Billy Napier's Florida football Camry remains parked next to Georgia's sports car | Toppmeyer

I wouldn’t know much about living in a gated community, but I imagine it must evoke a certain type of pressure and envy.

You park your Toyota Camry out front and feel all right until you see your neighbor’s Audi pull into his driveway. Another house over, you see a BMW. Down at the end of the road, there’s a Ford Mustang.

Suddenly, you don’t feel so good puttering around in your Camry.

Billy Napier is driving that humble Camry in his second season at Florida, and he’s about to be reminded of what he doesn’t have. Here comes Kirby Smart's red Audi, screaming into Jacksonville. Then there’s two more rival neighbors you can’t stand, Florida State and LSU, and their riches.

I’ve written before that Napier’s challenge of elevating the Gators is compounded by most of Florida’s rivals punching up to their weight, at the same time.

No. 1 Georgia eyes a three-peat. No. 4 Florida State could qualify for the College Football Playoff for the first time since the 2014 season. No. 15 LSU misfired, but it’s roaring now. The Tigers may win the SEC West.

And Florida is dipping and dodging past South Carolina. Sure beats losing to the Gamecocks, but, boy, seeing rivals flourish while you fight to make ends meet is tough on the psyche.

After Florida’s ugly season-opening loss at Utah, I questioned whether it would even be at this place, touting a 5-2 record, entering Saturday’s Cocktail Party against Georgia (7-0, 4-0 SEC).

The Gators’ road woes persisted, and they needed all of Graham Mertz’s heroism to wriggle past South Carolina.

Seeing Mertz thrive in Napier’s system restores confidence in the coach's quarterback-development ability, after the talented Anthony Richardson failed to reach his potential or develop consistency last season.

The Gators have shown resolve, they've been steady at The Swamp, and the offensive line improved after a disastrous start.

“They’ve played their best football the last two weeks,” Smart said of Florida’s victories over Vanderbilt and South Carolina.

That's a backhanded compliment, considering the opponents Florida beat, but after the Utah debacle, I wondered about Florida’s ability to beat even the SEC’s meekest squads.

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The Gators have miles to go before reaching the level of Georgia or FSU, and patience is hard to come by when rivals are succeeding.

Napier’s recruiting provides a source for optimism.

While in the press box covering Alabama-Tennessee on Saturday, I read a social media post from Gators strength coach Mark Hocke celebrating at bye week victory. At first, I figured this to be a hokey post reveling in a lineman’s bench press, or some such thing. After further investigation, I realized Hocke's post to be a veiled celebration of five-star defensive lineman LJ McCray committing to the Gators over Auburn, Florida State, Georgia and Miami. Yeah, that’s an open-date triumph worth celebrating.

Florida’s 2024 recruiting class is ranked No. 3 by 247Sports. But, high school commitments alone won’t be enough to catch the Joneses. Georgia’s class is ranked No. 1. FSU’s is No. 4.

That's life when your neighborhood is Beverly Hills.

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WHITLEY: Anthony Richardson hasn't changed, which is good and bad

FLORIDA GATORS RECRUITING: What commitment L.J. McCray means to Florida's 2024 class

To gain ground, Napier must be more active in the transfer portal next offseason. Transfers helped elevate FSU from good to really good, and a transfer quarterback is a key difference between Florida being 5-2 and not 2-5.

“Playing well at quarterback is certainly a big part of the puzzle," Napier said. “I do think that we are steadily improving around him.”

Credit Napier for seeing what I didn’t in Mertz and marrying the right fit of player and system. Next, apply those evaluation skills to add transfers to massage other weaknesses.

Mertz’s completion percentage (76.2) leads the SEC, suggesting he wasn’t the problem at Wisconsin, but rather Wisconsin was Wisconsin's problem.

“You can tell (Mertz has) a lot of confidence in (Florida’s) system,” Smart said. “They’re able to execute and do a lot of good things with him.”

That sounds like something you might say about your neighbor’s Camry while you apply Turtle Wax to your Audi.

Florida will be reminded of the modesty of its riches on Saturday.

At least Florida isn’t Auburn, though. Park the Camry next to Hugh Freeze’s beater that won’t start and sits on four flats, and you start to feel a bit better about Napier’s ride.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfiltered newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Florida football-Georgia is Billy Napier's Camry vs. Kirby Smart's Audi