Jesse Palmer gave Billy Napier and the Florida Gators his nod for the best Week 1 debut.

Napier, in his first game at Florida’s head coach, had arguably the toughest test among the new head coaches with No. 7 Utah coming into the Swamp.

It was a back-and-forth battle with eight lead changes that ended with Amari Burney making a diving interception of Utah quarterback Cam Rising to seal a 29-26 win.

“That was impressive. We weren’t sure what their identity was going to be but you can see the team is buying in to his physical approach.”

“That could not have been a better start for Billy Napier.”

https://youtu.be/ETdWBd9Rx9g?t=243

Things won’t get much easier for Napier in Week 2 as the Gators will host Kentucky next Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.