The Florida Gators looked nothing like the nation’s No. 13 team Saturday afternoon at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, stumbling to an 18-16 loss against the University of South Florida Bulls.

What was expected to be a routine non-conference matchup — the Gators were double-digit betting favorites — instead resembled the frustrating setbacks that have plagued Florida (1-1) in recent seasons. Remember last year’s home opener with Miami and the 2023 season-opening loss to Utah.

This time, the Gators were humbled by a walk-off winning field goal by Nico Gramatica, the son of former NFL kicker Martin Gramatica. 

Florida's mistakes were prolific:

• 11 penalties, including the fourth-quarter ejection of defensive lineman Brendan Bett for spitting in a player's face;
• and poor clock management in the closing minutes by head coach Billy Napier.

The sloppy performance comes with bad timing: The Gators' next four opponents are ranked in the Top 25, starting next Saturday at No. 3 LSU.

Napier won his final four games of 2024 and reduced the scrutiny to simmer. After Saturday's letdown, throngs of Gators fans vented their frustration in a chorus of "Fire Billy."

"Not good enough, and it's my responsibility,'' Napier said in his postgame press conference. "We let them hang around. I want to keep it short and sweet. We can do much better. We can coach better. We can play better.

"I don't like these any more than our fans do or you do. We have a group that will respond."

5 Things We Learned About Florida

Self-inflicted wounds: After playing penalty-free football in Week 1, the Gators were flagged 11 times, many of them at crucial junctures that extended South Florida drives or took Florida points off the board.

With just over two minutes left in regulation, Bett was ejected for spitting in the face of Bulls offensive lineman Cole Skinner. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed USF closer to field-goal range and underscored the Gators’ lack of discipline in key moments.

Grant Speaks (@GrantSpeaks1) on X Game on the line and Florida Player Brendan Bett SPITS on a USF Player😳

Midway through the second quarter, two penalties erased Florida touchdowns. A holding penalty negated Ja'Kobi Jackson's scoring run. A few plays later, a questionable offensive pass interference wiped out a TD catch by Tony Livingston.

There were also reminders of the same mistakes Florida has made the first three seasons under Napier. There was an illegal substitution penalty, where there too many Gator players on the field on defense on what would have been a fourth-down stop late in the first quarter. The drive ended with a 38-yard field goal from Gramatica.

And let's not forget the the Bulls’ lone touchdown came from a 68-yard bomb that saw Florida defenders Dijon Johnson and Sharif Denson collide in the flats, allowing a free lane to score for Keshaun Singleton. It gave the Bulls a 13-9 lead in the third quarter which extended to 15-9 after a poor snap on a Florida punt went behind the end zone. 

That was followed by a egregious special teams error by the Gators. The Bulls extended their lead to 15-9 with 13 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Florida long snapper Rocco Underwood sailed his snap over the head of punter Tommy Doman. With USF players sprinting in pursuit and Doman frantically trying to recover the ball in the end zone, the ball rolled out of bounds for a Bulls safety. 

Lagway, offense falter in key moments: Behind sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway, Florida's offense never found a rhythm, sputtering in both the passing and running games. Missed assignments and sloppy execution prevented the Gators from seizing control, and their inability to sustain drives left the defense on the field for long stretches in hot and humid conditions.

Lagway's final stats looked respectable — 22-of-33 passing for 222 yards, one TD and one interception — but he never seemed comfortable for any length of time. 

On Florida's final possession, he badly missed an out pattern and yet almost clinched a Gators win with a perfectly placed long ball that was dropped. Which was part of ...

Napier's poor clock management: With a one-point lead and less than three minutes remaining in the game, Napier inexplicably called those two pass plays in a three-and-out series that took only 27 seconds off the clock. On USF's game-winning drive, with the Bulls already in field goal position, Napier could have stopped the clock sooner and possibly gotten the ball back.

But after USF quarterback Byrum Brown rushed six yards to reach the Gators' 8-yard line, Napier finally used one timeout with 22 seconds remaining. Brown kept it again, running up the middle for four yards, and Napier used his last timeout with 17 seconds remaining. After another Brown run, USF called timeout with three seconds left, allowing Gramatica to come in and boot a 20-yard winning field goal as time expired.

"The Noise" will grow louder: In the early 2000s, former Gators coach Ron Zook described the constant and often negative external pressure from boosters, fans, and the media as "the Noise."

Napier has coined the phrase "Spot the Ball" to focus on the schedule game by game. Saturday's letdown will not help at all.

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