1. I don’t want to get on a soapbox, but …

They’re all judged on this game, the failures of the past 3 Florida coaches directly tied to bitter rival Georgia.

Welcome to the World’s Largest Measuring Point. Or Cocktail Party, whichever you prefer.

“Every game is important to our fan base,” Florida coach Billy Napier said earlier this summer. “But that (Georgia) game is certainly unique.”

You say unique, I say coach-maker and a coach-killer.

On the first day the greatest coach in Florida history was hired, Steve Spurrier stepped to the podium and proclaimed it was time to start beating Georgia.

He then went out and beat the Dawgs like no coach in college football history ever has.

Urban Meyer barely mentioned the name Georgia, then beat the Dawgs 5-of-6 times.

And then it turned — briefly with Will Muschamp (lost 3-of-4), then with Jim McElwain (was fired the day after losing to Georgia), and completely with Dan Mullen, who lost 3-of-4 and was routinely whipped in recruiting by Georgia coach Kirby Smart.

Minutes after last year’s 34-7 stomping of the Gators, Smart declared “players win games,” not coaches. That, more than anything, was a direct shot at Mullen, who has built a reputation as an elite quarterbacks coach and play-caller — but was an average recruiter at both of his head coaching stops (Mississippi State and Florida).

Now here comes first-year Gators coach Billy Napier, wading knee-deep in the quicksand of a roster left by Mullen, desperate to find a way to keep it close and respectable — and give elite high school recruits (and transfer portal recruits) a reason to believe it will turn in Gainesville.

Because that’s what this year’s Cocktail Party is about for Florida: projecting hope.

There’s only one way to fix the deep-seated problems at Florida, and that’s by turning over the roster. Unless you have an elite quarterback (see: Hendon Hooker) meshing perfectly with a unique system (Josh Heupel’s Blur Ball offense), it’s not going to happen in 2 years.

Florida believed it had that quarterback in Anthony Richardson, only now it’s just one of many personnel decisions to be made at the end of the season (more on that later).

Player acquisition — high school recruiting and transfer portal recruiting — is everything in college football. New NCAA rules — from NIL to transfers with immediate eligibility — have shortened the buildout timeline for those who take advantage of it.

The unvarnished truth is Florida probably waited too long to jump head-first into the transfer portal. Napier and his staff were zeroed in on recruiting high school players for their first recruiting class, evaluating the current roster and building a detailed recruiting structure for the future.

So until they got the current roster on the grass, they didn’t know what they had. By late March, after the first couple of weeks of spring practice, the staff knew there was trouble on the horizon. At one point during practice, they moved 2 defensive ends and a long snapper to tight end because the position was so thin.

It was then that Napier, during a press conference, may as well have hung a sign and proclaimed Florida was open for portal business — stating the Gators had available scholarships and they were looking to add to the roster.

“We need players,” Napier said. “We need to acquire as many players as we can at any position.”

The Gators added TB Montrell Johnson and OT Kamryn Waites in January from Louisiana, where they played with Napier in 2021. Georgia CB Jalen Kimber signed in January, too. Another Louisiana transfer, G O‘Cyrus Torrence, was considered in the fold but didn’t transfer until April.

But after Napier’s public plea for transfer portal players, the Gators signed only 1 more: Arizona State WR Ricky Pearsall.

It’s not that the staff didn’t try to add others; they were simply late to the process after spending a majority of the time plugging holes in the infrastructure of the program.

Just how bad was the roster when Napier arrived? One staffer told me in the spring, “we’re good with the first 22 (starters). After that, I don’t know how many of these guys are Power 5 players.”

By the time spring practice was over, Napier awarded 5 scholarships to walk-ons.

“At every position on our team,” Napier said, “We need more players.”

Seven months later, nothing has changed. Everything and everyone is being evaluated.

That’s not a good place to be heading into the Cocktail Party and the ultimate measuring guide.

2. The QB question

Everything looks right with Anthony Richardson. He’s big and athletic, has the strongest arm in college football and has been clocked in the 4.4s in the 40.

You couldn’t build a better quarterback — until he gets on the field.

Before we go further, understand that Richardson has been dealing with nagging injuries all season. The hamstring injury that impacted his 2021 season is still giving him problems, and the ankle injury he sustained against Missouri was significant.

But he’s not close to what Florida believed it had prior to the season, or at least hasn’t consistently produced at that level. Some of it is his admitted “confidence” issue, some is learning and adjusting to defenses as the season plays out.

