Details Napier vs. former Florida Gators Running Back Trevor Etienne

Gainesville, Florida Florida alligators“The annual matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs already has a storied history, bittersweet memories for both sides and, at times, pure hatred between the two fans and players.

All of those traits are on the rise this season, however, as the Gators will face what used to be one of their own at what is now Georgia, starting with running back Trevor Etienne, who transferred to the Bulldogs after two seasons at Florida.

After back-to-back 700-yard seasons with the Gators, Etienne had 422 yards and seven touchdowns at Georgia and had three touchdowns in a win over Texas two weeks ago.

For Gators head coach Billy Napier, it’s about moving forward, not what happened.

“I think for me it got to the point where you just move on to the next thing. I think we did what we needed to do to be productive at running back,” he said Monday. “Obviously Jadan (Beau), Ja’Kobe (Jackson); Montrell (Johnson Jr.) has been very productive for us this year. This position for us is central to our offense and I couldn’t be more proud of it. The guys that are there and coach (Jabbar) Juluk in particular did a good job.”

Along with Monrrell Johnson Jr., whose status remains up in the air after a lower-body injury suffered against Tennessee forced him to miss the Kentucky game, Bo has quickly become a fan favorite and a key offensive player after A 100-yard, five-touchdown performance two weeks ago against the Wildcats.

“Jadan is going to get better. You can see he’s getting comfortable,” Napier said. “I think at the beginning of the year you saw that there was some ability there, but just in general, how it is there, performing at that level. I think he has improved his pass protection. Both he and Ja’Kobe need to continue to grow Yes, he was great with the ball.

Beau, who was one of Florida State’s final additions to the 2024 draft, was almost immediately focused on the Gators after Etienne’s departure. While an Arkansas commit, the four-star Georgia native also considered Alabama before ultimately committing to Florida.

A call from Napier’s brother, a high school coach in Georgia, Florida first made him aware of Bowe.

My brother actually played in a scrimmage with their team and he was committed to Arkansas at the time, and after that scrimmage he picked up the phone and called me and said, ‘Hey, you’ve got to get on that guy Jaydan Boe,’ Napier said, ‘We picked it up after that fight.”

However, he was actually evaluated as a linebacker before the Gators saw that he could fill the void left by Etienne at running back.

“It just goes to show how much we knew,” Naper said. “But we knew he played running back. He was kind of a Wildcat quarterback hybrid. He played receiver. Just to see how big he is, you know, you watch tape, you meet him, and you’re like, OK, that’s a little different the cat is here.”

All in all, Florida’s matchup with a former player isn’t unique to just Saturday’s matchup against Etienne and Georgia. The Gators have already faced plenty of former players and commits in matchups against Texas A&Mmississippi state UCF and Kentucky.

“It’s become the norm in college football,” Naper said. “There have been several times this year that we have played against players from the opposite side who have been on our team in the past. Look, it seems like every week there is a story about these scenarios. It was not the first and, unfortunately, not the last.”

Florida will look to upset Georgia, recently ranked second nationally in the latest AP poll, on Saturday in Jacksonville at 3:30 p.m.