
Freshman DJ Lagway now sits on an impressive, deep list of quarterbacks who passed their way into UF record book for single-game performance.
Charting the Gators: 9-Deep, Top-10 Single-Game Yardage List
Wednesday, September 11, 2024 | Football, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Simply put, it's one of the greatest Steve Spurrier anecdotes of his 12 seasons as Florida's coach.
Yeah, we know. That sets the bar really high.
The year was 1995. The Gators were on an absolute roll, off to the first 7-0 start in school history and ranked No. 3 in the country. So naturally it occurred to Spurrier to bench his starting quarterback – Danny Wuerffel, one of the favorites in the Heisman Trophy hunt – for a homecoming game against Northern Illinois. Spurrier wanted the team's dedicated and devoted backup, Eric Kresser, to get on the field for some meaningful snaps.
"Eric Kresser has been here for four years and deserves a chance to go play," Spurrier said.
With his team unbeaten? In a championship hunt? Who does that?
Spurrier, obviously.
Kresser, the fourth-year junior who arrived in the same 1992 signing class as Wuerffel, completed 26 of 42 passes for a school-record 458 yards and six touchdowns, including a 96-yarder, in a 58-20 thrashing of the Huskies. Wuerffel remained on the sidelines the entire game. He assumed his spot as the starter the following weekend and went on to lead the Gators to the program's first unbeaten regular season and a win in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, while finishing third in the Heisman voting.
"It's a great feeling," Kresser said after breaking Wuerffel's single-game mark of 449 yards set two years earlier against Mississippi State. "Who knows? Danny could come back and break mine next week."
That didn't happen. Wuerrfel didn't break Kresser's record until the midway through the 1996 season on the way to leading the Gators to the national championship and winning the Heisman. Kresser, meanwhile, transferred to Marshall, where he won the 1996 I-AA title by going undefeated and having a good ol' time throwing bombs to a dude named Randy Moss.
Nearly three decades later, Kresser's single-game total sits eighth in UF history, with six different quarterbacks – Tim Tebow, Kyle Trask (twice), Emory Jones, Rex Grossman, Wuerffel and Doug Johnson – having surpassed his total in the 29 years since. One that did not pass him (yet) was DJ Lagway, who came thisclose Saturday to dropping Kresser down another notch by throwing for a Florida true freshman-record 456 yards in his Gators' starting debut, a 45-7 blowout of Samford.
Lagway's was the ninth-highest single-game yardage total, just ahead of the 453 cranked out by Anthony Richardson in a 2022 loss at Tennessee.
Translation: the 10 greatest single-game yardage games for the Gators were done by nine different quarterbacks.
Think about that.
We did think about it, actually, and went looking to see how many college programs have had that many different guys show up in their 10 most productive passing yardage games in team history. Of the big-time brand names, Ohio State had three, Southern Cal had five, Florida State and Penn State had seven, and Michigan had eight.
Forgive us for not combing the archives of all 134 FBS programs, but Florida's nine was the highest number we found. As far as SEC teams (and some fairly good brands), we flushed it out a little more.
Take a look below.
And if someone can find a 10-out-of-10, please let us know.
Yeah, we know. That sets the bar really high.

"Eric Kresser has been here for four years and deserves a chance to go play," Spurrier said.
With his team unbeaten? In a championship hunt? Who does that?
Spurrier, obviously.
Kresser, the fourth-year junior who arrived in the same 1992 signing class as Wuerffel, completed 26 of 42 passes for a school-record 458 yards and six touchdowns, including a 96-yarder, in a 58-20 thrashing of the Huskies. Wuerffel remained on the sidelines the entire game. He assumed his spot as the starter the following weekend and went on to lead the Gators to the program's first unbeaten regular season and a win in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, while finishing third in the Heisman voting.
"It's a great feeling," Kresser said after breaking Wuerffel's single-game mark of 449 yards set two years earlier against Mississippi State. "Who knows? Danny could come back and break mine next week."
That didn't happen. Wuerrfel didn't break Kresser's record until the midway through the 1996 season on the way to leading the Gators to the national championship and winning the Heisman. Kresser, meanwhile, transferred to Marshall, where he won the 1996 I-AA title by going undefeated and having a good ol' time throwing bombs to a dude named Randy Moss.
Nearly three decades later, Kresser's single-game total sits eighth in UF history, with six different quarterbacks – Tim Tebow, Kyle Trask (twice), Emory Jones, Rex Grossman, Wuerffel and Doug Johnson – having surpassed his total in the 29 years since. One that did not pass him (yet) was DJ Lagway, who came thisclose Saturday to dropping Kresser down another notch by throwing for a Florida true freshman-record 456 yards in his Gators' starting debut, a 45-7 blowout of Samford.