He’s only 8 starts into his career, but for whatever reason, he’s not producing in an age of the vertical passing game where rules favor the offense. Vanderbilt’s 2 quarterbacks — true freshman quarterback AJ Swann and sophomore Mike Wright — have combined to throw 15 TDs and 2 INTs, and complete 59 percent of their passes.

Richardson, against a similar schedule, has 6 TDs and 7 INTs and is completing 56 percent of his passes.

There’s nothing behind him on the roster (including portal transfer Jack Miller), so he’s riding it out and the hope is he produces more good (Utah, Tennessee) than average or bad (everything else).

But then what? Florida will hit the portal hard for quarterbacks and could sign as many as 3. The Gators’ current top-10 recruiting class for 2023 doesn’t have a quarterback, and Richardson could leave early for the NFL.

There will be plenty of options in the portal, and maybe even from the loaded Georgia quarterback room (hello, Florida native Carson Beck).

Even if everything turns in November, and it all starts to look natural and proficient for Richardson, does he stay at Florida or leave for the NFL, where many NFL scouts believe he will be picked in the first round.

If Richardson is going to make a move this season, it happens in the Cocktail Party. He has had 2 weeks to heal and 2 weeks to dive into tape of the Georgia defense.

It can’t be worse than his first career start in this game last season, when he completed 12-of-20 passes for 82 yards and 2 INTs.

3. The ugly transition, The Epilogue

It has come to this: Florida must find a way to get 2 wins over the next 5 games to become bowl eligible and earn those ultra-valuable 15 bowl practices.

Those won’t be bowl prep practices, they’ll be winnowing the roster practices.

Who wants in, and who wants to leave?

A majority of Napier’s first 2 recruiting classes will be on board in 2023, so that’s around 50 players. The other 35 or so scholarship players will be a combination of players recruited by Mullen who the staff believes can be developed, and transfer portal players.

Expect Florida to double the number of transfer portal players it signed this season (6), much like what LSU and first-year coach Brian Kelly did this offseason.

For now, it’s survive as best you can. So no matter how ugly it gets this weekend in Jacksonville, no matter how badly Florida tackles and can’t get off the field on third down and can’t complete back-to-back passes, think big picture.

The critical next step (getting to 6 wins) won’t be easy. A week after the Cocktail Party, Florida travels to slumping Texas A&M, which needs the Florida game to also reach 6 wins.

South Carolina (5-2) is surging, and if Florida needs 2 road wins against Vanderbilt and Florida State to reach bowl eligibility, those 15 bowl practices aren’t happening.

Then again, the staff can get an early jump on the transfer portal.

4. The emergence of LSU

If there ever were any doubt about the key to winning big in college football, it played out last weekend in Baton Rouge.

The quarterback is everything. The coach is a close second.

Want to know why LSU controls its fate in the SEC West Division race? Because QB Jayden Daniels is not only a different player than he was at the beginning of the season, he’s a completely different player than he was the past 3 seasons at Arizona State.

That’s why you pay a coach who has been successful everywhere he has been, who was the winningest coach in the history of Notre Dame — the biggest pressure cooker of all — who is a proven quarterback developer, anything he wants.

Kelly is about winning games, and knowing what it takes to win games — not that other nonsensical crap social media dorks like to highlight because it’s cool and hip.

The guy is a ball coach.

He didn’t give up on Daniels after a slow start; he pushed him to play better. To take more chances, and play harder — to play like he’s in the best conference in college football and it’s up to him to make everyone else around him better. That was 3 weeks ago, and since, Daniels has accounted for 1,100 yards (203 rush) and 12 TDs (6 rush) and only 1 INT.

In the past 3 games — a loss to Tennessee, and wins over Florida and Ole Miss — Daniels has completed 73 percent of his passes (despite playing more aggressively), and his average per attempt increased nearly 2 yards to 8.8.

LSU is averaging 43.3 points per game over the 3-game stretch and has 2 weeks to prepare for an Alabama defense that has had problems with offenses that can throw intermediate and deep accurately.

Win in Baton Rouge in 2 weeks, and then what do social media dorks say?

The Weekly 5

Five picks against the spread, brought to you by our friends at FanDuel.

  • Florida (+21.5) vs. Georgia
  • Kentucky (+14) at Tennessee
  • Ole Miss (-3) at Texas A&M
  • Missouri at South Carolina (-7.5)
  • Arkansas (-3.5) at Auburn

Last week: 3-2.

Season: 24-16

6. Your tape is your résumé

An NFL scout analyzes a draft-eligible SEC player. This week: Mississippi State CB Emmanuel Forbes.

