Read Monday: Billy Napier, Dabo Swinney reunite as Florida beats Clemson in opener

Dabo Swinney and Billy Napier will forever be linked, both working on Tommy Bowden’s last staff at Clemson in 2008. When Swinney was promoted to full-time coach after Bowden’s dismissal, he kept Napier on staff, making him the youngest offensive coordinator in school history (29).

Their paths diverged after Swinney fired Napier in 2010. Swinney molded the Tigers into a national power, while Napier worked several stints as an assistant — including at Alabama, where he coached in two national title games against the Tigers before taking over the Louisiana program and landing the Florida job. But on Saturday, they stood on the sidelines in Atlanta and Gainesville, Florida, respectively, and had similar experiences as their teams continued to slide downward.

it He They lost, but HowBoth Clemson and Florida programs look stuck while Georgia and Miami were more finished products than blocks. Clemson failed to score a touchdown for only the fourth time in 214 games under Swinney; the other times occurred when the Tigers and Bulldogs opened the 2021 season.

Much has been made about Clemson’s lack of transfer portal activity. According to ESPN’s Kevin Nagandi, the Tigers did not acquire any players from the portal this offseason, and since the portal was implemented in 2018, none of the transfers they have had in come have made a start.

There are different ways to enhance a roster in the portal. There’s the Colorado approach with a full-scale overhaul (43 total coming in), but there’s also the Georgia (11) or Ohio State approach (nine), which is to add judiciously where it makes sense to an already stacked roster. The Buckeyes, however, added two of the best players at their positions in the game last year in Quinson Judkins and Caleb Downs. If Clemson wants to bring in portal players, it’s the latter strategy they’ll do as the 247Sports Team Talent Composite has it ranked fifth in overall team talent coming into the season — meaning the portal’s inaction may grab headlines, but the more insidious drawback of what Clemson is no longer is the lack of development of players already on campus.

Swinney’s usual refrain is that his team and its chemistry are so good that there’s no need to add outside players. The team has experienced juniors and seniors and a highly touted quarterback who is heading into his second full season. Still, the output looked disappointingly familiar. Big plays were lacking. The two drives that reached the red zone produced only three points (the Tigers ranked 94th in red zone touchdown percentage last season). Clemson held on until Georgia collected itself and then the Dawgs played clutch in the second half, rushed and eventually overtook them. The result is similar to last year’s opener, a 28-7 loss to Duke, where the only touchdown came on an 18-yard drive thanks to a muffed punt. It all just feels so familiar…

…as was the disgraceful performance in Gainesville.

Florida doesn’t usually lose the season opener, but that’s only because historically, Florida doesn’t play tough matchups. The school’s scheduling strategy was to start the season with a tuneup, and the Gators are 30-3 in the opener since 1990. That has changed in the past few seasons as season-opening opponents have become more attractive.

There have been many ups (against Utah in 2022, against Miami in 2019), but there have certainly been some downs (a loss to Michigan in 2017, a loose and disorganized performance against Utah in 2023). This Miami home opener was a new low with a 41-17 loss in which Florida’s only touchdown before the fourth quarter was a 71-yard run in which Miami failed to line up adequately. Otherwise, the offense looked the same with an initial inability to do much beyond a low-percentage horizontal play, which Miami handled with good eye discipline and sound perimeter tackling. Undisciplined penalties from Florida’s defense didn’t help early, but Miami’s offense didn’t really need them either as they found their rhythm and proved that their own portal additions (Cam Ward and Damian Martinez chief among them) were worth whatever zero cost it took to secure them.

It’s never a good look when the program’s last head coach is retweeting in support of his tenure:

Or when recruiting staffs have to stop opponents from talking about the prospects that are there to watch the home team play.

The familiar refrain is that Napier needs time, and The Monday Read normally supports that theory when coaches take over power programs. But it’s hard to connect Florida’s continued poor performance with the more complete product on the other side. Mario Cristobal took over the same season Napier did.

