Image Credit: UAA
The Florida Gators exorcised some demons Saturday night at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. Following an embarrassing Week 1 loss to an in-state rival, the Gators took advantage of a get-right game against the Samford Bulldogs, ultimately prevailing with a 45-7 victory on Florida Field. It was UF’s first win in 329 days dating back to the middle of the 2023 season.
Florida left 14 points on the board in what should have been an even more decisive blowout win, but no one is talking about those two touchdowns given the immense play of five-star freshman quarterback DJ Lagway, who stole the spotlight in The Swamp.
Lagway, the first Gators QB to start as a true freshman since Treon Harris in 2015, completed 18 of 25 passes for 456 yards with three touchdowns, rushing for another 16 yards. His 456-yard total was freshman record, the most in a single game since Emory Jones threw for 464 yards (ironically against Samford) in 2021 and the ninth-most in program history, 28 yards shy of Tim Tebow’s record (482 yards).
It was not the statistics that Lagway compiled but the way he threw the ball and ran the offense that kick started a quarterback controversy with redshirt senior Graham Mertz — well before the final whistle even sounded. Yes, Florida was playing an FCS opponent in Samford, but Lagway’s throws and decision making — given coverage and pressure — would have been impressive no matter the opponent.
Lagway was efficient. He placed balls in tight windows. He escaped pressure and stepped into the pocket. He displayed toughness shaking off a couple major hits. He moved the ball down the field efficiently. And yeah, he put up numbers, too.
The Gators had seven scoring drives Saturday night. All five authored by Lagway — that resulted in touchdowns — lasted 2:18 or less and transversed 69 yards or more.
He created explosive plays of 77 yards (a rocket to senior wide receiver Elijhah Badger), 44 yards (a dime to senior WR Chimere Dike) and 40 yards (a beautiful seam throw to redshirt sophomore tight end Hayden Hansen) on consecutive touchdown drives.
Then came Lagway’s 36-yard basket throw to freshman WR Tank Hawkins for the passer’s first career touchdown and another 41-yard dime in which Lagway stepped up in the pocket to run only to find redshirt freshman WR Aidan Mizell for his second score.
When was the last time a Florida signal caller made five explosive throws of that quality in a single game, no matter the opponent? Perhaps Kyle Trask?
“It’s never too big for the guy. It’s almost like he raises his level [with the opportunity],” Napier said. “… I think he made the most of his opportunity.”
Lagway was poised beyond his years under the lights in The Swamp. He did have some freshman struggles — going through his progressions — but the immense play certainly exceeded the flaws. Depending on Mertz’s concussion recovery — he is on track to be cleared — and head coach Billy Napier’s decision making, he may get an opportunity to put forth an encore performance next Saturday against a much tougher opponent in Texas A&M.
Napier was noncommittal after the game, though his words appeared to suggest that Mertz and Lagway would remain in their respective roles.
“Our intentions are the same. We intend to play [Lagway] every week; we intended to do that last week as well,” Napier said. “He brings a different element to our team. There’s no question he’ll be a part of every plan going forward.”
The stated plan before the season was a package of plays for Lagway each week as a reserve behind Mertz; however, Lagway did not even play in the season opener until late in the third quarter when Mertz went down with his injury. Napier claimed this was due to only running 20 total plays in the first half of that game.
“We’re going to go back and watch the tape,” he said. “We have a good, young quarterback, and we have an incredible veteran quarterback as well. It’s a good thing for our current team and the future of the program, to some degree. I think we have the makings of a really good football team.”
Every team makes mistakes in every game. There is no such thing as flawless football. It’s just that the miscues committed by the Gators always appear to be more costly than those from their opponents. Two such errors led to a pair of touchdowns not being scored when, in most other circumstances, Florida absolutely would have found the end zone.
