Gators Earn Highest AP Poll Ranking Since 2022

Florida is ranked No. 13 in the first Associated Press Top 25 poll of the season and the fifth-highest-ranked SEC team. It’s the Gators’ highest ranking since 2022, and their small jump comes after four Top 10 teams lost on opening weekend for the first time since 1936. 

The Gators are 1-0 after shutting out the LIU Sharks on Saturday, 55-0. It’s the first time the team has blanked a team since a 42-0 win against Vanderbilt in 2021. Florida’s season-opening win Saturday is also the first since 2022, when they beat Utah, 29-26.

Despite the expected result, Florida was projected to win by only 45 points in Saturday’s game. Florida held LIU to 86 total yards, their lowest since 2016 when they held North Texas to just 53 yards. The Gators also ranked No. 15 in the US LBM Coaches Poll, also increasing two spots since the preseason poll. 

One reason Florida might have moved up was that the Gators showed promise and squashed concerns after the win against LIU. Sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway completed 15 of 18 passes (83.3%) for 120 yards and threw three first-half touchdowns, enabling tailback Jaden Baugh to rush for 104 yards and score. With a 38-0 halftime lead, the starters rested, and the bench got some valuable play time. 

Lagway expressed feeling healthy after missing months of practice due to core muscle surgery, a sore throwing shoulder and a strained left calf. However, the 6-foot-3 quarterback said he thought he had a rough start to the game.

“Feel like I definitely could play better,” Lagway said. “Just as a group, I feel like it was very sloppy. I feel like we weren’t playing our brand of football.” 

Coach Billy Napier said that Lagway will continue to improve.  

The Gators will face a much tougher opponent Saturday in the South Florida Bulls, who are coming off a dominant win. The unranked Bulls are 1-0 after pulling off a huge 34-4 upset against No. 25 Boise State last Thursday in their season opener. 

Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown accounted for 210 yards passing and 43 yards rushing with two scores. However, South Florida struggles in third-down conversions, converting 35.7% of the time. The Gators thrived defensively against LIU, allowing it to convert at only 8.3%.

Florida holds the all-time series against USF 3-0 and won the last match-up in 2022, 31-28. Beating USF will help UF maintain its ranking in advance of facing LSU, Miami and Texas, all ranked opponents.

Category: College Football, Feature Sports News, Gators Football, USF