2023 Florida Football Postgame Notes
Florida 38, Vanderbilt 14
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Steve Spurrier-Florida Field – Gainesville, Fla.
JOHNSON JR. RUNS WILD AS GATORS DELIVER NAPIER’S 50TH-CAREER VICTORY ON HOMECOMING
- Florida delivered its third sellout in four games this season including the seventh of the Billy Napier
era with an official attendance of 89,432. - HC Billy Napier won his 50th career game as a Division I head coach in his 71st game, becoming
the 10th coach with 50 or more wins since the start of the 2018 season: Nick Saban (66), Kirby Smart
(65), Dabo Swinney (63), Lincoln Riley (59), Luke Fickell (57), Brian Kelly (58), Jim Harbaugh (51),
Ryan Day (50) and Josh Heupel (50). - Florida improved to 22-1 against Vanderbilt in Gainesville since 1960, holding an active five-game
winning streak in the series. - Florida rose to 31-2 overall against Vanderbilt since 1989.
- RB Montrell Johnson Jr. eclipsed 2,000 career rushing yards with 135 yards on 18 carries (7.5 YPC)
and one touchdown. - QB Graham Mertz joined Tim Tebow (2010 vs. Cincinnati) as the only Florida quarterbacks to
complete 80.0% of his passes or better on 35 attempts or more since 1996.
o This is just the sixth time a Florida quarterback has completed at least 80% of his passes and
thrown three touchdowns since 1996 and the first since Emory Jones vs. Samford on Nov.
13, 2021. - Vanderbilt scored on its third drive of the game, marking the end of a 31-drive streak without points
in The Swamp dating back to 2017. - Florida improved to 71-26-2 (.727) all-time in Homecoming games by winning its fifth-straight on
Saturday.
o The Gators are 29-5 (.853) across their last 34 homecoming games.
OFFENSIVE NOTES
- Johnson Jr rushed 18 times for 135 yards, posting the seventh 100-yard rushing game of his career
and his fifth as a Gator. - Johnson Jr. eclipsed 2,000 career rushing yards in the victory.
- Johnson Jr. scored his 26th-career rushing touchdown including his 14th as a Gator.
o The score was his 28th-career touchdown (16th at UF). - Johnson Jr. rushed 11 times for 98 yards (8.9 YPC) and one touchdown in the first half alone.
- Johnson Jr. ripped off a 34-yard rush in the first quarter, marking his longest carry of the season.
- Johnson Jr. set a new career receiving long with a 19-yard reception in the second quarter.
- QB Graham Mertz finished 30-for-36 for 254 yards and three touchdowns, equating to an 83.0%
completion percentage and 170.1 passer rating.
o Mertz is the only Florida quarterback to complete 70% of his passes or better in six-straight
starts, a feat he accomplished in his first six starts as a Gator.
o Mertz set a Gators high with three passing touchdowns. - Mertz went 17-for-21 (81.0%) with one touchdown and 138 yards for a 151.9 passer rating in the first
half. - Mertz has thrown a touchdown pass in 21 of his last 24 games.
- WR Ricky Pearsall put Florida on the board with a 14-yard touchdown rush in the first quarter – his
first rushing touchdown of the season and the fourth of his career (first carry of 2023). - Pearsall recorded a reception in his 34th-consecutive game, which is the eighth-longest streak in
the FBS. - WR Khalil Jackson set a career-high with four receptions.
- TE Arlis Boardingham set career highs with seven receptions, 99 receiving yards and two receiving
touchdowns. - RB Treyaun Webb broke off a career-long rush of 43 yards to end the third quarter, finishing with 70
yards on four carries. - Johnson Jr. and RB Trevor Etienne have combined for at least one touchdown in 15 of 19 games
together, scoring 24 total TDs (rushing TDs in 15 of 19 games).
o The duo has combined for 22 total rushing touchdowns. - The Gators rushed for 200-plus yards for the 10th time in their last 19 games dating back to last
season (second of 2023). - The Gators have rushed for 100-plus yards in 15 of their last 19 games dating back to last season
(fourth of 2023). - WR Tre Wilson III scored his first-career touchdown on a nine-yard reception in the third quarter.
o Wilson III also set career highs with a team-high eight receptions and 64 receiving yards. - Florida posted two 90-plus yard touchdown drives and now owns five total on the season.
- Florida scored 30 points for the ninth time since 2022.
o The Gators scored 30-plus points for the 41st time in their last 70 games, including scoring
30-plus in 28 of the team’s last 46 games. - The Gators eclipsed 400 yards for the ninth time since the start of 2022 (second of 2023).
o Florida amassed 400-plus total yards for the 26th time in its last 42 games including 39 of the
last 61 contests.
● By totaling 161 more yards than Vanderbilt, the Gators have out-gained their opponents in 11 of
the last 19 games dating back to last season.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
● Florida held its opponents to under 100 rushing yards for the third time this season (fifth in Napier
era).
● True freshman S Bryce Thornton made his first-career start alongside true freshman S Jordan Castell,
signifying Florida’s first game starting two true freshman safeties in the last 25 years.
o Florida started three true freshman defensive backs (Marco Wilson, CJ Henderson and
Shawn Davis) on Nov. 25, 2017 vs. Florida State.
