All the Gators will be watching on Saturday for their bye week. Hello Swamp Lizards... You're next...Stop the run if you can! Stack the box!!!
Florida football coach Billy Napier has 'high respect' for UCF coach Gus Malzahn
Napier said he has "high respect" for UCF coach Gus Malzahn, who has SEC roots. Malzahn was a former offensive coordinator at Arkansas (2006) and Auburn (2009-11) before taking over the head coaching job at Auburn from 2013-20. He was hired by UCF in 2021.
As a young assistant coach, Napier said he first encountered Malzahn by recruiting some of his high school players when Malzahn was a high school coach in Springdale, Ark.
"Gus is creative," Napier said. "He's got a really good football mind, he's done a good job. He's had a lot of different scenarios to call on it as a head coach."
Under Malzahn this season, UCF enters this weekend leading the nation in rushing offense, averaging an eye-popping 375.7 yards per game.
"One thing about Gus' teams: They're always tough, they're always physical, there's always a conscious effort to run it," Napier said. "Everything is kind of built off the ability to run the ball both inside and on the perimeter, and all those three-level routes, just puts you in conflict."