Billy Napier praises staff as Gators lead Eastern Washington by 32 at halftime

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier was all smiles at halftime as his squad led the Eastern Washington Eagles 35-3 in Gainesville on Sunday. Anthony Richardson set the tone with a 75-yard touchdown completion on the first offensive play for Florida and didn’t let up despite briefly exiting the field.

The Eagles started the game with the ball and drove down the field before settling for a field goal for a 3-0 lead. Florida’s defense tightened up to hold EWU to zero points for the rest of the half while the offense scored on five drives.

“Really proud of the staff for having the players ready to play,” Napier said. “Feels good to execute. Obviously, we like the perform the same independent of the opponent but we’ve settled down on defense a bit, kinda bent but didn’t break early. It’s good to see the energy, good to see the excitement from the players.

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“It’s our job as a staff. This group, they’re excited about getting better. That’s been the focus, so let’s go put another good half together.”

Florida lost their ranking last week after a 38-33 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers. A win over Eastern Washington will put the Gators back on track ahead of a stretch with Missouri, LSU and Georgia.

Anthony Richardson is 6-for-7 for 185 yards and two touchdowns. On the receiving end of the TD passes were Justin Shorter and Xzavier Henderson. The Gators’ three rushing touchdowns came from Montrell Johnson, Ricky Pearsall and Nay’Quan Wright.