Billy Napier explains why he believes South Florida shares DNA with SEC rival
By Mark Kern
Published:
Billy Napier and the Florida Gators took care of business in Week 1, as they defeated Long Island, 55-0. The Gators will be in action in Week 2 when they host a South Florida team coming off a dominant 34-7 win against Boise State.
The Bulls are led by coach Alex Golesh, who was the offensive coordinator at Tennessee before taking the South Florida job in 2023.
On Wednesday, Napier spoke to reporters about what Golesh has done as the Bulls coach, and said there is definitely a Tennessee vibe to what he’s building.
“I do think there’s a little cat and mouse there in general. But I just think as a program overall, you see a little bit of their DNA is similar to Tennessee, in my opinion,” Napier said. “I think they’re improve on defense. I thought they played really at a high level on defense in the opener. Tennessee has improved over the last few years, and statistically were one of the better defenses in the country last year.”
The Bulls were extremely aggressive when it came to attacking the ball on defense, as they forced 3 fumbles in the win against a Boise State team that was ranked No. 25 to start the year.
Despite being in the same state, this will be only the fourth time these two programs have ever matched up. The Gators have won the previous three, including a 31-28 win in the last matchup in 2022.
For Florida, this is the final game before starting one of the toughest four-game stretches of just about any team this year. After USF, the Gators will play at LSU and Miami, home against Texas before a road game at Texas A&M.
Kickoff is scheduled for 4:15 ET and the game will be aired on ESPN.