The ceiling talk about Clemson and Florida is obvious, but the ominous start suggests the more reasonable discussion is about how these two programs have apparently found their footing with dominant guys who have so far shown an inability to improve on the field. These teams are the same until proven otherwise, and the most substantial emotional takeaway actually came from Florida’s Jaden Baugh, who simply shook his head and moved on after watching a kickoff sail over his head into the end zone midway through the third quarter.

Notable quotes

Monday Reed would love to know what bottle of champagne Syracuse head coach Fran Brown is sending to Ryan Day “for allowing Kyle McCord to enter the transfer portal.” It would be an odd pairing, but maybe you can pair some bubbly with a sweet treat, since Penn State offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki has compared his offense to a Dairy Queen Blizzard.

“It might look complicated, but at the end of the day it’s just vanilla ice cream and your favorite candy,” Kotelnicki said after Penn State’s 34-12 win, in which his offense had plenty of eye-catching stuff in addition to an effective run game and enough vertical passing to be dangerous.

Last season, Penn State had one game with 100 yards receiving from a wide receiver. Harrison Wallace had a 99-yard receiving game with nine minutes left in the first half. finishing with 117 total yards,

Heisman Trophy Performance of the Week

Why don’t they make a whole plane out of Tetaroa Macmillan? you might ask. Well, Arizona did a lot with its passing offense. McMillan had 10 receptions for 304 yards on 15 targets (Noah Fifita caught only 31 passes). It was a stellar performance from the Wildcats wideout. By the end of the first half, he had five receptions for 199 yards and three touchdowns of 78, 69 and 19 yards, respectively. McMillan is the first FBS player with more than 200 receiving yards and more than three touchdowns in a half since Alabama’s DeVonta Smith in the 2020 CFP National Championship win over Ohio State.

Fumble Luck of the Week

When tabulating fumbles, remember this: Fumble luck can be a cruel thing. There’s no rhyme or reason to how a rectangular ball bounces on the field.

Research Desk Note of the Week

Kalen DeBoer will never replace Nick Saban, but he did have a very good start to his tenure, scoring the third-most points in a season opener since ‘Bama joined the SEC in 1933, behind Delta State (89) in 1951 and Cal (66) in 1973.

Kindness rule of the week

Monday Reed doesn’t like the schedules of NAIA schools, but look at what Stephen F. Austin did in a 77-0 win when the score was 70-0 at halftime. They played the second half in five-minute quarters, otherwise things would have changed excess Much worse.

catch of the week

You won’t see a better catch than what Robert Carter Jr. did for this whirlybird interception of Robert Morris.

Considering the fact that Carter is not an offensive player, The Monday Read is willing to say this is the most impressive catch by any player all season.

overreaction game of the week

Sunday night in Las Vegas was a fair time to overreact to Week 1 as LSU and USC gave us tough competition. Drawing sweeping conclusions about these teams is at your own risk, as showcase Labor Day Weekend performances don’t always age as well as you think. Just ask 2016 Texas and Notre Dame. But both teams come into the season as intriguing College Football Playoff contenders in their leagues.

Is USC’s defense okay? Danton Lynn’s unit certainly looked better in the second half, but the old problems in the middle aren’t completely gone. Can LSU replace its potent offense? Kieran Lacey’s 94 yards are certainly proof of the concept that the passing attack has at least one capable target.

Brian Kelly certainly took the loss with anger that was consistent with his mid-season performance.

The thing you don’t like to see

On a non-serious note, postgame fireworks for Minnesota after they missed the game-winning field goal…

On a serious note, North Carolina QB Max Johnson’s season-ending broken leg is very sad. Johnson is on his third day of school. According to the school, he underwent surgery in Minneapolis and will return to Chapel Hill, North Carolina in a few days.

Weekday Meals

Monday Reed enjoyed college football in Mexico City this week because the official policy is to actually attend your friends’ autumn weddings (congrats to Erin and David!). After a rowdy group of U.S. Georgia fans called out “dogs” in Spanish enough times to call the Mexican police for a noise complaint (which was resolved without incident), the following octopus dish was enjoyed at Mi Compa Chava.

If you find yourself in CDMX, this is a must do. If you’re a Georgia fan, be careful how loudly you chant “Vamos Perros.”