WHAT HAPPENED: Florida freshman quarterbackDJ Lagway passed for 456 yards and three touchdowns in his collegiate starting debut Saturday night to lead the Gators to a 45-7 victory over FCS-classified Samford at Spurrier/Florida Field. Senior tailback Montrell Johnson Jr. rushed for a pair of first-half touchdowns, while wideouts Eugene Wilson IIIandElijhah Badgereachhad 100-yard receiving games, but it was Lagway's big arm — and the energy he ignited in "The Swamp" — that picked the Gators off the mat following last week's lopsided season-opening home loss to cross-state rival Miami. Lagway, the 2023 Gatorade National Player of the Year summoned to starting duty after sixth-year senior Graham Mertz suffered a concussion against the Hurricanes, hit 18 of 25 attempts, with touchdowns of 36, 41 and 85. When he was done, the 6-foot-3, 239-pounder from Willis, Texas, had shattered the record for single-game yards by a UF true freshman, leaving the 268 by Chris Leak (Sept. 27, 2003 at Kentucky) in the dust. The 456 yards was the ninth-highest single-game total in Florida football history. After UF's first possession ended with Samford stuffing tailback Treyaun Webb on a fourth-and-1 at the 17, the Gators (and Lagway) made up for it on their second turn. On second down from his own 20, Lagway dropped and launched a bomb for Badgerup the right sideline that went for 77 yards to the Bulldogs' 4, where Johnson finished things off with a couple runs for a 7-0 lead with three minutes to go in the opening period. On the third drive, Lagway started with a 40-yard completion to tight end Hayden Hansen deep into Samford territory. A 22-yard pass-and-run to Badger set up Johnson's second TD run, a 7-yarder, for a 14-0 lead. At that point in the game, Lagway was 6-for-6 for 193 yards. After a rocky end to the first half, Lagway was back at it to the start the second half, this time hooking up for the first scoring strike of his career, a 36-yarder toTank Hawkins for a 21-0 lead. The Bulldogs cut the margin with a 12-play, 75-yard drive (with only one third down along the way) capped by a 1-yard plunge by Damonta Witherspoon midway through the period. Not a problem. Lagway's 44-yard rocket to Aidan Mizell made it 28-7 just four snaps later, with the play giving Lagway the freshman record. A 25-yard field goal by Trey Smack early in the fourth quarter pushed the Gators in front 31-7. Five minutes later, after the UF defense forced a punt and the Gators' offense took possession at its 15. Wilson came in motion, took a forward two-handed toss from Lagway (a pass, technically), turned up the center of the field and out-raced the Samford defense 85 yards for the score. By night's end, the Gators had 632 yards of total offense to just 205 for Bulldogs. Wilson caught six passes for 141 yards, with Badger pulling in three for 123. Yale transfer Aidan Warner replaced Lagway late in the fourth quarter and had a 9-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring. The win was Florida's first since last Oct. 14 at South Carolina, snapping a six-game skid.
Freshman quarterback DJ Lagway during Saturday's win over Samford. (Photo: Maura Schaeffer/UAA Communications)
WHAT IT MEANS: A win, obviously, but also the first step toward putting away that ugly season-opening loss to Miami. Maybe even the start of a new era under center (read on).
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Duh. If Mertz is cleared from concussion protocol next week, Florida coachBilly Napier has an interesting decision to make heading into the Southeastern Conference season.
STAGGERING STATISTIC: During the 2023 season, the Gators totaled 39 pass completions of at least 20 yards (so-called "explosive plays") over 12 games. Lagway had four in the first half of his debut and nine for the game (with completions of 77, 44, 40, 22, 22, 36, 41, 24 and 85 yards).
UP NEXT: The Gators (1-1, 0-0) will open their SEC slate with a third straight home game, this one against Texas A&M (1-1, 0-0), which bounced back from a though Week 1 home loss against No. 7 Notre Dame by waxing McNeese State 52-10 Saturday. The Aggies, under new Coach Mike Elko (by way of Duke), will make just their second trip to Gainesville since joining the conference in 2012 (compared to UF's three trips to College Station during A&M's first 11 seasons in the league).
Billy Gonzales Press Conference 11-24-25Billy Gonzales Press Conference 11-24-25
Monday, November 24
Florida Football | Interim Head Coach Billy Gonzales Postgame Press Conference | TennesseeFlorida Football | Interim Head Coach Billy Gonzales Postgame Press Conference | Tennessee
Sunday, November 23
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Sunday, November 23
Florida Football | Devin Moore Postgame Media Availability | TennesseeFlorida Football | Devin Moore Postgame Media Availability | Tennessee