The first came on Florida’s opening drive. Given a short field thanks to a terrific defensive turnover, the Gators ran on five of six plays. The last, on fourth-and-1 from the Samford 17, was a direct snap to sophomore running back Treyaun Webb. He stood no chance as his teammates did not block the edges, and the play was blown up in the backfield.
The other came on Florida’s opening drive of the second quarter. The Gators easily drove down the field thanks to the aforementioned Lagway-Dike connection only for freshman RB Jadan Baugh to fumble into the end zone. UF should have been leading 21-0 just over 16 minutes into the game. Instead, it was only up 7-0 at that juncture and 14-0 entering halftime.
Florida also committed seven penalties for 77 yards, including a pair of third-quarter unnecessary roughness calls on senior cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. (a questionable decision) and senior linebacker Derek Wingo. And for the second week in a row, UF wasted a timeout coming out of an extended dead ball sequence — this time at the start of the fourth quarter.
The Gators entered Saturday’s game down four defensive backs, including at least two starters. It is not assured that any will be back to play the Aggies next week. One of the replacement starters, sophomore cornerback Ja’Keem Jackson, who played opposite Marshall, appeared to significantly injure his hamstring while running normally on special teams. He did not return. It’s possible UF is immensely thin in the secondary after just two games of the season.
Lagway was also checked or a concussion ahead of halftime, but he was ruled to be fine and returned to the game on the next offensive drive. He actually took two helmet-to-helmet hits with officials not calling targeting on the Bulldogs despite both being clear penalties.
“That’s a good step in the right direction. We all understand the level of competition of the opponent,” Napier said. “… Better teams and better opponents are coming. There are still a handful of things for us to clean up.”
Florida outgained Samford 632-205, 466-144 through the air and 166-61 on the ground … the Gators averaged a first down per play (10.2 yards) and 24.5 yards per completion …
UF is now 4-0 all-time against Samford and 24-1 against FCS teams since 1981 … Florida avoided losing a fourth straight game in The Swamp for the first time since 1979 … the Gators improved to 10-5 at home under Napier … Florida is now 11-2 under Napier when leading after the third quarter, 10-3 when leading at halftime and 10-4 when rushing for at least 150 yards … the Gators are 38-12 against unranked opponents since 2018 … Florida has scored in 450 consecutive games, an NCAA record
Asked who has been calling plays for Florida — given Napier said in the offseason that remained his responsibility, yet there are co-offensive coordinators — he chose not to provide an answer: “We call the plays. Our entire offensive staff worked hard all week. I think that’s overrated. I think the offense executed well today. We called the plays in Week 1, and we called the plays tonight as well.”
It was a decisive victory for the Gators, yet it came against a team they should have beaten decisively. And as mentioned, 14 points were left on the field, which would certainly cost Florida against a far more talented opponent. Despite the lower-level competition, it was clear that UF found a motivational factor coming off its Week 1 loss with the team appearing better off for it. However, the most notable change agent in the contest was Lagway. Based on Napier’s comments after the game, one can only deduce that a starting role does not appear to be in the freshman’s future unless film changes minds over the weekend.
There was not enough Saturday night to draw any definitive conclusions as Samford did not present a challenge that truly tested some of Florida’s most notable deficiencies. The Gators’ secondary (due to health) and offensive line (due to play) will both be huge question marks entering Week 3.
“This group of players is very disappointed with how they played in Week 1 ,” Napier said. “It’s personal to them. They’re on a mission to prove that all this work that they’ve been doing, that was not who they wanted to be [in Week 1]. It’s been a tough week in that regard. Maybe that gives us the spark we need to prepare the right way, start faster, bring energy.”
Florida will play its third straight home game to open the season on Saturday, Sept. 14 when it hosts Texas A&M at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Aggies, led by new head coach Mike Elko, lost 23-13 to Notre Dame in Week 1. The No. 5 Fighting Irish turned around and fell to Northern Illinois this week, which provides no sure-fire answers as to what to expect when TAMU visits The Swamp.
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