● Vanderbilt’s punt on its opening drive marked the Commodores’ 30th-straight drive in The Swamp
without scoring.
o Vanderbilt scored on its third drive, marking the end of a 31-drive streak without points.
● Will Sheppard’s 85-yard touchdown reception represented the eighth-longest touchdown the
Gators have ever surrendered.
● Florida recovered its first fumble (second takeaway) of the 2023 season on DE T.J. Searcy’s first-
career forced fumble (DB Jalen Kimber recorded his first-career fumble recovery).
● With one takeaway vs. Vanderbilt, Florida’s defense has now produced 102 turnovers since 2018,
which ranks fourth in the SEC and tied-for-35th in the FBS.
o The Gators have produced at least one turnover in of 14 of 18 games in the Napier era.
● The Gators surrendered just 39 total rushing yards on 3.9 yards per carry in the first half.
● DL Tyreak Sapp recorded his second-career sack (second of season).
● The Gators recorded two sacks in tonight’s game.
o Florida’s 188 sacks since 2018 season ranks second in the SEC and tenth nationally.
● LB Derek Wingo notched his first sack of the campaign.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
● P Jeremy Crawshaw punted three times for an average of 58.3 yards including three 50-plus yard
kicks and one inside the opposing 20-yard line.
o Crawshaw boomed a season-high 63-yarder on his second attempt of the game to pin
Vanderbilt at their own five-yard-line.
o Crawshaw has now punted for 50-plus yards on 45 of 107 career punts while placing 41
inside the opposing 20-yard line.
● K Trey Smack connected on his lone field-goal attempt of 39 yards.
Explosive Plays (12)
● Ricky Pearsall (from Graham Mertz): 18-yard reception, first quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 34-yard rush, first quarter
● Ricky Pearsall: 14-yard touchdown rush, first quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 28-yard rush, second quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr., (from Mertz): 19-yard reception, second quarter
● Arlis Boardingham (from Mertz): 19-yard reception, second quarter
● Arlis Boardingham (from Mertz): 23-yard reception, third quarter
● Arlis Boardingham (from Mertz): 20-yard reception, third quarter
● Treyaun Webb: 11-yard rush, third quarter
● Treyaun Webb: 43-yard rush, third quarter
● Montrell Johnson Jr.: 15-yard rush, fourth quarter
● Arlis Boardingham (from Mertz): 15-yard touchdown reception, fourth quarter
Series Updates
● Tonight’s game represented the 57th all-time meeting between Florida and Vanderbilt including the
27th in Gainesville.
● With tonight’s victory, the Gators improve to 44-11-2 (.790) in the all-time series vs. Vanderbilt and 24-
2-1 (.907) in Gainesville.
● Florida has won 31 of the last 33 matchups versus Vanderbilt.
- HC Billy Napier improves to 1-1 against Vanderbilt HC Clark Lea in their second meeting as head
coaches. - Florida held Vanderbilt to 58 total rushing yards – the team’s lowest vs. the Commodores since 2019
(51) and UF’s fifth time holding Vandy under 100 yards in the last seven meetings.
THE STREAK
● Florida has scored in 442-consecutive games — which is an NCAA record and 54 games longer
than any other college football team in history.
o The Gators broke Michigan’s record of 365-consecutive games (1984-2014) against LSU on
Oct. 7, 2017.
o The last time Florida was shut out was on Oct. 29, 1988 vs. Auburn (L, 16-0).
GAME DETAILS
● Florida Game Captains: #26 Jeremy Crawshaw, #88 Cam Jackson, #6 Shemar James, #2 Montrell
Johnson Jr.
● Coin Toss: Florida won the toss and deferred; Vanderbilt received and Florida defended the north
end zone.
● Attendance: 89,432 (third sellout of 2023)
University of Florida Football
Media Conference
Saturday, October 7, 2023
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Coach Billy Napier
Press Conference
Florida 38, Vanderbilt 14
BILLY NAPIER: I’ll tell you what, Gator Nation keeps
showing up. We’re very thankful. We talked to the players
Friday about the importance of homecoming. Obviously it’s
independent of the competitive part of the game, the
execution of the game, but one day they’re going to be
coming back, and they’re going to be sitting in that stadium
watching the team, and they’re going to want to be proud of
how the team plays, the brand of football that they play.
Think about that, who we represent. I think University of
Florida is a special place because of the significant impact
it’s had on a lot of people along the way. It’s good to win
on homecoming. It’s good to play a little bit better brand of
football.
I do think there’s things that we need to clean up. I think
we had a few too many penalties today. We tackled better.
Really gave up one play in the first half, and overall got to
play some players there at the end.
This game requires mental toughness, certainly playing in
the SEC.
I do think that every week is a new week, and sometimes
you don’t play the way you want to play. You’ve got to get
up off the mat, you’ve got to go back in the ring as a
competitor.
We really wanted to play smart today, wanted to play
tough, fundamentally sound, and we wanted to play with
better energy, and I think we got that accomplished.
Out of respect for the game and out of respect for the work
that this group has done, I think they played a little more
like we want them to today.
What questions do we have?
Q. Concern about some of the injuries coming,
particularly on the offensive side of the ball with the
offensive line and Trevor, and what does it say you
were able to achieve the balance today? Seemed like
you were able to throw and run the ball pretty well and
pretty evenly.
