By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

A year after they failed to achieve bowl eligibility, The Florida Gators (7-5; 4-4 SEC) secured its return to postseason play with a spot in the Gasparilla Bowl on December 20, where it will face Tulane (9-4; 7-1 AAC).

It marks the Gators’ second bowl appearance in three years under head coach Billy Napier and their 22nd since the New Millenium (That’s the year 2000 for our younger readers).

Florida is 11-10 in postseason games since the turn of the century, excluding SEC championship games.

“We just have access to the players a lot more than we used to in the old days,” Napier said of securing a bowl berth. “All spring, all summer you can be on the field. It’s a little bit more of a reward for the players. It’s another opportunity to create momentum for the program. A lot of our redshirt players that will be able to play in the game which will be big.”

The Gators enjoyed their best season of the Napier era in 2024, winning seven total games and four against SEC foes, both program highs under his current leadership.

Florida’s success was the byproduct of an impressive run to end the regular season, five wins in their final eight games and each of their last three, including back-to-back wins over then-No. 21 LSU and then-No. 9 Ole Miss.

This was the first time the Gators had recorded multiple ranked wins in the same season under Napier’s watch.

Napier and his players said their bye week in late September was the catalyst for their marked improvement.

“I walked off that field and said, ‘That’s the best practice I’ve been associated with in 20 years of college football,'” Napier said. “So, at that point, I’m like, ‘We’ve got to figure this out.'”

He added that the Gators’ Oct. 12 loss to Tennessee  also provided a motivational boost.

“I think Tennessee was a turning point,” Napier said. “I think in that locker room after the game, that was when it was like, okay, we can do this, and I think obviously Kentucky, another open date, what we experienced in Jacksonville. I just think hope is powerful, man. Just proud of these guys, man.”

While Florida’s 2024 campaign was ultimately successful enough to buy Napier a fourth season at the helm, things looked quite bleak for it at the outset.

The Gators suffered their worst home-opening defeat in program history when they lost 41-17 to Miami on Aug. 31 and endured a second blowout loss two weeks later at The Swamp against Texas A&M.

Looking back, Napier said those matchups bettered his team, too.

“Sometimes you’ve got to go through stuff,” he said. “They’re different because they went through that. They don’t really care what anybody thinks. They care what the people around them think. They care about doing their job and being accountable and being responsible to the people around them. I think what they’ve been through has forced them to do that, and I can say the same thing.”

The Gators could keep their hot streak alive in their bowl game with many of their key contributors likely to participate, including freshman quarterback DJ Lagway, junior center Jake Slaughter, freshman running back Jaden Baugh, junior edge rusher Tyreak Sapp and sophomore defensive back Bryce Thornton.

Florida is looking for its eighth win of its season for the first time since 2020. Did anyone predict this ending 5-6 weeks ago?