Florida head coach Billy Napier spoke with the media after a 31-11 win over Florida State to end the 2024 regular season.
He discussed a range of topics but opened his press conference with an apology and statement on the end-of-game skirmish between the two teams, which stemmed from a flag-planting incident at midfield.
“Before we get going here, obviously, what happened at the end of the game is not who we want to be as a program. It’s embarrassing to me, and it’s a distraction from a really well-played football game. So, I want to apologize on behalf of the entire organization, just in terms of how we represented the university there.
“We shouldn’t have done that, and we won’t do that going forward and there will be consequences for all of those involved.”
Opening statement
“I think that we played complementary ball. Defensively, we were lights out. We had a season-high in sacks, limited the explosive plays and then created some takeaways and were able to take advantage of those on offense and get some points from those.
“Montrell goes for over 3,000 yards (in his career). Look, we didn’t have our fastball on offense. I think it was evident there. We had some missed opportunities. It could have been worse is what I would say. I think we struggled at times there.
“We’ve got to play better around the quarterback. Across the board there, I think we’ll look back and see that we’ve got to play better around the quarterback. But in general, good ball. Good to see us finish it there in the second half. Really proud of the leadership of the players. We talked all week about finishing the race and we’re here. So, proud of our team.”
On turnovers, forced fumbles
“Some of those were just takeaway behavior. We talk about putting takeaway behavior on the field. You do it in practice, you do it in-game. Second, third, fourth, fifth defender in, being around the ball, population around the ball contributes to turnovers. The mission here was…
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