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I’m proud of the players that had to
play, in particular the two tackles, Lyndell, Kam Waites,
both of which had an opportunity to play. Treyaun Webb
did some good things today. It’s good to have Trey back.
He’s a difference maker. Certainly to see Kahleil, Andy,
those guys get an opportunity, and really you think about
Arlis Boardingham really showed the growth that we’ve
been seeing. That guy is a very capable — he’s a
mismatch type player. Made some really unique plays
today.
A lot of good. We challenged them, and I think they
answered that challenge.
Q. Getting up off the mat is not always a given, but
how do you like how they responded given how tough
last week was and how much better was that locker
room this week?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I continue to tell you guys that I
think this group has some character about them. I don’t
see — I see some maturity. I think there’s some
awareness. I think they’ve got a pretty good understanding
of why they want. I think they have a pretty good
understanding of why they lose, what contributes to that.
They’re able to stay pretty steady.
To be quite honest, I think they were embarrassed a little
bit. I think there was an element to that that they wanted to
get back in there and play again and make a statement
that that’s not who they are.
Look, I think the staff felt the same way.
Today there was a lot of good out there. I think we’ve got
to keep things in perspective. We’ve got to understand that
bigger challenges are ahead, and we’ve got to really — one
of the big challenges for our team is to go play well on the
road. I think that’s what’s next for us, and next week will
present that challenge for us.
Q. Montrell, just his performance, looked a lot like last
season today?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I think Montrell, in his career, I think
he went over 2,000 yards today if I’m not mistaken. Early
he was good. He was really good. The one touchdown,
he just makes a guy miss and walks in there.
He played big today. He’s a 217-, 18-pound back, but I
thought he played with an edge today. He was tough to
tackle.
We blocked them pretty good today. We got the ball to the
second level. I thought we had good man answers today,
and we managed the pressure with the perimeter throws.
It was well executed. Montrell was at the center of that for
sure.
Q. Sometimes when you see the beaten Graham take
some certain plays, what does it say about his
toughness?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, I mean, I think — yeah, I want him
to get rid of the ball sometimes, you know. But I think
when we look at it, some of the things that happened
today, he’s holding it a little bit too long probably. We want
to blame others, but I think he’s going to look at it and say,
man, I’ve got to get through this thing and get it out.
We took a sack on like 2nd and 1 today. I’m about to break
my headset.
I think he holds — he’s really critical of himself. He wants to
do everything exactly the right way.
Very coachable, a pleasure to coach, and I do think he’s a
competitor. I think he showed some toughness. I think the
players respect that.
For the most part, Kahleil Jackson was the only guy that
threw an interception today, so he’s going to get it for that,
too. Can’t get more open than that.
Q. You mentioned Kam Waites’ return to the field. Can
you speak about that journey, what you’ve observed
there, and what it meant to you to see someone so
committed?
BILLY NAPIER: You know, Kam, I think he’ll be a chapter
in the book one day. You realize this guy did not play
football in high school. This guy was a — we’re over there
watching LSU’s camp. This guy’s brother is in the camp.
He’s there. He’s not even participating in the camp. We
meet him. He’s going to Kilgore Junior College to try
football. He’s a big-time AAU basketball. Jabbar meets
him and says, hey, my coach would like you. You need to
come over here, an hour up the road. That’s back when
you could do the private workouts.
We took a flier on him, and he’s going to turn into a really
good player for us, I think. 6’8″, 355. It’s one thing to have
an achilles. It’s another thing to be that big and come back
from it.
Look, he’s changed his body. He’s leaner. He’s more
explosive. Although he’s been injured, I think it speaks to
the training room, Tyler Miles and return-to-play protocol in
sports science does a great job, and then certainly working
with a nutritionist and strength and conditioning, that plan
has worked for him for sure.
Q. You mentioned a second ago the importance of
translating this to play well on the road. What needs to
happen? Is it a matter of not getting too high after a
win? What do you need to see from this team to
translate momentum into road games?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, that’s a good question. I think
we’ve spent some time on it.
I think it’s a challenge to play on the road in this league. I
think you see right now in college football, I don’t know
what the records are, but I think the home team has a
pretty significant advantage, right, in particular in our
league where everywhere you go is pretty rowdy.
I think one of the things that’s important is that you start
fast. You’ve got to show that you’re in the mix, that you’re
ready to go, and ultimately you’ve got to solve the
operating in that environment, right, the communication
element, and then ultimately it comes down to execution.
I think we know when we play bad, we know why.
We’ve got work to do. Definitely going to be working on all
those things this week.
Q. You touched on Boardingham a few minutes ago.
Can you elaborate on his growth? What’s he done to
enable himself to have a game like he had tonight?
BILLY NAPIER: Well, last year we were really high on him,
and he got hurt. You remember he had the shoulder, had
to go through that entire process to get back. He’s a kid
who hasn’t played tight end, so he’s a receiver, linebacker.
He’s a track athlete.
So all the things that we’re asking him to do are completely
new. I mean, this guy hasn’t played in the C area, he
hasn’t played in the wing. There’s a ton to learn in there.
He’s a smart kid, but it’s almost like playing quarterback to
some degree. There’s a mental part that I can’t tell you —
it’s challenging. You can’t overlook that.