“The deepest position in the draft right now, and (Forbes) has done a really nice job this year moving up. He was a late-round guy when the season began, but he’s playing with a lot of confidence and playing aggressive. He’s never going to be a guy that can run, but he understands leverage, he’s a physical guy in coverage and he has great instincts.

“I love the way he highpoints and attacks 50-50 balls. Good length, and physical with his hands. He’s not a guy that’s going to be elite in the run defense game.”

7. Powered Up

This week’s Power Poll, and one big thing: most underrated player.

1. Georgia: LT Broderick Jones. Dawgs have given up 7 sacks in 7 games and Jones has been flawless.

2. Tennessee: RB Jabari Small. The most underrated aspect of the prolific Vols offense (run game), and the one guy who gets the tough yards — and 8 TDs.

3. Alabama: DT/DE Byron Young. Inside or outside, he’s a stalwart against the run and a deceptive pass rusher.

4. LSU: LB/DE Harold Perkins. Former 5-star freshman is the most dangerous player on LSU’s defense and one of the best defensive players in the SEC.

5. Ole Miss: LB Troy Brown. Central Michigan transfer is the most complete player on rebuilt defense and leads team in tackles (60).

6. Kentucky: CB Carrington Valentine. A consistent cover corner the past 2 seasons, and has 7 PDs and 1 INT this season.

7. Mississippi State: LB Jett Johnson. He’s not the fastest guy, he’s not an elite NFL prospect. He’s just relentless and leads team in tackles (72).

8. Arkansas: WR Jadon Haselwood. A legit No. 1 receiver, Haselwood’s emergence has been critical in QB KJ Jefferson’s development as a thrower.

9. South Carolina: TE Austin Stogner. Solid in the pass game (13 catches, 1 TD), and may as well be another offensive lineman in the run game.

10. Texas A&M: DE Fadil Diggs. Most consistent disruptive presence on a loaded defensive line, and has 3 sacks and 3 forced fumbles.

11. Florida: RT Austin Barber. Redshirt freshman got on the field as a starter last month and is now entrenched. Strong pass blocker on a unit that has only given up 5 sacks.

12. Missouri: Cody Schrader. Truman State transfer was a Division II star and has become Missouri’s hard-yards back (4 TDs).

13. Auburn: WR Ja’Varrius Johnson. The problem: Auburn can’t get the legit deep threat the ball. He has 6 catches in the past 4 games, averaging 17.3 yards per catch.

14. Vanderbilt: DB Jaylen Mahoney. Tough nickel back who is strong in run support and coverage, and has more than 150 tackles since 2020.

8. Ask and you shall receive

Matt: I watched the Mississippi State game, and I just don’t think this Alabama team is as good as Coach Saban’s other teams. But why? It’s the same great recruiting every year. — Larry Thomson, Birmingham.

Larry:

First, Alabama controls its fate. Win out, get to the Playoff. We’ve been to this dance enough over the past 15 years to understand the (strong) odds of that happening.

But to the larger point: late in the Mississippi State game, Saban was beside himself about a pass interference penalty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that visibly upset (and he has been known to implode).

He’s so frustrated by this team’s inability to play clean because those discipline problems bleed over to other areas. Dropped passes, missed blocks, bad angles, missed tackles. And on and on.

That moment in the Mississippi State game, to me, was a season of frustration overflowing. Now, understand this: If players keep making the same mistakes over and over, at some point that becomes coaching.

Teach them how to do it, or teach someone else and let him play. Especially if your roster is, according the 247Sports recruiting composite, full of top-5 recruiting classes.

They’re not protecting well, and QB Bryce Young is getting hit too much. They’re giving up big plays in the secondary. There’s a lot going on in Tuscaloosa right now — but I still expect them in Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game with a spot in the Playoff on the line.

9. Numbers

31. So this is something we’ve all ignored: Georgia isn’t as disruptive defensively as we think.

The Bulldogs have 31 tackles for loss in 7 games (4.4 per game), and against a rather pedestrian schedule (1 ranked team, Oregon). Last season, Georgia had 101 tackles for loss (7.8 per game).

The Bulldogs are also last in the SEC in sacks (7) and are a country mile from last year’s total (49). The drop in production hasn’t been an issue because Georgia hasn’t needed it.

At some point (hello, Tennessee), the Dawgs will. Can they turn it on?

10. Quote to note

Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher: “We have good players. We are right there. We are not getting run out of the stadium. You make a play or two, and you can get over the hump.”