Can DJ Lagway Bounce Back? Florida QB Faces Pressure vs. Texas
Gators quarterback DJ Lagway has not had the season he envisioned after four games. For most, Lagway has been underwhelming this season, completing 67.5% of his passes for 690 yards and a five-to-six touchdown-to-interception ratio.
His poor mechanics have been another major focus point — shaky footwork, not working through progressions and leaving the pocket too soon have all led to Lagway regressing from his 2024 self.
Much of this has to do with being rusty due to missing most of the offseason with a variety of injuries. This is Lagway’s seventh full week of padded 11-on-11 practice that he has participated in, so it is no surprise that he is still working things out.
Nonetheless, as the starting quarterback at UF, those points do not hold up well when your team is 1-3. Coming into the year, Lagway was nominated for multiple preseason awards, including the Maxwell, Davey O’Brien Award, Walter Camp Player of the Year, as well as being a trendy pick to win the Heisman Trophy.
But at the moment, Lagway is not playing up to those standards and is aware of it.
“It is definitely frustrating. I’m not going to sit here and say it’s not frustrating, it is very frustrating, but we talked about it at the beginning of the offseason, you always have to have a good process,” Lagway said. “Sometimes you might not get the result that you want, but being process-oriented, finding ways to better your process and the results are going to come.”
Loading ...The goal for Lagway over the bye week was getting back to the basics, reestablishing his pocket presence and awareness, finishing his downfield throws. Lagway is only averaging 5.6 yards per attempt, which is way down from 10 yards an attempt last season.
Injuries at the receiver position have not made it any easier for Lagway. Florida has been without its talented freshman Dallas Wilson all year, Aidan Mizell has been in and out of the lineup and J. Michael Sturdivant is having a hard time finding his role as the big-play guy Florida brought him in for. Not only did the bye help Lagway make necessary adjustments, but it also helped get these pass-catchers more time to heal and practice with their quarterback.
“It was a great week of practice last week,” Lagway said. “Being able to connect downfield with some marquee guys and just having that confidence and that ability to trust my receivers and just continue to build that chemistry with those guys is priceless.”
While the first injury report will not drop until Wednesday night, the Gators are hopeful to be getting back some of those big-play receivers this week for their matchup against No. 9 Texas on Saturday. Gators coach Billy Napier singled Wilson out as the headliner to possibly make his UF debut this weekend.
“Dallas Wilson will be the headliner, and for him to be able to practice last week and be available is a big deal,” Napier said. “We’ll see as we go throughout the week. But three good days of work last week, and I thought he handled the load well. We’ll be getting the report each day in terms of what the numbers look like and where he’s at, but he feels really good. So far, so good.”
Lagway showed excitement Monday when talking about what Wilson can bring to this offense that might help open things up down the field.
“Oh man, just having him out there is going to be just amazing for us. His ability to go deep, his ability to make plays underneath, being able to make miraculous plays with the ball in his hand,” Lagway said. “It is going to be great to have him back.”
Napier also added the status of Mizell, who suffered a setback ahead of the Miami game, tried to give it a go, but was ruled out. However, Napier is confident that the junior speedster will be ready this week, saying, “Right now, if we were playing today, he’d be playing.”
It was a small sample size a year ago, but Mizell proved to be one of Lagway’s favorite deep ball targets. Both of Mizell’s touchdowns went for over 40 yards, furthering how much of an impact Mizell can be when he is healthy.
“It’s great to always have Aidan Mizell on the field. He’s a heck of a ball player. Any time you can get the ball to him in space, I’m happy. Any time we can have him on the field, we’re a better team,” Lagway said. “Yeah, I got great chemistry with Aidan, going back to last year and stuff like that. I’m just trying to continue to build chemistry there, as well as everybody else.”
Florida’s struggles throwing the football cannot be ignored; the Gators sit 88th in passing offense (205.2 yards per game) and Lagway ranks 97th in yards per game (172.5). He had the worst outing of his career against Miami, where he was 12-of-23 for 61 yards and sacked four times.
After the game, Lagway went on to say that this season is far from over and he will do everything in his power to elevate himself and others around him. He doubled down on that statement Monday with the firm belief that once things start to fall in line, this offense will be hard to stop.
I know the results haven’t been looking the way they are, for me personally, on my playing level,” Lagway said. “But I feel like every single week I get better and better and eventually it is going to pop, and when it pops, it is going to be hard to stop. I will tell you that right now.”
Category: College Football, Feature Sports News, Gators Football, SEC
