you're not going to know what's going to happen until the game starts obviously so you have to make this on the Fly before the game kicks off to tell me that you think beforehand that putting DJ lagway out there gives you a better chance to beat Texas A&M than putting Graham Merz out there I just I just disagree with that what are the chances hind side it'll be 2020 if wway goes out there and is great well then you can say Hacker's an idiot but we don't know you have to make the decision before the game is played that's the that's why Billy apier and the staff get paid the big bucks let me ask you this what what is what is the chances that Florida beats A&M with Mertz at QB um based on what I saw last week 30% that's that's kind of my entire point but I think it might be 15% with lagway it might be 5% with lagway but so that would mean Merz would give you the better chance but it might be with lagway the unknown the the simplest the simplest way to say my argument right now is the unknown I think is better than the known because the known is so bad everybody loves the true freshman quarterback everybody loves the backup quarterback it's the it's it's it's football 101 when your offense struggles every everybody thinks that Tim TBO is sitting over there on that sideline but the the point is this is this is a team that has no hope right now like they have zero hope and the fans have zero hope this isn't a team that is Mo this isn't like the the mus champ or M years where they had this great defense and these good weapons but they just couldn't get it done at quarterback so they kept cycling through guys this isn't that this is a team with a coach it's a dead man walking and I think I think Billy Napier's only chance of Reviving hisob is DJ lagway being really good I know that that might answer my question we got to go quick here but don't be Graham Marsh the 1010xl gator bites guy put yourself in billyon aper shoes you've got to beat A&M if you don't beat A&M this guy is going to start falling pretty quick you got to be the A&M knowing that again not Graham Marsh Billy Napier you put merch in or lagway I think I put lagway in man I disagree but that's what makes it beautiful that's what makes it a good conversation you I still love you we can disagree you're I I think you're only like you're saying that merch is a better like is the better option I'm saying merch gives you a better chance to beat Texas A&M does he give you a better chance a month from now does he give you a better chance two weeks from now I don't know that but in eight days when you play Texas A&M if Graham Merz is healthy has can cleared protocol and is healthy I think on what would would that be September 14th I think on Saturday September 14th at 3:30 Eastern Standard Time Graham Merz gives you a better chance to beat A&M than DJ wagu does maybe we'll see well we'll be back to recap it I'm sure that'll be a big part of our topic next week leading into A&M we'll recap Samford uh we better not be talking about a close game we better not be talking about a game that's even Within 20 or 30 points this better be uh a beating of pretty big proportions playing a team that again lost to who last week West Georgia Georgia not Georgia not Georgia State or Georgia Tech they lost to West Georgia not West Florida shout out to Argonauts Florida needs to take care of business he is Graham Marsh from the hacker Ryan green thank you for watching and listening to Gator bites 1010 xl.com and the Florida Gator 1010xl Facebook page