Florida football coach Billy Napier stated that the injury that sidelined Gators running back Montrell Johnson Jr. during last Saturday’s overtime loss to the Tennessee Volunteers was not “a long-term issue.”
Even though the prognosis was encouraging, it was somewhat ambiguous because Johnson was listed on Florida’s injury report almost a week later, as the Gators got ready for a pivotal conference game against the Kentucky Wildcats.
On X, formerly Twitter, ESPN’s college football insider Pete Thamel wrote late Friday night that Montrell Johnson Jr. had already been knocked out of Florida’s game against Kentucky due to a dubious tag. DJ Lagway, a true freshman, will start at quarterback for the remainder of the season after the Gators had already ruled out starting quarterback Graham Mertz.
Given that Montrell Johnson has been the Gators’ top rusher and bell cow back this season and has led the team in rushing each of the previous two seasons, this is a serious setback for Florida’s offense. Johnson has run for 373 yards on 70 carries in six games, including a season-high 106 yards in a Week 1 loss to Miami, Florida, and 85 yards against Tennessee last week.
This season, Florida has a long road ahead of it in terms of bowl eligibility. The Gators will face rated opponents Georgia, Texas, LSU, and Ole Miss in four consecutive games following their game against Kentucky on Saturday. Florida will need to overcome a difficult test against the Wildcats, defeat one of those four rated opponents, and then dominate in-state foe Florida State in their season finale if they want to advance to 6-6.
Florida will lose a bowl game in back-to-back seasons for the first time in almost 40 years if they are unable to meet this extremely difficult target, and third-year head coach Billy Napier would probably lose his job as a result.