Lagway's was the ninth-highest single-game yardage total, just ahead of the 453 cranked out by Anthony Richardson in a 2022 loss at Tennessee.
Translation: the 10 greatest single-game yardage games for the Gators were done by nine different quarterbacks.
Think about that.
We did think about it, actually, and went looking to see how many college programs have had that many different guys show up in their 10 most productive passing yardage games in team history. Of the big-time brand names, Ohio State had three, Southern Cal had five, Florida State and Penn State had seven, and Michigan had eight.
Forgive us for not combing the archives of all 134 FBS programs, but Florida's nine was the highest number we found. As far as SEC teams (and some fairly good brands), we flushed it out a little more.
Take a look below.
And if someone can find a 10-out-of-10, please let us know.
CHARTING THE GATORS
A look at how many different quarterbacks at each Southeastern Conference school have a place in that team's respective top 10 list for single-game passing yards.QBs in Top 10 | School | Single-game school-record holder (season) | The rest in the top 10 (and how many times) |
---|---|---|---|
9 | Florida | Tim Tebow 482 vs Cincinnati in Sugar Bowl (2009) | Kyle Trask (2), Emory Jones, Rex Grossman, Danny Wuerffel, Doug Johnson, Eric Kresser, Anthony Richardson, DJ Lagway |
8 | Auburn | Nick Marshall 456 vs Alabama (2014) | Ben Leard (2), Patrick Nix (2), Dameyune Craig, Daneil Cobb, Jason Campbell, Jarrett Stidham, Bo Nix |
7 | Vanderbilt | Whit Taylor 464 vs Tennessee (1981) | Taylor (3), Kyle Shurmur (2), Chris Nickson, Greg Zolman, Jay Cutler, Riley Neal, Johnny McCrary |
6 | Ole Miss | Matt Corral 513 vs South Carolina (2020) | Jordan Ta'amu (3), Chad Kelly (2), Shea Patterson (2), Jaxson Dart, Archie Manning |
Mississippi State | KJ Costello 623 vs LSU (2020) | Will Rogers (4), Dak Prescott (2), Derrick Taite, Dave Marler, Wesley Carroll | |
Texas | Major Applewhite 473 vs Washington in Holiday Bowl (2001) | Sam Ehlinger (3), Applewhite (2), Colt McCoy (2), Chris Simms, Brett Stafford | |
Texas A&M | Kenny Hill 511 vs South Carolina (2014) | Johnny Manziel (5), Nick Starkel, Ryan Tannehill, Kellen Mond, Jerrod Johnson | |
5 | Alabama | Bryce Young 559 vs Arkansas (2021) | Young (3), Tua Tagovailoa (3), Mac Jones (2), Blake Sims, Scott Hunter |
Arkansas | Tyler Wilson 510 vs Texas A&M in 2011 | Ryan Mallet (4), Brandon Allen (3), Wilson (2), Austin Allen | |
LSU | Rohan Davey 528 vs Alabama (2001) | Joe Burrow (4), Jayden Daniels (2), Tommy Hodson, Max Johnson, Myles Brennan | |
Missouri | Drew Lock 521 vs Mississippi State (2017) | Lock (4), Jeff Handy (2), Blaine Gabbert (2), Kent Kiefer, Chase Daniel | |
South Carolina | Jake Bentley 510 vs Clemson (2018) | Steve Taneyhill (3), Bentley (3), Todd Ellis (2), Spencer Rattler (2), Dylan Thompson | |
4 | Kentucky | Jared Lorenzen 528 vs Georgia (2000) | Tim Couch (5), Lorenzen (2), Andre Woodson (2), Dusty Bonner |
Oklahoma | Baker Mayfield 598 vs Oklahoma State (2017) | Landry Jones (5), Mayfield (3), Sam Bradford, Dillon Gabriel | |
Tennessee | Tyler Bray 530 vs Troy (2012) | Peyton Manning (4), Bray (4), Andy Kelly, Jarrett Guarantano | |
3 | Georgia | Eric Zeier 544 vs Southern Miss (1993) | Zeier (6), Aaron Murray (3), Mike Bobo |
Players Mentioned
Aaron Chiles Media Availability 10-15-25
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Damieon George Jr. Media Availability 10-15-25
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Billy Napier Media Availability 10-15-25
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Gator Insider presented by Talon Wealth 10-15-25
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