Then there’s a set of fundamentals you have to learn at
tight end. It’s not like he had any background in that before
he showed up, so it was all new. So mentally learning the
system and fundamentally the physical component, all of
that was new. It’s turned out to be a good evaluation.
I think he was one of the guys. We hit the ground — our
personnel guys, we’re combing the entire country in terms
of players that are left over that are available. He was one
of those.
Look, we took a chance on the guy and brought him in.
Phenomenal family. Just really good people.
It’s turned out well. I’m hopeful we’ll get more of that out of
him in the future.
Q. What happened on the long touchdown play with
Jason and how do you feel like the defense responded
after that?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, you know, they’re telling me, I don’t
know, I haven’t seen the TV copy, but they’re telling me
that his facemask got grabbed and they yanked him down
and he lost his balance. But I don’t know. I’ve got a hard
job, and those officials have got a hard job, too.
I do think really it’s the only play we gave up in the first half.
The big deal was Ja’Keem Jackson. That was a huge play
in the game relative to momentum. He gives up the play,
and then we were able to stop them, and then he makes
the play. I thought that was one of the more pivotal
sequences of events in the first half.
Q. 0 for 3 on 4th down; how critical was that in this
game?
BILLY NAPIER: Yeah, conversion downs are — those are
turnovers, right. We count them as takeaways. We count
them as turnovers. When we talk about turnover margin,
we include turnovers on downs. That’s a critical piece of
the puzzle for sure.
Q. Billy, would you talk about how Trey Wilson, what
he adds, how that opened the offense up.
BILLY NAPIER: You know, Trey is tough to tackle. He’s
got unique acceleration, showed some toughness today, I
thought.
He’s got some play strength to him, although he’s a little bit
smaller guy. But we were trying to get him the ball as
much as possible.
He’s one of the players that you want to make sure has an
opportunity. We tried a few things that didn’t quite work
today with him, but I think for the most part, we want to
make sure when the game is over every week that he had
his opportunity to impact the game.
Q. Did you see what you were looking for from start to
finish of the week in getting ready for this game after
that game last week?
BILLY NAPIER: I thought that we — I’m going to tell you,
man, early in the week, it’s a challenge. It’s a challenge for
the staff. It’s a challenge for the team. It’s a challenge for
me because you’re disappointed.
But I do think we’ll benefit from going through that. I think
that’s the important thing here. There’s going to be —
growth comes with struggle, and I think we’ve got to keep
that edge. We’ve got to remember what we felt like. That’s
got to be fuel for the fire for the future.
We practice on Sunday night, and then they have about —
they have a day off. We show up Tuesday.
I think by then, we had evaluated what happened. We
were comfortable with why. We were trying to still figure
out some of the details.
But I do think they showed up Tuesday and Wednesday
were good work days. I felt like we finished — we tweaked
the format of practice just a little bit, and I think it helped
us.
Then we just had a little bit different focus and energy, I
thought, Thursday and Friday. Again, I think it goes back
to Mark’s question about a little bit embarrassed. This
place, it’ll get to you if you don’t watch out.
They’re young people, so I think it’s healthy, because look,
you guys know like I do, this game — I told them Friday,
look, your life is as simple as it’s going to be right now, just
so you know. More complicated days are coming. More
responsibility is coming. It’s important that we learn from
some of the things that this game can teach us.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports.
University of Florida Football
Media Conference
Saturday, October 7, 2023
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Graham Mertz
Press Conference
Florida 38, Vanderbilt 14
Q. You’ve taken a lot of hits this season. Where does
that one that knocked you out of the game for a couple
plays there, is that one top of the list?
GRAHAM MERTZ: No, I just got hit a little weird, landed a
little weird. I felt fine. It was just a little weird landing, so I
just wanted to make sure I was all right.
Q. What about the guy after you released, after you
threw and the guy came at your knee out of nowhere;
do you remember that one?
GRAHAM MERTZ: No. The knee is fine. I mean, one
thing that — I’ve taken a lot of shots in my career, so I feel
like in a weird way you learn how to land and protect
yourself. It’s kind of like an unwritten rule of playing
quarterback. Sometimes you’re going to get blindsided
and get hit, but it’s kind of feeling where it’s coming from
and bracing for it if you can’t do anything. Some of those —
some shot plays, I’ve got to do a better job of throwing the
ball away when it’s not clean and just not taking those hits,
but just got to play smart.
Q. Is there kind of a badge of honor to that?
GRAHAM MERTZ: To?
Q. Getting back up. And when did that start
happening, realizing that at quarterback you had to
kind of show that to the huddle?
GRAHAM MERTZ: I mean, the big thing is you want to
play the game. Like I said multiple times, I feel like I owe
this place and this team everything I’ve got. A little hit is
not going to take me off my mission.
Q. You’ve been doing that your whole career. I looked
at Wisconsin — was it Michigan you missed a half?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, that was a big hit. I remember
that one like it was yesterday.
Q. I think you went to the hospital, didn’t you?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Oh, yeah, I could tell you the whole
defense on that one. Yeah, that’s part of it. I think being
able to take those hits and keep moving — sometimes
they’re inevitable. They’re going to happen.
But you’ve got to get up, man. I think for me, that’s my
whole life. I take that approach to everything. If you get
knocked down, you’ve got to get back up. That was kind of
our theme of the week.
