Gators vs USF Stock Report: Playoff Hopes Take Gut Punch

The Florida Gators got upset on home field against the USF Bulls, 18-16. A disastrous showing on offense allowed USF to redeem itself with a game-winner after missing its first chance earlier in the fourth quarter. 

On that note, here is the stock report following the second game of the season. 

Stock Up

Jadan Baugh 

Yes, some stocks went up. Baugh rushed for 93 yards and averaged 5.2 yards per carry. Zero complaints with his performance on the day. It’s just a shame, in his case, that it was for a losing cause. 

Eugene Wilson III

Compared to how he fared in the LIU game, his stock could only go up. Wilson picked up 60 receiving yards and scored the only touchdown for Florida in the game. 

He looked good from the ground, too, with a nice nine-yard run. It’s a nice redemption performance after having -4 yards on five receptions last week. 

Trey Smack

He can get credit for redeeming himself, too. After missing three field goals last week, he made all three this week. One of them was even 41 yards. Again, credit where it's due.

Like the others whose stocks when up, he's stuck with having to be on the losing end of an upset after a solid night.

Stock Down

DJ Lagway 

Look, this isn’t a defense of Napier’s play calling. It still needs work, but let’s be honest that Lagway still has work to do when reading the field, too.

He expressed his lack of satisfaction with his performance last week. He’s going to feel even worse about this one. 

While he completed 22 of his 33 passes, he found the end zone once and threw a crushing interception. 

Playoff Hopes 

It’s going to be hard to come back from this one unless they pull off some major upsets. USF was penciled in as a win, regardless of how good they looked after Week One. They’re way behind the eight ball now. 

If Florida wants nine wins this season, it now has to scrape together at least six wins in the SEC with the schedule they have. Miami is looking good, and FSU is going to have the benefit of the doubt at least for now.  

Making the College Football Playoff isn’t a dead aspiration, but it took a massive gut punch on Saturday night. 

Discipline/Penalties 

There were some poor moments from the officials, sure, but the disciplinary issues on the field got out of control. Eleven penalties for a loss of 103 yards is mind-boggling.

The worst offenses came in the fourth quarter when they needed to put the game away.

Dijon Johnson commits a pass interference, and Brendan Bratt spits on someone a la Jalen Carter. That last one is completely unacceptable, even if it had proved to be inconsequential. 

Something needs to be fixed. It’s another example of how the Gators can’t get out of their own way. 

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