GAINESVILLE — Florida pummeled Kentucky 48-20 on Saturday night in front of a deliriously happy sold out Swamp.

The Gators snapped a 3-game losing streak to the Wildcats by riding electric playmakers offensively and imposing their will on both lines of scrimmage, the same roadmap to victory Kentucky used to flip the script in a series where before Kentucky’s 3-game winning streak, Florida had won 31 consecutive games.

For Billy Napier, Florida’s beleaguered head coach, the win kept the lions at bay for another week.

Napier’s buyout was assembled by Florida’s boosters in September, per multiple media reports.

After Saturday night’s blowout win, there’s enough hope swirling around the Florida program to provide a path forward under Napier, albeit a narrow one.

The path to securing a 4th season for Napier in Gainesville starts with Florida’s outstanding true freshman quarterback, DJ Lagway. Earlier this week, I wondered if Lagway’s arrival on the scene as Florida’s starting quarterback may have come too late. That question lingers, but Saturday night’s performance by Lagway suggests that there’s at least a chance Florida is finally lurching itself in the right direction under Napier.

Lagway was marvelous against Kentucky.

Facing a top-10 defense, Lagway led Florida to 41 offensive points, 476 yards, and 8.07 yards per play, all season-worsts for Kentucky. The 8.07 yards per play was the best output for Florida against a SEC opponent in the Napier era. Lagway completed just 7-of-14 passes, but 6 of those completions went for explosives, including this dime to Elijhah Badger to set up Florida’s second touchdown with the game still tight in the first half.

https://twitter.com/PFF_College/status/1847811643960377595

Lagway also changes the way teams defend the Gators.

“They are much harder to scheme for with (Lagway) as a thrower,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said following the game. “The vertical threat he provides makes it more difficult to slow the run game. You can’t just cheat a safety or fill the box.”

Mindful of the vertical pass, Kentucky’s terrific front 7, which stuffed the run games of Georgia and Ole Miss earlier this season, was manhandled by the Gators up front, surrendering 197 yards and a season-high 4.5 yards per attempt and 43% success rate.

Florida’s running game was buoyed by the magnificent play of another true freshman, Jadan Baugh. Napier landed Baugh late in the 2023 recruiting cycle, flipping him from Arkansas and holding off a furious push by Alabama. Spelling the injured Montrell Johnson Jr. on Saturday night, Baugh powered his way for 106 yards on 22 bruising carries. Baugh’s 5 rushing touchdowns tied the school record held by Tim Tebow and Trey Burton, respectively.

With Baugh and Ja’Kobi Jackson controlling the game on the ground, Lagway feasted over the top. Lagway did throw an interception but avoided other large mistakes, rushing for 46 yards on scrambles and a well-designed and called series of RPOs designed to keep the pocket moving and give the young quarterback options against a ferocious Wildcats pass rush.

Florida’s improving defense did the rest.

Torched for over 300 yards rushing by Kentucky a season prior, Florida limited the Wildcats to just 146 yards on Saturday night. When Kentucky was forced to open things up after the Gators built a multiple-score lead, the Gators pressured quarterback Brock Vandagriff, limiting the Wildcats to just 5.2 yards per pass attempt and forcing 3 Vandagriff turnovers.

Florida’s formula for victory wasn’t fluky. It’s a blueprint.

Now 4-3 on the season, the question for Napier and Florida is can they replicate it against the oncoming gauntlet?

Florida has a bye week to savor its most complete performance of Napier’s tenure, but everyone in The Swamp on Saturday night knows what awaits this team in November.

The schedule is as brutal as media and fans projected it would be. Florida’s 3 losses all came to programs currently or imminently about to be ranked in the top 10. At least 4 games against ranked opponents remain.

A Georgia team that appears to have found itself looms in the Cocktail Party is waiting first, in Jacksonville in 2 weeks. A trip to Austin to play Texas follows. The season’s final 2 home games feature dates with ranked teams in rival LSU and Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss. A rivalry game with Florida State — suddenly a game the Gators should win — is the lone reprieve — and it’s a road game against a talented defense.

Before the season, I wrote that thanks to the brutal schedule, Napier might be able to secure a 4th year at Florida with a 7-5 or even 6-6 record, depending on how the team was playing and how Florida was recruiting.

Recruiting, at least at present, is discouraging. The Gators’ 2024-25 class ranks 39th in the 247 composite and their best commitment flipped to Miami earlier this month. Recruiting returns must improve, or any momentum Napier gains from his improving team will be fleeting.

That said, the Gators do appear to have found something on the field, a fact Napier took a deserved moment to smile about Saturday night.

“I am very proud of the resiliency of our football team,” he said. “I think resiliency is essentially just being mentally tough and having the ability to overcome setbacks, to work through difficult times, to have an identity. Look, that’s what I would say about our team, is they continue to work. They were solution-oriented. Nobody pointed a finger. We went through a challenge last Saturday night. We had a locker room of guys that were hurt. We could have easily splintered at that point, but we didn’t.”

The Gators could have mailed it in after a heartbreaking rivalry loss to Tennessee, where Florida dominated the game and lost its starting quarterback and leader, Graham Mertz.

Instead, Florida imposed itself on a team that had dominated it for the past 2 seasons.

The Gators will miss Mertz’s steel and steady decision-making in the stretch that follows. But there’s no question the Gators are more explosive offensively with Lagway under center. In 2 starts, Lagway has completed 9 passes of 40 yards or more. He’s led 3 touchdown drives of 90 yards or more this season. In just over 1 1/2 years as Florida’s starter, Mertz had only 5 such completions. He led only 2 such drives.

Lagway’s high ceiling, coupled with an improving defense, provide a path forward for Napier to a 4th year in Gainesville.

It’s a narrow path.

But it’s not one you’d have thought possible in September.

That will make this a November to remember at Florida, one way or another.