So it literally happened.
Q. Speak to the balance on offense today. It was 270
passing, 210 rushing. Seemed like when you had to
run, you could run, when you had to pass, you could
pass. What was it like guiding the offense to a game
like that?
GRAHAM MERTZ: I’m proud of the O-line. We had King
and Barber out, a lot of guys moving around in there, and
I’m proud of how they approached the week.
I knew we were going to be effective running the ball after
watching the film last week and we corrected it. I think the
O-line did a great job in the run game and the pass game
of providing that. We knew they’d be multiple in their
pressure looks, and I think we did a great job
communicating that, getting us in the right protections, right
run checks.
I think Slaughter did a great job of communicating with me
and working together in that, so it was really good.
Q. Graham, winning here, you’re 4-0, it looks fantastic
on the outside, but of course the big thing is trying to
win on the road, and of course South Carolina is
coming up next. Outside of what Billy kind of
blueprinted to all of us as far as how a win works, what
you need to do, how important would that be in terms
of credibility —
GRAHAM MERTZ: In winning on the road? I think that’s
big time. We’ve had two road losses. I think back to those
games, and the big thing was we didn’t start fast, and we
didn’t execute.
Going into this game, the point of emphasis was okay,
we’re going to start fast and we’re going to finish faster. I
think the guys did a great job of coming out swinging. We
had an early turnover, but I think they did a good job of
bouncing back. The big thing is watching that and
realizing, okay, look, regardless of where we are, we need
to start fast. I think that’s one thing Coach has been hitting
on us, especially this week, and that’s one thing we’ve
definitely got to build on going into next week. It’s the
ability to start fast and maintain that throughout the game
regardless of the circumstances, and especially on the
road you’ve got to — everybody always said you’ve got to
bring your own juice. That’s one thing, we’ve got to build
that during the week and then bring that to South Carolina.
Q. Would you talk about how the practice week came
together and getting ready and getting to the feeling
that, okay, we’re ready for this game after such a
disappointment last week?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing,
especially anytime you experience a disappointment or
anything like that in this sport, it can do one of two things,
and I think I hit you guys after the game on it. There’s two
ways that can go, and it can go downhill or you can go,
okay, we’ve got to build and we’ve got to go uphill.
I mean, I think throughout the week, especially starting on
Sunday, we hit everybody on that, like look, this is the only
way we’re going. There’s no option of going this other way.
Like I said, I saw it in the O-line, in their response. I
thought the guys were locked in throughout the week, and
it just kept building. I thought Friday was especially clean,
and we’ve got to keep doing that.
Q. Graham, sticking with the O-line, how do you feel
like Damieon did sliding from right to left, and then
how do you feel like Lyndell and Kam did with their
opportunities at right tackle?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Man, I thought they did a great job. I
think Dame did a good job moving to the left. I think
Lyndell and Kam, especially during the week, did a great
job. Like I said, moving parts in there, but when you’ve got
a group of guys that they want to win, they want to play
hard, they did a great job.
Especially a guy like Kam, when I first got here, I saw him,
you look at the guy and you’re like, holy crap, that guy is a
refrigerator. But just for a guy like that, I saw him go
through rehab every day. It’s a blast seeing a guy like that
out there, and I think that’s one thing that — especially on a
team when you go throughout the year, you see guys
slowly get through their recovery and get back. We’ve got
a lot of guys that are hurt right now, but that’s a really,
really good feeling when you see a guy like that in the
huddle.
Q. How do you feel like Max Brown did with his
opportunity and what did you see from him out there?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, I was excited for Max. I think
one thing about Max that I see throughout the week is just
his prep. I think he does a great job of asking good
questions and then during practice executing.
I’ve got all the faith in him when he goes in there. I was
excited for him to get some tick at the end of the game. He
made some good throws and got a little facemask action,
so he got into it, but I’m happy for Max.
Q. Just talk about your ability to spread the ball out to
different receivers because Ricky was a little less
involved in the offense today, but 17 combined targets
for Eugene and Arlis. Talk about your ability to really
develop chemistry with them and get the ball to them.
GRAHAM MERTZ: I think that was big time. I hit you guys
last week after the game on I felt like there were some
opportunities where I could space the ball out and help our
run game, so I really during the week made that a point of
emphasis. When I have those chances, to get those
chances out there. I thought we did a good job across the
board.
Ricky, I missed him on that slot fade by like four or five
yards. Got to give him a little better ball, but I know that
guy is going to make that play 10 times out of 10, and then
you think about Trey — sorry, I’m thinking about all the
misses right now, but yeah, I’m proud of all the guys.
I thought Arlis played great. I thought he played physical,
especially on what was that, like a 3rd and 15. We repped
all week. We knew we’d get that zone look. We talk about
catch puncture, and he did a great job of catching the ball
and puncturing, getting vertical and playing physical.
I’m proud of all those guys, and I appreciate everything
they do during the week.
Q. Billy had said that even though Arlis, his numbers
necessarily didn’t show it during the game, but he was
watching him in practice; this wasn’t a surprise to see
him put a game together like this. Would you agree
with that?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Oh, yeah, 100 percent. Like I’ve said,
just across the board, the week of prep, before the game I
told the guys, look, we’re ready. Like we’ve just got to go
out there and just play and have fun, and I think Arlis did a
great job during the prep of stacking good days together.
