Fourth and Dumber.
Move over Doug Dickey and make some room for Billy Napier in the Florida-Georgia Hall of Shame
As if impatient Florida Gators fans needed any more reason to criticize their head coach, Napier gave it to them early in Florida’s 43-20 loss to the No. 1-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.
Napier gave us a sequel to one of the most boneheaded plays in Gators history — Fourth and Dumb meet Fourth and Dumber. For the uninformed, the biggest coaching blunder in the history of this storied rivalry came in 1976 when the 10th-ranked Gators were still leading No. 7 Georgia 27-20 after the Dawgs scored a touchdown in the third quarter.
On Florida’s next series, Dickey inexplicably elected to go for it on fourth-and-short from the Gators’ own 29-yard line. Running back Earl Carr was stuffed for no gain, Georgia got the ball with only 29 yards to go to tie the score, scored three plays later and went on to bury the Gators 41-27. A headline in the Florida Times-Union the next day, referred to the play as “Fourth and Dumb.”
Said Carr after the game, “When I was running the play, I was asking myself why in the world we were running this play.”
Fast forward nearly a half-century to Saturday and you wonder if UF running back Trevor Etienne was thinking the same thing early in the second quarter when his unranked, rebuilding Gators were actually in decent position against the Bulldogs. The Gators marched 66 yards right down the field and scored a touchdown on their opening possession to take a 7-0 lead. Early in the second quarter, the Gators were still holding their own and trailed Georgia only 10-7.
That’s when Napier elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 from Florida’s own 34 and tried an ill-conceived play in which quarterback Graham Mertz lined up under center and the ball was snapped between his legs 6 yards back to Etienne, who was promptly tackled for a loss of 3.
Two plays later, Georgia’s Daijun Edwards ran for a 20-yard touchdown and a 17-7 lead. Two plays after that, Mertz fumbled at UF’s own 20 and Georgia quickly took it in for another touchdown and a 24-7 lead. Three plays after that, Georgia blocked a Florida punt, the ball bounded out of the end zone for a safety and the Dawgs led 26-7.
Game over.
After Napier’s fourth-down call, Georgia scored 26 straight points while Florida — on its next four possessions — gained 1 total yard, Mertz was sacked four times and the Gators fumbled and had a punt blocked.
Napier, however, defended the play.
“I have conviction in the call,” he said. “It’s not necessarily about the plays at times, it’s about the players; it’s about the execution. We can certainly call better plays at times, but, utlimately, it comes down to the execution.”
Let’s be honest and point out that the game likely would have turned into a blowout even without Napier’s gamble. And although he wouldn’t admit it afterward, Napier likely feels the need to roll the dice on fourth-and-1 in his own territory because he knows he doesn’t have the studs to beat Georgia in a traditional game.
Yes, there will be much hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing in Gator Nation after this loss, but what did you really expect? Talent-wise, Florida is a middle-of-the-pack SEC East program while Georgia looks more like it belongs in the AFC East.
“Look, we’ve got some work to do to chase them down,” Napier admitted. “We’re in the middle of that process, in the middle of that journey.”
Obviously, Napier, in his second year, is still light years behind Georgia’s Kirby Smart, whose team has won 25 straight games, back-to-back national championships and, yes, has yet another No. 1 recruiting class ready to sign in December.
It makes you wonder if Napier — or any other coach in the SEC not named Nick Saban — will be able to catch Georgia anytime soon. Even if Napier is able to get the Gators back to being a top 10-type of program, will he ever be able to conquer his biggest rival; the 900-pound gorilla — Correction: the 9,000-pound Godzilla known as Kirby Smart.
The aftermath of this Georgia-Florida game reminds me of being at this game in 1999 when late, great former Georgia coach Vince Dooley, who was then the school’s athletic director, sat dejectedly in the press box after the Steve Spurrier-coached Gators had blown out Dawgs yet again.
Said Dooley as he stepped onto the press box elevator: “Let’s get on to the next millennium. I’m tired of the 1990s and watching Florida win all the time.”
Indeed, Spurrier’s Gators went 11-1 against Georgia, and it seems Smart’s Bulldogs are well on their way to dominating this series like the Head Ball Coach did all those years ago. This is the first time Georgia has ever scored at least 40 points in back-to-back games against the Gators, and the Dawgs have won six of the last seven in the series with the average margin of victory of 23 points.
Who knows how this game would have turned out if the momentum hadn’t shifted on Fourth and Dumber. Unfortunately, for the head coach of the Gators, he will have to live with this historic blunder on his résumé.
Somewhere, 91-year-old Doug Dickey can feel Billy Napier’s pain.
Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com/listen
