"Do you smell a .500 or losing record?": SEC analyst goes all in on Florida’s collapse under Billy Napier after shocking USF loss

The Florida Gators did not have a good second week of the 2025 college football season. After their impressive win in Week 1, the Gators faced South Florida in what should have been another easy win. However, the Gators were defeated by the Bulls on the last kick of the game, 18-16.

Giving his take on the status of the Gators after the defeat, college football analyst Paul Finebaum said the following on Sunday's Sportcenter:

"There doesn’t look to be any light at the end of the tunnel, and that’s just part of the schedule. They still have Georgia down the road, Florida State down the road, and Ole Miss, should I continue on? Or do you smell a .500 or losing record for Billy Napier?”

The Gators enter this season with high expectations. Billy Napier is in the hot seat during this time, as fans have pointed to him as the reason for the Gators' stagnation.

The defeat this weekend will do the team no favors. This should have been a game that the ranked Gators should have been able to win. In their defense, they were in contention for the win throughout, but in this sport, the score at the end of the game is the only thing that matters.

Things are only going to get worse from here for Florida. They are likely to drop out of the top 25 as a result of this defeat, which will not ease the pressure on Naiper.

Billy Napier on the criticism surrounding him

Billy Napier addressed the media to discuss the criticism his Gators have received after the defeat.

"We deserve it," the coach said. "So, if you play football like that, you’re going to be criticized. It comes with the territory, right? So, the only thing you can do is go get it fixed. That’s what we’ll start working on tomorrow.”

Napier does not have a long time to fix these problems. They have games against LSU, Texas and Miami in the next three weeks. All of these teams are contenders for the national championship, and are games that the Gators can lose.

With late-season games against Tennessee, Georgia, Ole Miss and Florida State (all of which Florida can lose) and a losing season is a serious possibility for the Gators.

About the author

Ben Tredinnick is a journalist who covers college football and college basketball at Sportskeeda who is currently studying for a masters in Data Science. His degree in Psychology has helped him gain an in-depth understanding of the minds of coaches.

Ben has been involved in sports writing since 2022 and covered the NFL previously. His strengths include providing in-depth profiles of athletes and coaches, with a particular focus on development, and looking at which teams could be in the hunt for today's college stars.

Ben enjoys following college sports more than the NBA or NFL because there is more variation in terms of playstyles. The tournaments are often more competitive than the major leagues, and due to the constant turnover of players, there are rarely any "superteams" in college sports.

He prioritizes research, looks at multiple sources and publications to make sure he gets the full picture of the story before writing. He tries not to write from a one-sided perspective to allow the reader to be able to make their mind up on their own.

A Texas Longhorns fan, as well as a massive New York Giants fan, some of his favorite college players of all time are Arch Manning, Tim Tebow and Reggie Bush.

When he is not working, Ben enjoys watching films (especially Godzilla) and spending time with his cat.

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Edited by Krutik Jain