I think the important thing are those Tuesday-Wednesdays,
and that’s what really builds the confidence for the game,
and I thought he had a great Tuesday and Wednesday.
Q. You talked about all the misses, but your
completion percentage has been through the roof.
You were 30 of 36 again tonight, and six games in, how
much more confident are you with this group, Arlis
Boardingham especially? Did you see something
during the week in practice that indicated he was
going to have a game like this tonight?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, I thought he practiced hard. I
mean, every day. Going into even the walk-through and
just his attention to detail. It’s funny, you say all the
misses, and the first thing he comes up to me after the
game, he’s like, ugh, I should have caught that one early in
the game.
That’s just how we think. We’re always — in this game
you’ve got to have a growth mindset. Complacency kills,
and you’ve got to look at where you can improve. I thought
Arlis had a great week.
Q. Coach said you may have held on to the ball a long
time a few times tonight. Just go into that a little bit.
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, I think I was mentioning it
earlier, but especially — there was one look where I could
have thrown it downfield and thought I could step up and
make a play and got sacked. That was the one I went out
on.
But there were definitely a couple times I held the ball a
little too long. I’ve got to be quicker in my decision making,
and when it’s not there, especially like the intentional
grounding, I’ve played football long enough to know you’ve
got to throw that past the line. You just don’t hold on to the
ball and don’t make a bad play worse.
I’ve definitely got to do a better job of that.
Q. Would you say the next step is to start hitting those
downfield passes?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, yeah. That’s definitely a part
we’ve got to hit. But we’re good.
Q. You touched on it a little bit earlier, but winning
those road games, what have you learned from the trip
to Salt Lake and the trip to Lexington, whether it’s
good or bad, that you can use next week?
GRAHAM MERTZ: Yeah, I’ve played in a lot of away
games. The ones that go right, you start fast. I mentioned
that.
But we hit on it after the Utah game. It comes down to
execution. When the environment is loud, how can we use
nonverbal communication, how can we get that right during
the week so we can be ready for the game.
The big thing, this game is all about execution, but
especially when you’re on the road it’s starting fast and
executing. I can guarantee you that’s going to be my point
of emphasis for this whole team this week.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
University of Florida Football
Media Conference
Saturday, October 7, 2023
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Shemar James
Press Conference
Florida 38, Vanderbilt 14
Q. You guys have talked about generating more
turnovers as a defense. Today, three fumbles, three
prevented 4th down conversions. How important was
that to get going as you get into the second half of the
schedule?
SHEMAR JAMES: That was a big change around in the
game. We take pride in 3rd down stops and just getting
turnover is generated as a defense.
Q. Looks like here only 50 something rushing yards,
like 58 rushing yards for Vanderbilt. None of their
running backs were over 30 yards. Talk about seeing
that from the run defense and really shutting down
their run game.
SHEMAR JAMES: Most definitely. That was amazing to
see, just being a part of that, holding those running backs
to the least amount of yards as possible. We still had that
bad taste in our mouth from last week, and we just wanted
to come out this week and execute.
Q. Could you speak a little bit to that motivation from
last week and just how you saw it applied during the
week as you prepared for this game?
SHEMAR JAMES: Most definitely. We were
embarrassed. As a defense, as a team, as a unit in
general, like it was embarrassing. That wasn’t the Gator
standard that we played to last week in Lexington, and we
just wanted to get that bad taste out of our mouth this week
and weeks after that, as well.
Q. Coach Napier said he believes experiences like that
can be healthy, though, that you guys can learn from
that. Do you agree, and how do you feel about that?
SHEMAR JAMES: Most definitely. We know how it feel to
lose real bad, and we know how it feels to win. We don’t
want that feeling in our mouth anymore.
Q. Shemar, would you talk about the practice week
and feeling the momentum building up to have a good
week on the field?
SHEMAR JAMES: Yes, sir, most definitely. We came out
Tuesday with our hair on fire. Like we was out there,
turned up, ready to get to this game on Saturday, prepare
each and every day, and like you said, last week’s game
was unacceptable, and we just wanted to make it right this
week.
Q. How do you translate this kind of an effort on the
road because that seems like it’s the big issue right
now. You guys are 4-0 at home, 0-2 on the road. How
do you take this mindset into next week?
SHEMAR JAMES: Most definitely. Play every game like
it’s a home game. I guess that’s how we’ll take it. Going
on the road, you just we’re on the road. Our backs are
against the wall; we only got us, just us. We just need to
come out, start fast and finish fast.
Q. Holding Vanderbilt to I think less than 60 yards
rushing, how important was that to contain that and
then force them to beat you through the air?
SHEMAR JAMES: Yes, sir, that was most definitely
important for us as a unit, as a defense. That’s just our
standard this year. Coach Armstrong tries to hold us to
that standard each and every week.
Q. You spoke about Coach Armstrong a little bit. How
can you talk about the impact he’s had on y’all. After
that big play that Vandy had, they got inside the
10-yard line and then you guys held your ground. It
never feels like you’re truly out of it no matter what
happens.
SHEMAR JAMES: Yes, sir, one play, one drive, that’s
what he tells us. If we had a bad play, go on to the next; if
we had a good one, go on to the next. It’s a 60-minute
game, and we’ve got to play every drive like it’s our last.
