Florida’s sophomore quarterback, DJ Lagway, entered Oct. 4 coming off two of the worst performances of his collegiate career. After a five-interception game at LSU and just 61 passing yards at Miami, he made it clear things needed to change during the bye week.
Lagway made an explicit promise to fix the Gators’ offense, which ranked among the worst in the SEC and scored just 11 points per game against FBS opponents.
“I can guarantee that this is not acceptable at all,” Lagway said following Florida’s 26-7 loss to Miami. “We’re done with the playing around stuff. It’s time to get serious.”
Lagway cashed in on that promise against then-No. 9 Texas. The Gators won 29-21, and Lagway recorded a season-high 298 yards and completed two touchdown passes. He also completed 60- and 55-yard passes to freshmen receivers Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson, respectively.
“It’s always great to get a W, especially in The Swamp in front of these amazing fans,” Lagway said.
Through the first four games of the season, Lagway failed to regain the successful streak he had last season. As a freshman, he led the Gators to a 6-1 record as a starter and was one of the best deep-ball throwers, throwing for 1,915 yards and 12 touchdowns.
But through four games, Lagway completed just one deep ball, the Gators fell to 1-3 and the offense looked incapable of being effective.
However, it took the sophomore quarterback just one drive to find his footing against Texas.
On the first drive of the game, the Gators marched 84 yards down the field, and running back Jadan Baugh capped off the drive with a five-yard touchdown run.
Florida found the end zone once more in the first half, and Lagway finished with 150 yards when UF entered the locker room.
“I feel like we started off very fast,” Lagway said. “I feel like we got on to them pretty quick and early. I feel like that led to the success.”
Lagway found his success early on by exposing Texas’ defense on short routes underneath. Then he started throwing deeper once the defense began to creep forward in anticipation — that’s when he found Wilson for a 55-yard touchdown. The freshman receiver ran past a Longhorns defensive back, breaking several tackles and tip-toeing along the sideline for the score.
Following the Gators’ upset, Lagway praised his teammates, coaches and the Gators’ execution. He specifically expressed confidence in running backs Jadan Baugh and Duke Clark, along with offensive lineman Jake Slaughter and freshmen receivers Brown and Wilson.
“It’s just great to play good football, and just being able to play complementary football, that’s kind of the thing that we’ve been preaching and harping on since September,” Lagway said.
The Gators were on a bye and had an extra week of practice heading into their matchup with Texas. Lagway had extra preparation and earned more 11-on-11 reps, which he only started doing just two weeks before the season due to shoulder and leg injuries.
Baugh praised the offense’s preparation and execution against Texas and said Lagway was telling him all week that “we’re the best in the nation.”
“I was like, ‘Coach, we got this. We know we can win this game,’” Baugh said. “Watched enough film through the week, we prepared, and I think that was the biggest part, preparing the right way … The first couple games we didn’t prepare right.”
Head coach Billy Napier pinpointed film study, self-care and practice habits as the biggest aspects that contributed to Lagway and the team’s victory over Texas. He also said he’s seen the fiery, competitive side of the young quarterback since UF’s loss to Miami.
“He’s grinding throughout the week and he’s studying the opponent, he’s taking care of himself, he’s working in practice,” Napier said of Lagway. “He flips that switch and kind of gets into that competitive spirit in practice.”
The Gators will resume action against No. 5 Texas A&M (5-0, 2-0 SEC) at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.
“The challenge in sport is to be consistent, to be process-oriented, to be motivated by the right things and not have a letdown going forward,” Napier said.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @CuranAhern.
Curan is a third-year journalism-sports & media major who currently serves as the football beat reporter for The Alligator, now in his third semester with the paper. When not at his computer screen writing, Curan enjoys spending time outdoors, hanging with friends, family and pets, and watching the Patriots lose (no, he doesn't miss Brady).
