Image Credit: UAA
The Florida Gators lost their fifth straight game to the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday, but they certainly had some assistance from the SEC officials calling the contest on their way to defeat. Florida, in its first game under interim coach Billy Gonzales, fell 24-20 to No. 5 Georgia in the last edition of the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party that will be played in Jacksonville, Florida, until 2028.
The Gators led 10-7 late in the first half and 20-17 in the fourth quarter but were unable to put away the Dawgs, who benefitted from typical Florida miscues, officiating blunders and a couple explosive plays on their way to remaining in College Football Playoff contention.
Though the Gators rallied in the second half, they ultimately fell for the eighth time in the last nine meetings with their border rival, continuing their inability to score more than 20 points in any Florida-Georgia game since 2020.
“We’re not here for moral victories. We came up short. We came here to win,” Gonzales said. “… This group of men in there, I told them I respect them. I respect them for the way they’ve handled change over this past week. I respected how resilient they’ve been over this past week. I respected how they’ve responded and taken ownership of this team. I’m extremely proud of them. I know they’re hurting, our staff’s hurting, I’m hurting. We came here to win. The Gators expect to win.”
Let’s take a look at what went down Saturday at EverBank Stadium.
Up by a field goal, Florida faced third-and-2 in the Georgia red zone with 8 minutes to play. Rather than hand the ball to sophomore running back Jadan Baugh, who was bruising defenders all game, a keeper outside the sticks was called for sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway, who was stood up for a 1-yard gain. The Gators then did the blatantly obvious on the next play, handing the ball to Baugh, who was stuffed for a loss. The Dawgs immediately turned around and gained 82 yards in 3:18, scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a 36-yard rush aided by a missed holding call.
While Gonzales’ decision to go on fourth-and-1 was the right move, the play calls from quarterbacks coach Ryan O’Hara left a ton to be desired given Lagway had only seen any measure of success running straight ahead on long downs and distances in the game. If anything, these plays should have been alternated with Lagway sneaking up the middle when needing 1 yard or less.
There will be arguments about whether redshirt senior wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant indeed hauled in a 47-yard bomb from Lagway late in the fourth quarter while falling to the turf. Do not abide them. The throw was ruled incomplete and upheld as such despite replay clearly showing the ball bounced off Sturdivant’s wrist into his chest on a prayer of a third-down play that would have put Florida in the red zone with an opportunity to upset Georgia.
(As far as Lagway’s throw, it was made off schedule, with suddenness to a spot deep down the field as Sturdivant was coming back to the ball. If the EverBank Stadium turf was not terrible, he would not have fallen. Lagway’s throw may not have been perfect, but it was not at fault.)
Of course, this effectively ended the game for Florida, which subsequently turned the ball over on downs. And yes, the Gators should not have needed this play had they simply taken care of business on the prior possession. Neither of those realities changes the fact that it was a horrendous call live on the field and even worse review by an SEC officiating staff that made compounding mistakes that helped cost UF the game.
The two missed holds and overturned fumble contributed to 17 of Georgia’s 24 points. It’s possible, if not likely, that some of those would have been scored anyway … but all of them? And again, that’s not counting a stolen red-zone opportunity that Florida clearly deserved on the Sturdivant reception, a call that goes in the pantheon of terrible officiating decisions against the Gators alongside Dallas Baker against Tennessee and Florida State’s fumble party in The Swamp.
Lagway’s struggles through the duration of the 2025 season are well known by this point, but more than two full months into the campaign – with Lagway considered 100% healthy and up to speed both physically and mentally – there is no more room for excuses when it comes to his level of play. (Well, except for the Gators being down two starting receivers and three of their top five pass catchers in the second half.)
The second-year signal caller was again a mixed bag Saturday, completing 15 of 24 passes for 166 yards and a TD. He rushed 10 times for 24 net yards (reduced by sacks), making two huge gains up the middle, one for a career-long 26 yards, but often struggling in short-gain situations.
The greater issue was not Lagway’s legs but his head and arms with one disastrous series in the second quarter collecting all his issues in one bag. Lagway sailed a ball, threw another wide and nearly fumbled when his footwork sent him too far backward despite having one of his cleanest pockets of the season to deliver a ball. Issues with his mechanics have plagued him all season, but with seven games under his belt and two weeks to prepare entering Saturday, the hope was that some of it would have been figured out by now.
While Lagway outplayed Stockton for large portions of the game, the Gators’ star left far too many points out on the field, and ultimately, his inconsistencies played a role in Florida’s failure.
Florida now trails 44-57-2 all-time against Georgia, though the Gators have victories in 22 of 36 meetings since 1990 … the Dawgs lead 51-41-1 in Jacksonville with five straight wins and victories in eight of the last nine meetings since 2017 … UF has not scored more than 20 points in the rivalry game since 2020 … Florida has not defeated a top-five team in five years … interim coaches for the Gators are now 14-10 all-time, 4-3 in debuts and 3-4 against ranked opponents; this was the first time one ever played a top-five team … Florida’s defense has forced a turnover in 18 of the last 20 games … the Gators are 1-5 in neutral site games since the start of Billy Napier’s tenure (5-17 away from home) … since Napier took over, Florida is 3-17 when opponents score first, 1-17 when scoring less than 21 points, 7-22 when allowing 21+ points, 4-18 when tied or trailing at halftime, 3-22 when tied or trailing after the third quarter and 4-17 when being outrushed … the Gators since Napier started are 5-18 against AP Top 25 teams, 4-13 over the last three seasons … UF is 2-13 against top-five teams since 2018 … the Gators have scored in 469 consecutive games, an NCAA record
Florida played hard for Gonzales and themselves. There is no doubt about that. The offensive play calling was clearly improved (outside of that aforementioned combination of third- and fourth-down calls). The Gators operated a bit faster offensively, focused on moving the ball down field (not side to side), and neither relied on ill-timed gimmicks nor an abundance of motion that had previously confused Lagway. The defense played as it has for most of the season – strong in bunches and soft in others. Ultimately, Florida was cleaner but remained unable to get the job done due to a variety of reasons.
Whether the Gators won or lost was ultimately meaningless. Perhaps the toughest takeaway is that Lagway did not look like player Florida was promised he would be given his pedigree and hype. That may be circumstantial or it may be a long-term reality; it’s impossible to know at this point given everything that has worked against him to this point in his young career.
UF hits the road next week to face Kentucky at 7:30 p.m. ET in a game that will air live on SEC Network. It will then play consecutive games against top-15 opponents before wrapping the season at home against Florida State.