Q. Coach Napier said they tweaked practice a little bit
this week. What were the changes to practice?
SHEMAR JAMES: We were still going hard, so I wouldn’t
really notice. But I guess we took a little bit off our legs I
would say and just — when you take a little bit off our legs,
you go harder each and every rep.
Q. You’re a young guy, but you had a lot of young
guys in the game tonight. Can you talk about what
you’re seeing from some of those guys?
SHEMAR JAMES: Yes, sir, our young guys, they’re some
ballers. They came in ready to work, and that’s why they
get to play on Saturday nights and Saturday evenings.
We’ve got young guys like Bryce Thornton, Jordan Castell,
T.J. Searcy. Those are some guys that play like veterans,
as you guys see. They’re a big impact on our team.
Q. Can you talk about the sequence from Ja’Keem,
giving up the 52-yard catch and then coming right
back the next play, staying locked in and making that
pass deflection on 4th down?
SHEMAR JAMES: Most definitely. That’s just Keem being
who Keem is. He gave up that pass, but next play, next
drive, know what I mean, and he didn’t let him catch the
next ball that he threw to him. That’s why I respect Keem a
lot.
Q. How hard is that to do mentally as a defensive
player?
SHEMAR JAMES: Most definitely. That’s very hard. You
just got a ball caught on you, and it’s kind of like the natural
ability is just to hang your head, but he kept his chin high
and just played until the drive was over.
Q. (No microphone.)
SHEMAR JAMES: Yes, sir, since I’ve known Arlis he’s
been making plays, and Eugene, as well, and those are
just some playmakers that we have on our offense, and
you should expect a lot more from them, as well.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports.
University of Florida Football
Media Conference
Saturday, October 7, 2023
Gainesville, Florida, USA
Tyreak Sapp
Press Conference
Florida 38, Vanderbilt 14
Q. What was the defense’s mindset heading into
Sunday’s practice and then into the game week?
TYREAK SAPP: Man, wipe this dirt off because in this
game, you try not to let that happen. You try to go
somewhere with the right attitude, the right mindset, but it
happened, but the thing is how do you respond and what
do you do about it.
Our only thing was from Sunday until today was let’s wipe
this dirt off. Let’s get up off the mat, let’s get up out of the
mud, clean this off and go back to work, and then let’s
obviously correct what we need to correct and then go out
there and execute and play the type of football we need to
play.
Q. You’ve had a couple sacks this year. I want to
know what’s going through your mind during the
celebration. Looks like you kind of lose your mind a
little bit.
TYREAK SAPP: I do lose my mind. But it’s fine. I’m fine
with losing my mind.
Q. You guys had three forced fumbles today. What
was the mindset? How important was that, and what
was the conversation regarding turnovers —
TYREAK SAPP: Get the ball is the main thing, especially
as a defensive player. If you are a defense that is efficient
at getting the ball, then obviously you’re a more efficient
defense, and then you can lead that on to having a more
efficient offense because you’re being more
complementary to them.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
2023 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Florida Student-Athletes
Florida 38, Vanderbilt 14
October 7, 2023
8 Arlis Boardingham, Redshirt Freshman, Tight End
On how he’s feeling…
“Great. God is great. Great team, great coaches, just feeling good. You know we went back to the
lab and tried to get back from Kentucky because I know I didn’t really help my team so I wanted to
make sure that I could do that today. It just feels great. Just enjoy the night, and make sure we go
back the next day and get ready for next week.”
On how much the interception last week impacted him…
“It was a lot because that was my first collegiate drop, too, so I mean it was all the details, just the
small things in preparation. So, I just went back the next week or last week and had better
preparation than I did before.”
On his connection with Graham Mertz…
“It also goes back to practice as well just being able to get that connection. Me and Graham always
have had that small connection that we’ve had has built up over time, especially through fall camp.
You know we’ve made sure we’ve communicated with each other of how we like to pass, how he
likes to throw, what he sees out there, the type of coverage he sees. So, just being able to grow from
there and produce on the field is great.”
2023 Florida Football Quotes
Clark Lea, Vanderbilt Head Coach
Florida 38, Vanderbilt 14
October 7, 2023
Opening statement…
“Tough game, tough result. I’ve got a team that’s beat up mentally, physically, emotionally right
now. We’ve got to commit to, by the time we’re back in Nashville, get our jaw set, and prepare for
the eighth game of the season. Credit to Florida, they played a great game, they beat us today, out-
executed us, and the game for us comes down to missed opportunities. We had the fourth down
conversion there in the first half that I felt like was a moment where we could seize momentum, we
could get things going offensively. To give the ball back to them in that moment was unfortunate.
