Last-second field goal shocks No. 13 Florida at home as USF completes upset bid

Silence.

That’s what fell over Ben Hill Griffin Stadium as 89,909 fans pleaded with USF kicker Nico Gramatica for one last gift. It’s not like they deserved it. No. 13 Florida had every chance — including three possessions in the final six minutes — to win. But there stood Gramatica, 20 yards out, with four seconds left, down by one point. And then he ran forward.

And then the silence.

With an 18-16 loss, the facade of Florida football, coach Billy Napier, the Heisman campaign of DJ Lagway and any likely College Football Playoff aspirations evaporated.

“We created it. We deserve it,” Napier said. The words fought through a hurricane of exhaustion only a man who’s watching his job disappear can understand. “If you play football like that, you’re going to be criticized. It comes with the territory. … [We were] not good enough.”

The collapse featured 11 penalties, the most notable of which coming on USF’s final drive when defensive tackle Brendan Bett spit on a USF player. That helped the Bulls jumpstart their offense. Minutes later, Gramatica capped the drive and clinched the victory.

But none of that would have happened had Florida’s offense shown any sign of life, ever. After USF receiver Keshaun Singleton caught a 66-yard touchdown, leaping over two Florida defenders, to take a 13-9 lead in the third quarter, Florida had four more offensive possessions. It scored its lone touchdown of the game after a 40-yard punt return by Vernell Brown III early in the fourth, but was otherwise unproductive.

“I think there’s a ton of missed opportunities in the game early,” Napier said, keeping every word brief. “I think that we shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit. I think we played from behind the sticks.”

That may be the product of Lagway.

From the start, he looked uncomfortable. While he finished with 222 yards on 23-for-33 passing, one of his incompletions was a brutal miss on an out route by receiver J. Michael Sturdivant on what ultimately was Florida’s third-to-last offensive play. USF got the ball after Florida’s final possession lasted 27 seconds — a stark contrast to its two six-minute drives to start the game.

Lagway’s inaccuracy also included an interception in the third quarter where he overshot Sturdviant on a post route. The deep shots that defined his bid to become the face of college football were nowhere to be found.

“I didn’t play very well,” Lagway said. “My guys are counting on me. So I put all that on me. And, you know, at the end of the day, I know what I’m capable of.”

Florida’s offense, away from Lagway, rarely produced explosive plays. His quarterback completed four passes of longer than 20 yards, but that isn’t to say Florida was any more successful closer to the end zone. The Gators ventured into the red zone four times, but had that single touchdown to show for it.

Combine uneven play with 11 penalties and that’s a cocktail even the Florida student section nauseously rejected.

If nothing else, the evening was a staple of the Napier scoring formula: Get to the red zone, penalize yourself out of it and trot kicker Trey Smack back out. (For whatever it’s worth, he went a crisp 3 for 3 in the evening after an abysmal three-miss showing last week.)

Credit also goes to USF. The game plan that allowed USF’s offense to pierce through No. 25 Boise State last week 34-7 worked well against a Florida defense that struggled to adapt. It wasn’t hard to predict that USF’s Byrum Brown would be the focal point. Yet, he still finished the evening with 263 yards through the air and 66 on the ground, including some quality work in that final 87-yard drive.

“There was a lot of point-of-attack plays out there as a defense that we could have made, including myself,” cornerback Devin Moore said. “So we definitely have more to clean up on the film, because we could be better.”

With the loss, Napier’s seat is as hot as ever. Florida is now 12-13 against in-state schools in its last 25 games. Napier has lost at least one game at home to an unranked opponent in every season at Florida. That isn’t really the formula for a CFP berth. And this was the type of loss you just don’t escape. At least not for some while. With No. 3 LSU and No. 5 Miami looming in the next two weeks, Napier and Co. will need a rebirth.

When Lagway walked to the podium after the game, there was still an air of confidence to the star.

“Good teams don’t peak in September,” he said. “They peak in December.”

But good teams win in September to play in December. Florida might not be that team yet.