Pat Dooley’s Back Nine: Florida Football Playing Out String

The Back Nine comes at you after a miserable weekend for Semis and Gators. Maybe they can show that season-closer on Bravo.

10. I woke up Sunday to a bunch of emails asking if the deed was done. Clearly, all of the good things Billy Napier has done at UF have been dwarfed by the production on the field. We were joking the other night about trying to get back to the years when Florida had bad people who were good football players because this is getting sad. And you let Napier have it after I begged you not to boo. “When you play ugly ball, and maybe it doesn’t look quite like we all want it to, then hey, it comes with the territory,” Napier said. “I probably would have done the same thing, truth be known.”

11. OK, then, BOOOOOOO your lousy defense that was supposed to be so much better and has allowed 1,017 yards and 52 first downs to the two teams with a pulse you have played. BOOOOO your offense that couldn’t run on a team that so far this season had been unable to stop the run. BOOOOOO your inability to eradicate crucial penalties and missed assignments. I love the charity work these young men are doing and the way Napier is preparing them for life after football, but how about focusing on FOOTBALL!!!

12. I don’t have an answer for what the administration should do. Firing a coach now doesn’t help you get a head start, but like Thanos it is inevitable. You can say it’s not fair for the seniors, but they’re getting paid. This isn’t amateur football anymore and in the business world sometimes you have to overcome adversity. Napier has a real shot at history because the losingest coach ever at UF was Raymond “Bear” Wolf, who was 13-24-2. He was the last UF coach to have an overall losing record. Napier is 12-16 and we will see if he gets to face that gauntlet at the back end of the season.

13. The thing is, supposedly toxic Gator fans are showing up at the games, spending more money than ever, gutting it out through weather delays and then watching that crap? The Swamp isn’t even a factor anymore, because the team won’t let it be. When you think about Steve Spurrier losing fewer games in 12 seasons at home than Napier has in 28 games, you start thinking about doing something else on Saturdays. It’s over, peeps. They’re just playing out the string at this point.

14. The only solace – I guess – is that FSU is 0-3. Shoulda scheduled Samford, guys. Oh, one more thing about the Florida game. This new deal with ABC and ESPN sucks. The Florida game started on ESPN News and went off with three minutes left in the game. I was hoping for a Heidi game (look it up millennials), but that would have required a pulse from the Florida team.

15. Dr. Football (it is not an honorary degree) had a mediocre week going 2-2 on The Picks mainly because I picked the Semis for the third straight week. Bad Dr. Football. The overall record is 8-5-1 so we need a good week because papa needs a new 5-wood:

• Florida, I’m not joking here, is a 7.5-point favorite at Mississippi State. So there goes my theory that they would not be favored all year. Sorry, but I have to take Hail State despite the Bullies getting blown out at home by Holy Toledo last week.
• Arkansas is a 5-point underdog at  Aubie and I am just taking a shot in the dark on this one, because I can’t figure these guys out. I’ll take the Tigers.
•  USC is a 6.5-point fave at Michigan. You remember Michigan? Won the national title last year, cheated like crazy and flaunts it at every opportunity. I’ll take Fight On (USC).
• Utah is getting 1.5 at Oklahoma State in what is a ginormous game in the Big 12. Never bet against the Utes.
• And finally, Vanderbilly is getting 21.5 points at Missouri, which seems like way too many. I’ll take the ‘Dores.

16. The Ravens are 0-2. The Chiefs keep finding ways to win. The Cowboys were embarrassed. It was a good NFL weekend. I only know that I am happy I was not in a Survivor Pool.

17. Need a tie? Go see Florida soccer coach Samantha Bohon. She has a bunch of them. Her team begins SEC play with a 3-1-4 record.

18. Jesse Simonton, who started his career covering the Gators, has a really good column up on the On3 website. It’s a little depressing, but accurate. I need a nice playlist:

• “Oysters In My Pocket” by Royel Otis, a band I am falling in love with.
• The cover version of Neil Young’s “Into The Black” by the Chromatics.
• And for an old one that keeps popping up on my Facebook feed (probably because I stay with it until the end), “Reflections of My Life” by Marmalade.

WRUF.com sports columnist Pat Dooley can be heard on “The Tailgate” along with Jeff Cardozo from 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday on 98.1-FM/AM-850 WRUF.