The Florida Gators won a football game Saturday — warts and all — but did they inspire a vote of confidence for head coach Billy Napier?

Hard to say because the 23-21 homecoming victory over Mississippi State was a showcase of the 2025 Gators' entire maddening repertoire: the squandered opportunities, the head-shaking decisions and, yes, the dazzling potential.

Florida and MSU combined for 920 yards of offense and they also left at least four touchdowns on the field through their own errors. 

The Gators were one handoff away from putting this win on ice until they inexplicably didn't hand off the ball.

Gifted a reprieve, the Bulldogs marched into field goal position and appeared poised to add another trauma to Florida's nightmare season. And then came one last surprise: A massive Florida defensive lineman dropped into coverage, made a leaping interception, and saved the day — and maybe his coach's job. We'll see.

"How about Michai Boireau? 375 pounds. Pickin’ off a pass to win the game!" Napier said immediately after the game.

"I know how to catch the ball when it comes to me," Boireau later told media. Which sounds simple, but this game was anything but.

With his job in jeopardy, Napier got a win that he needed — at minimum, he gave the powers that be something to think about. He can thank running back Jadan Baugh, placekicker Trey Smack, and a makeshift defensive secondary among others.

"I chose the coaching profession,” Napier said. “I was called to coach. The good comes with the bad, the bad comes with the good.

"I do think the game's about the players. I'm proud of the players and the way they played. Never going to make everybody happy. You get these leadership positions, you're in charge, these are the things that come with it, right?

"I love the game of football. I love the game."

Napier football in a nutshell

If this was Billy Napier's last game as Florida head coach, well, the chaos looked familiar.

Let's start at the end. Fourth quarter. One minute 54 seconds remaining. Third down and 1.

Running back Jadan Baugh put the Gators in Position A to close out a victory. He had run through, around, and past the Mississippi State defense for a career-best 150 yards. He barely took a backward step all day. Surely, he would take a handoff and get that one yard.

But quarterback DJ Lagway faked the handoff and rolled right into a six-yard sack that gave the Bulldogs a lifeline.

As Lagway was tackled, Baugh raised his arms over his head. His posture looked like disbelief.

But this was the plan.

"We got to third-and-one, called a movement pass, tagged that with surrender. DJ did what he's supposed to do. He's supposed to take the sack, make them use the final timeout. They did a nice job matching the pattern. It's that simple. ... Obviously we had our chances there to get a first down. They did a nice job stopping us."

Lagway is Napier's most important student, but the quarterback's yo-yo performances show uneven progress at best. That's on the head coach.

Lagway threw two more interceptions — his Southeastern Conference-leading eighth and ninth — that were the result of late decisions. He also completed three consecutive passes on a 93-yard scoring drive, easily his best moment of the day. Napier saw the half-full glass.

"I think one of the cool things about having the video on the field is he's able to see immediately, he gets the feedback right away, so there's no uncertainty in his head," Napier said. "He was a little bit late on both throws. If you take those two out, what a day. What a day at the park, right? He made a bunch of plays.

"Look, if you are playing that position, it comes with the territory. Your toughness and your resiliency, what type of competitor you are is important. For him to have the intangibles to continue to play, make plays after those things happen, I think is impressive to me for a young player."

Lagway is a work in progress, but Napier may not be around to oversee this project.

Multiple reports in the past week indicated that the university’s athletic boosters had reached a breaking point and told athletic director Scott Stricklin that they wanted Napier fired.

After Saturday's roller-coaster win, Napier was asked: "The emotion that you showed there with the love of the game, do you sense this is it for you, tonight was your last game with the Gators?"

He answered: "No, I think about our players, man. I think about our players. That's what I think about. ... That was a good testament to the entirety of the group from a work ethic, commitment. The depth was challenged. The entire process was challenged. Had a lot of players play some of the best football of their careers, then some unknowns step up out of nowhere and make incredible plays. I think it's a testament to the entire organization.

"That was a great memory there. I think there's a lot of life lessons for them in terms of what happened out there today."

If Napier is dismissed, the Gators are off Oct. 25 and the extra week presumably would allow an interim coach to prepare for the Georgia game on Nov. 1.

Baugh is the new Beast Mode

In a game of wild ups and downs, Baugh was a reliable train running on time.

He had 25 touches and gained 171 yards — excluding a 60-yard touchdown nullified by a touchy holding penalty — most often by breaking tackles and dragging defenders.

Watch the video above. He avoids a defender behind the line of scrimmage, accelerates through an opening (with help from Vernell Brown III), then leaves three Bulldogs grasping at air.

The defensive secondary survives

Midway through the first quarter, injuries reduced the Gators' defensive secondary to one starter and four backups. And three of those were true freshmen — J'Vari Flowers, Lagonza Hayward, and Ben Hanks III.

At times, they were overmatched. At times, they were lucky.

Mississippi State's two leading receivers, Brenen Thompson and Anthony Evans III, caught 18 passes for 262 yards. And quarterback Shapen on three occasions missed open receivers in the end zone.

But the rookies endured. With Alfonzo Allen Jr., they made 29 tackles and defended three passes — none bigger than Bryce Thornton's intervention to thwart a touchdown.

"Bryce Thornton was out there directing the troops and did a really good job. Hats off to that crew for stepping up, making some plays," Napier said. "Obviously gave up a few. But in general they made a lot, too. They're smiling in there. Hard work pays off. Those guys got here in January, and they did a great job. ... You never know when your opportunity's going to surface. Hats off to that group for showing up and playing that way today. "

Trey's kicks are true

Even when his own team made his life difficult, Trey Smack just kept driving footballs between the uprights.

In the second quarter, consecutive penalties changed Smack's field goal attempt from 34 to 54 yards. No problem.

In the fourth quarter, Smack was good from 53 yards to give Florida its final points and a two-score advantage.

"Trey Smack has ice in his veins," Napier said. "I think he's perfect since the opener, just showing who he is. That rubs off on the team. "