Cam's Column: There's No Moral Victories in the SEC, but Florida Fought in the Face of Adversity

Saturday's game against Georgia will go down as a loss for the Florida Gators, who got chomped by the injury bug, but the fight shown by the team gives a small glimmer of hope going forward.

Nov 2, 2024; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators defensive back Devin Moore (28) celebrates after an interception against the Georgia Bulldogs during the first half at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images / Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Florida Gators wide receiver Chimere Dike said it best after Saturday's 34-20 loss to No. 2 Georgia.

"There is no moral victories. We're at the University of Florida," he said.

His full quote, however, paints the full story from Jacksonville.

"There is no moral victories. We're at the University of Florida. We're not saying that, but I think this team is taking steps in the right direction. That's something that we can kind of be proud of and continue to move forward with," he said.

I am a full believer in that there are no moral victories in football. You either win games or you lose games. That doesn't mean, however, there aren't certain takeaways from a loss like Saturday's against Georgia, and it's clear that the team that played on Saturday isn't the same one that began the year.

It wasn't a stereotypical Billy Napier loss, for one. There were no massive coaching blunders, Florida had all 11 guys on special teams, the red zone offense (when they were able to get down there) wasn't terrible. In fact, some could argue it was one of Napier's best-coached games of his tenure.

Florida led the No. 2 team in the country at halftime, forced three interceptions and even had a tied game in the fourth quarter. Now, consider the fact of how the Gators, who have rallied these last few weeks despite a bad beginning of the season, did that without the following players who either missed the entire game or were injured at some point on Saturday:

• Quarterback Graham Mertz (Entire game)
• Quarterback DJ Lagway (Injured in second quarter)
• Running back Montrell Johnson Jr. (Entire game)
• Running back Treyaun Webb (Entire game)
• Wide receiver Eugene Wilson III (Entire game)
• Offensive lineman Damieon George Jr. (Fourth quarter)
• Offensive lineman Roderick Kearney (Entire game)
• Offensive lineman Devon Manuel (Entire game)
• Defensive lineman Caleb Banks (Injured in-game, returned)
• Corner Jason Marshall Jr. (Entire game)
• Corner Dijon Johnson (Injured in second quarter, returned, injured in third quarter)
• Corner Devin Moore (Injured in second quarter)
• STAR Sharif Denson (Injured in third quarter, returned to the game)
• Safety Jordan Castell (Injured in third quarter, returned to the game)

Not to mention, here's some players Florida's been without for almost the entire season that were expected to be major contributors:

• Wide receiver Kahleil Jackson
• Defensive lineman Jamari Lyons
• Safety Asa Turner
• Corner Ja'Keem Jackson

Injuries happen. It's football. Blame strength and condition. Blame coaching. Blame the field at EverBank Stadium (I pray that the impending $1.4 billion renovation to make the stadium the "Stadium of the Future" includes new grass...). Again, injuries happen in a violent sport.

In the face of all this, Florida fought. It was a fight that's been missing since Napier's first game, a 29-26 upset of then-top 10 Utah.

Consider that this is the same season, too, where the team looked like it had given up against Miami and Texas A&M, struggled against one of the worst teams in the country in Mississippi State and had costly blunders against Tennessee.

It wasn't pretty, but in the face of adversity, the team fought valiantly. After the game, Napier gave one of his most passionately honest quotes regarding the fight of his team:

"I think we have really impressive kids. I think we have some unbelievable human beings on our team. We don't have a distraction. We don't have one guy that's not compliant. We have no discipline issues. We got a group that shows up on time; they work. I think the leaders on our team have done a great job holding people accountable. It's becoming the expectation.

"Ultimately, when it starts to work and you play toe to toe with some of the better teams you start to believe. For the first time since I've been the head coach here we showed up and we believed we could beat that team."

They believed. They believed before the game when all seemed well. They believed during the game when injuries occurred faster than first downs. They even believed after the game where "what ifs" echoed on social media and in the stands.

Belief only goes so far, though. Belief doesn't automatically put a win in favor of your team. At the end of the day, Florida lost, plain and simple. And the losses have become far-too usual in a program with expectations for championships on conference and national levels.

Now, there's been plenty of debate about what Saturday's means for Napier's tenure as the head coach. Honestly, both sides of the argument have good cases.

Pro-Napiers see a team playing for a head coach, a much-improved defense, unfair situation with two starting quarterbacks gone and an inexperienced quarterback situation left. They see close losses to top-ten programs away from The Swamp where one or two plays (or one or two injuries) could mean Florida is 6-2 leaving Jacksonville.

Injuries aren't Napier's fault, especially non-contact injuries on freak plays with quarterbacks. Give Napier time with Lagway leading his offense.

Valid points.

Anti-Napiers see a 15-18 record in almost three seasons, only one win against rivals in three seasons, those aforementioned questionable coaching decisions, what's looking to be a bad recruiting class and what could be a third-straight losing season for Napier.

They also question if Napier even deserves a chance to turn things around after what's been an abysmal on-field tenure to this point.

Also valid points.

I'm not here to sway one way or another if Napier should go. I already wrote my thoughts on the subject after the loss to Texas A&M, and honestly, the team has improved so much since then. This team, with a healthy Mertz and Lagway, probably beat the Aggies now. Still, that game goes down as a loss in the books, and it remains arguably one of the most questionable losses in Napier's tenure.

Regarding my own personal opinion of the matter, I still think it'd probably be best to move on. That's just me, though. I'm also a realest. There's a chance Napier remains the coach after this season.

In the face of reports about an informal Board of Trustees meetings, rumors of opt-outs versus injuries on social media and national calls for Florida to move on from Napier, he remains.

Credit to Napier and the Gators for sticking to the course. Credit to Napier and the Gators for ignoring the outside noise, the boos inside The Swamp and the calls for a new coach. They've played some if their best football since that loss to the Aggies.

Still, the performances haven't been perfect, and the losses to Tennessee and Georgia were winnable. Again, a loss is a loss, whether is was close or not.

There's also no guarantee that Florida would have won if DJ Lagway didn't hurt his hamstring in the second quarter, but there's no question of the impact it had. There's no guarantee that the Gator defense would have been able to shut down Carson Beck and the Georgia offense for all four quarters had it not been down three corners, but they'd done so for three quarters without those guys.

Who knows what would've happened had Florida had even three of the guys it was missing?

Hindsight is always 20-20. Dwelling on what ifs don't change outcomes. That includes Saturday's game and a decision by the University of Florida on Napier's future. Time will only tell. Lagway's injury may have bought him another season, but missing a bowl game because of Lagway's injury may cost him his job.

Time will only tell, though, and with four games left, Florida will need every ounce of fight it showed against Georgia, with maybe a sprinkle of luck, for a chance to find success the rest of the way.