Then, obviously, to get it down to the four-yard line and not be able to punch it in was frustrating, I
think we had a drop in that sequence, and a ball that was called out of bounds. Have to be better in
those moments, to grab the momentum of the game and give ourselves a chance to win in these
games. I felt the return possession defensively with the two personal foul penalties was also
unfortunate, and not indicative of our program, that gave them that third score in the first half. When
you look at just the numbers, I think defensively, just too much space in the run game, we didn’t
tackle well tonight, it’s what happens when you’re not taking space early in the snap, your eyes
aren’t on the right key and you’re chasing the play down, you get thick on blocks and you open up
space for good players. We’ve got to run our feet and down the ball, but I think it comes down to
winning early in the down, with our eyes so that we can be in better position late in the down. The
third down performance was really disappointing. Our formula is about complimentary football. Three
phases syncing up. When you’re one-and-ten on third down, one-and thirteen on conversion down,
you’re leaving too much exposure on your defense. Defensively, we’re thin in the secondary, and
we’re playing too many snaps. We had 53 snaps tonight, they had 71. Those are the underlying
numbers that say to me, that’s not winning football for us. We’ll look back on those things, that’s not a
player issue, it starts with coaching design and how we can do it better, We’ll look at those things
and how we can advance our team. Today was Florida’s day, they outplayed us, they deserved the
win, and we need to get better.”
On the status of De’Rickey Wright, Martell Hight, Jalen Mahoney and AJ Swan …
“I expect Jalen to be back, he wasn’t available today but he is feeling better. AJ Swan was available
today. The choice today was… to just make sure that he’s one hundred percent. With De’Rickey, I’ve
got so much respect for him, this guy has been battling since Alabama A&M, and it was the first
possession in that game. He took a hit to the ankle and he’s been battling a high-ankle sprain the
entire season. He was sore today and made the choice that he was going to try and fight through it,
just wasn’t able to finish the game out. We’ll evaluate that and see what he is or isn’t available to do
this week. Martell Hight, I believe it was soft tissue related. He took a hit, something in his hip area. We
have to get more information on it, and obviously that becomes a concern. We have a depleted
secondary and that makes it challenging when we’re playing as many snaps as we’re playing. We’ll
get more information as we get back to Nashville and get these guys looked at, and that’s not
atypical for this time of year. It’s about how we recover physically. It’s how we have the “next-man-
up” mentality and getting guys in there that are able to play winning football.”
On missed opportunities…
“We missed opportunities to give ourselves a chance to win. I think we were outplayed, also. I do not
believe that this team is as far away as this result feels, but we can’t talk about winning football with
this team until we start playing complimentary football, until we start talking about playing better
football on third down, on both sides of the ball, and not missing those opportunities. I would have
loved to have seen us put some pressure on [Florida], I would have loved to have seen us come out
in the second half and get closer than we were able to get, so we lost by 24 points. That’s not a tight
game and we have to find the margins that we can win in to get a tight game that can give us a
chance to win.”
On the jet sweep play…
“It’s a good play because it gets the ball into the hands of a good playmaker. We do a great job of
the perimeter block so we can create a line for him to circle the defense. He’s got the ability and the
skills to make it count and make it hurt for them. He had two carries today for 25 yards… That’ll be
something that we look to continue to do offensively. Obviously, he’s one of our dynamic players and
we need to get him going in the passing game.”
2023 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Vanderbilt Student-Athletes
Florida 38, Vanderbilt 14
October 7, 2023
8 Ken Seals, Senior Quarterback
On starting in a tough road environment…
“It’s really cool. I think they had 90,000 there… they’re loud. It was fun being out there playing
football.”
On evaluating the offense as a whole…
“Obviously, there is more for us out there. We’ll watch the tape and see that there are plays we
could’ve made. You know the ball could’ve gone a couple different places on my end so… Take
accountability for those ones and see where we can fix them, but we got to be better.”
On being a leader and keeping morale up…
“Yeah, it is but that’s not something we are going to back down from. It is what it is and we are going
to own it, and you know we got another game coming up at home, that’s where our attention is
going to be at, it’s not going to be on the last five games. Those games come and they go and you
take the learning and you apply it to the next week, and so I think that’s going to be good for us, and
ultimately we’ll put this behind us and keep moving forward because we got another half season to
play, so we have to finish strong.”
On the fourth down plays that went wrong…
“There was one I took a sack, one that we converted it and then the ball came out and it was a
close call. You know they didn’t really do much on defense, I feel like it’s just going to be on us to
clean up our mistakes and get the ball out.”
32 Ethan Barr, Senior Linebacker
On why the team struggled stopping the run…
“We just struggled in our structure. We typically handle run defense, and we struggled today getting
aligned properly at times, we didn’t do too well. And then just having our eyes on the keys, fitting the
structure of the defense, that we know is very good for us a lot of times in a lot of games… We just
got to be better, more locked in to what we have to do down-in and down-out.”
On how players performed in the absence of Cam Patterson…
“I think overall, I know I didn’t play well today, and I think at times our defense and specifically our
linebackers did play well. So, it’s just finding consistency in our performance. I think anyone’s capable
at playing at a very high level. We have guys who are young, but that doesn’t matter. I think they’re
all very good football players… We’re a strong, tight group and we have the ability to play at a really
high level and today we lacked in some areas, so it’s just finding ways to improve from today and
watching the film, moving forward.”
On his performance…
“I think my performance probably reflected the performance of the defense. Missed tackles. Some
that didn’t play well in the run game at times. I feel like I didn’t play really well. I just didn’t do good
enough tonight, so just looking at it and finding ways that I can improve and get better. I know I can,
it’s just about learning from mistakes, learning from the game, and moving on and doing better next
week. We’re going to get it done. Ready for another good week of preparation this upcoming
week.”
