Billy Napier's post-game press conference following the loss to Georgia

Like most of Gator Nation, Billy Napier struggled to explain the myriad of injuries Florida suffered before and during Saturday's rivalry game against Georgia, but the Gators head coach insisted he was proud of his team and those of him efforts made was the 34:20 defeat.

“I’m very proud of our team,” Napier opened his post-game press conference. “I think all year long the character of this group has shown. I think it's a tough group and I think that I'm proud of the way they performed in the game today, the performance that they played with and the pride and the manner and manner in which they represented Florida and competed.”

Napier said the aim was to deliver a “fanatical performance on the field” and fight back against the challenging moments that would inevitably come in a game of this magnitude.

“We wanted to increase the intensity,” he said. “We wanted to play with more effort. We wanted to do better, beat the competition, beat the hustle, beat the physicality and we knew that required poise and composure. … We felt we understood the mission and we felt we had the men who could accomplish it.”

There is no doubt that Florida had a strong performance in the first half. At least they went into halftime with a touchdown lead over Georgia. It is the culmination of weeks of hard training and the players' strong trust in the coaching staff.

“Unity is powerful, and I think in the last few weeks this group has started to believe that they can play with anyone and beat anyone,” he said. “Of course there is a lot of football here that could be done better. I was proud of many players who improved.

“We went into the game with a few injuries. We had a few injuries throughout the game, but I think the players who had chances really stepped up and did a great job for the team.

“That’s why I’m proud of our team. I am proud to be associated with this group there. Of course we came up a little short today, but I think the game kind of went the way we wanted. We made things ugly at times. We had our team in a position to win the game at times.”

Update on DJ Lagway's injury

The most serious injury, of course, is the one suffered by true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway in the second quarter. Lagway was helped off the field and onto a coach wagon. In the second half he came back from the locker room with a brace on his left leg and supported on crutches.

“It’s soft tissue,” Napier said of the injury. “We’ll have more for you next week.”

Lagway will undergo an MRI tomorrow to find out more about the injury.

Napier added that he believed the plan was working until Lagway collapsed. Even after the injury, the offense did some good, but was clearly at a disadvantage with a third striker calling the shots.

“Hats off to Aidan Warner,” he said. “We’re talking about a guy who didn’t make it through spring training. Really did a lot of two-point practice in training camp, won the job at some point in training camp, and then started doing real reps two weeks ago with the second session. …Obviously he made some plays and made a handful of mistakes. They’re a really good group on defense.”

Florida's offense wasn't entirely inept with Warner under center. The Gators were evenly matched with him at quarterback, although largely on Ja'Kobi Jackson's back running the ball. Losing the ball late was a costly mistake, but one that was to be expected from a player with so little experience.

Napier also discussed limiting the quarterback's freedom to play after the Gators lost two quarterbacks to injuries. Warner and backup Clay Millen play a more professional style at quarterback, which should make the transition easier.

Depth is a plus for Florida

Although the Florida game seemed to slip away after the injury, much like the Tennessee game after Graham Mertz suffered a serious injury, Napier refused to give in to any “snakebite” rhetoric.

“I don’t believe in that,” he said. “There were always injuries in this game. Every team in the country has injuries. One thing I can say is that we have built a squad that has some competitive depth and that has proven to be beneficial.”

Napier pointed out the team's depth, right down to the walk-ons. Having so much talent means training is competitive, and that's one of the reasons Florida has been able to stick with the next-man-up mentality.

Napier praises the defensive performance

While the offense struggled following Lagway's injury, the defense held firm for most of the evening. After holding Georgia to six points in the first half, Florida shifted to more of a bend rather than break strategy in the second half. The Gators stayed in the game most of the night until Warner's interception.

It's the fourth game in a row where the defense has impressed and Napier was sure to praise that unit.

“For the first time since I’ve been head coach here, we were there. We believe we can beat this team, and I think ultimately that belief is probably the strongest and final value compared to what we teach. You have to have integrity. You have to be together. You have to have discipline. You have to try hard and be tough.

“If you do all of these things consistently, the product looks the way it should look, and that brings a level of confidence. I think we’ve gotten to that point.”

In particular, Napier praised the efforts of Cormani McClain and Trikweze Bridges despite all the injuries in the secondary. He also acknowledged the three interceptions forced by the defense in the first half.

“We impacted the quarterback,” he said. “We did it sloppily. Made it ugly. We limited the explosive plays. We let them cover the distance and were able to grab a few takeaways. Obviously we have to capitalize on some of those short fields, but hats off to our defensive team. They had a great plan and the players executed on that plan.”

Special teams disaster

When asked specifically about the botched field goal attempt in the third quarter, Napier said:

“(That was) one of many plays where a player might have had the opportunity to make a play but didn't necessarily do it right. It never comes down to just one piece. We probably played 180 games today and there were multiple ways to accomplish this. Special teams is a team effort and we didn’t perform as well as we needed to in this game.”

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