Florida football will close the month with another critical non-conference matchup, facing No. 6 Miami at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Sept. 20 (7:30 p.m., ABC)
ESPN's CollegeGameDay will highlight the in-state matchup as the Hurricanes (3-0) have started the season unbeaten with wins over No. 19 Notre Dame, Bethune-Cookman and USF.
The Florida Gators (1-2, 0-1 SEC), coming off a 20-10 loss at No. 4 LSU, will look to play the role of spoiler. Miami leads the all-time series 30-27 with the Hurricanes winning the last game, 41-17, at The Swamp on Aug. 31, 2024.
"Get to play on the big stage," Napier said. "I know our guys are looking forward to it. We're off to a good start so far this week."
Here's more of what Napier had to say about the Florida-Miami matchup on this week's SEC football teleconference:
Napier said running back Jabbar Juluke, who was suspended three games by the SEC for his role in the pregame scuffle between Florida and LSU, will be with the team up until the Gators depart for the stadium against Miami.
"We will absorb his game day responsibilities amongst the staff," Napier said.
Napier wasn't on the field during the pregame warmup flex period for the LSU game. He said it was a misunderstanding as to where UF was allowed to the line up on the field, but didn't condone Juluke's actions.
"In general, I think just misrepresentative of the league, of our university, of our organization as a whole," Napier said. "Jabbar has taken ownership of that, as you would expect from Jabbar. He's been first class in terms of the way he's handled it and we've worked with the SEC office and the university administration to resolve it."
Beck went 2-0 as a starting quarterback for Georgia against Florida, though last season overcame throwing three interceptions to pass for 309 yards and 2 TDs in UGA's 34-20 win over UF in Jacksonville.
"Carson is one of the better quarterbacks in the country," Napier said. "Obviously has played a ton of football, not only in the game setting but in the practice setting at Georgia. You can tell the guy has a good football intelligence. There's an arm talent, accuracy, and he's hit the ground running."
A former Jacksonville Mandarin High standout., Beck has passed for 812 yards with 7 TDs to 2 interceptions, leading Miami to wins over Notre Dame, Bethune0Cookman and USF.
"We've all seen Carson at his best and when he's on top of his game, he's as good as anybody," Napier said. "It will be one of the challenges of the game to affect him, disrupt his rhythm, make it hard, much like most weeks in our league, you've got to protect our quarterback, you've got to affect their quarterback. This game will be no different."
Napier said he remains confident in the interior of the offensive line even with defensive tackle Caleb Banks out with a foot injury and Michai Boireau still questionable after sitting out the LSU game. Defensive tackle Brendan Bett had four tackles and UF's lone quarterback hurry despite sitting out the first quarter against LSU for his spitting penalty the week before against USF. Brien Taylor Jr. and Joseph Mbatchou played more snaps against LSU, with Taylor recording three tackles.
"I would say it's more optimism than concern," Napier said. "It's a strength for our team. We have a lot of players that are capable. Obviously Jamari Lyons being back, Brednan Bett's impact and then Tavorise Brown, Brein Taylor,there's a number of players there."
Napier said Mbatchou is coming off a strong practice.
"It's important to have depth and those guys have got to step up," Napier said. "It will be a great challenge here with the Miami offensive line and their inside running game so big task ahead for them, it will be an important part of the matchup that they will be ready to play."
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators' national championship basketball season in "CHOMP-IONS!" -- a hardcover coffee-table collector's book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com