Let’s just call a spade a spade.

Florida was outcoached by USF. I don’t think there are many, if any, who would disagree with that sentiment.

Florida’s 18-16 loss at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium this past Saturday falls on head coach Billy Napier’s shoulders. From questionable play calling to penalties, snapping the ball, and spitting, it was ugly.

In my opinion, Florida was flat.

Maybe it was a trap game? No excuse.

Nothing against USF, they found a way to win on the road in a hostile environment, and they beat their second straight ranked opponent after knocking off No. 25 Boise State, 34-7, on Aug. 28.

But it was a bad loss in a game the Gators could have, and should have, won on a loaded schedule with a small margin of error.

“Well, he completely blew it,” ESPN’s Paul Finebaum told (Greg) McElroy and (Cole) Cubelic in the Morning earlier today. “This is the same problems we’ve been seeing from Napier in terms of game management from the beginning, and at this point, there’s no reason for optimism. I’m sorry, we went through that last year. It was a roller coaster, terrible at first, great at the end, and you just can’t keep playing with fans’ emotions. You have to take control of your program, and he clearly has not, so I think the end is near for Billy Napier.”

So, it’s Déjà vu all over again. Well, sort of.

There’s noise in the system.

Billy Napier replacements will have the sports talk phone lines lit up.

Last September, Napier’s firing was imminent.

Florida started 1-2 in 2024, but the Gators won their final four games of the season, won a bowl game and finished 8-5 to save Napier’s job.

The two early-season losses last year were blowout home losses to Miami and Texas A&M, but the Gators will get a chance to right those wrongs this season.

The Sept. 20 game at Miami will either be a 7:30 p.m. kick on ABC or 7 p.m. on ESPN, and a trip to College Station, Texas, on Oct. 11, to face Texas A&M.

And remember, there is an open week before Florida hosts Texas on Oct. 4, and an open date before Florida plays Georgia in Jacksonville on Nov. 1.

We know the résumé overall does not bode well (Napier is now 20-20 at UF), but he’s 1-1 in 2025.

I am not being an apologist, but there’s a lot of football left.

There are currently nine AP Top 25 teams on Florida’s 12-game, regular-season schedule.

As Winston S. Churchill once said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

But it starts this week. If Florida truly is a potential playoff team, everyone has to be held accountable in order to elevate their play.

Florida will travel to Baton Rouge to face No. 3 LSU at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13, in Tiger Stadium. It marks the 72nd meeting between the Gators and the Tigers, including the 37th matchup in Baton Rouge.

The all-time series lead is up for grabs and is currently tied at 34-34-3 after Florida’s 27-16 upset win in The Swamp over No. 21-ranked LSU last season.

“This is an incredible opportunity and really a special experience to go play on the road in this league against a good team,” Napier said at Monday’s press conference. “It’s what you sign up for. It’s why you come here.”

The Gators are 12-10 overall and 7-9 against ranked LSU teams in Death Valley since 1981. However, this is only the second time that an unranked Florida team is visiting a top-five LSU team in Death Valley. The last was in 1958.

Despite a debilitating loss this past Saturday, it’s the SEC opener on the road against a top-five opponent.

I expect Florida to be ready to play.

“I think it’s all about how you respond to it,” Napier said. “Do we take the lessons that we learned? It’s all about application. How do we channel this emotion? Do we have the maturity to turn it around…there’s certain emotions that come when getting beat that can go both ways, so I’m anxious to see this group and how they’re going to respond.”

Every setback is a setup for a comeback.

Bottom line, Florida has to play better, especially on offense.

“We’ve got to score touchdowns when we get into the scoring area in the field, okay? 21-6 is a lot different than 9-6, so there’s a lesson to be learned here,” said Napier, whose team had two touchdowns called back on consecutive plays due to penalties and had to settle for a field goal. “You’ve got to score touchdowns in the red zone in this league. After turnover margin and the explosive plays, it’s red zone scoring, period. Our defense did a nice job of stopping them and forcing field goals, but we‘ve got to finish.”

Florida had its SEC-best, five-game winning streak (tied for longest in FBS) snapped in Week 2 vs. USF.

Now they get an LSU team that may have one of the best offenses that the Gators will see all season.

Florida will need to establish the run to keep the LSU offense and quarterback Garrett Nussmeier on the sidelines. The Gators have rushed for 100-plus yards vs. LSU in nine-straight games and 13 of the last 14 meetings.

Nussmeier is the first player in LSU history to return for another year with the Tigers after passing for 4,000 yards the previous season. Last year in his first season as a starter, Nussmeier completed 337-of-525 yards for 4,052 yards, 29 TDs and 12 interceptions.

The Gators will have to put pressure on Nussmeier, who was sacked three times in last week’s 23-7 win at home against Louisiana Tech.

They will also face an LSU defense that held Louisiana Tech to just 154 yards of total offense.

Now is not the time to throw in the towel. A win on Saturday doesn’t completely get the monkey off Napier’s back, but it would be a huge step in the right direction.

You’ve got to take it one week at a time, one game at a time.

“We have work to do in front of us, I mean, we’ve got a lot of football ahead,” Napier said. “There’s no scenario where you’re not going to be criticized when you lose like that…I think the key is that we take ownership, we don’t make excuses, we’re solution oriented, we stick together, and we work our plan to improve and get better in some of those areas… We’ve got work to do to get better. Our fans know it, you guys (media) know it, I know it, our players know it.”