Billy Napier speaks on DJ Lagway’s confidence, getting better ahead of Texas matchup
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Billy Napier and his struggling Florida team are gearing up for Saturday’s Week 6 showdown against No. 9 Texas.
Arch Manning and the 3-1 Longhorns will come to Gainesville for their SEC opener, while Napier’s Gators will try to break that ugly 3-game losing streak that followed their season-opening win. And they’ll try to do it with their own quarterback, DJ Lagway, leading the way.
It was a long month of September for the sophomore signal-caller who was supposed to have a breakout season in 2025. Instead, there’s been no breakthrough, Florida has plummeted out of the rankings, and now Lagway will oppose Manning on Saturday in a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN. It’ll be yet another big challenge for Lagway, who has thrown for just 690 yards in 4 games with just 5 touchdown passes and 6 interceptions.
Lagway’s season QBR is really low, sitting at just 46.9, but Napier believes there’s some hope for his quarterback and his team. Napier told reporters that Wednesday’s practice was Lagway’s best since he started practicing, and that alone should give Gators fans some hope.
Napier also shared some hopeful words with reporters regarding Lagway.
“I think that he improves with each full speed rep that he gets,” said Billy Napier about his quarterback’s confidence. “We obviously had an open date last week, so that presented an opportunity for him to get more work. Obviously, we know about, he’s had a very challenging offseason in terms of time missed, and I think that we’re trying to get him caught up, right? It’s all about feedback for me at quarterback, right? Every time I take a snap, or play a play, or process, or the ball comes off my hand, I’m self-correcting, right? I’m improving my process in terms of how I communicate, how I process, my decision-making and just what I can get away with, my anticipation, my accuracy.”
Napier talked about the challenges he’s faced with Lagway.
“The challenge for us is trying to get him ramped up,” Napier said. “I think this is the sixth week of real practice, so he’s working his tail off, and I think that with each rep that he takes, I think he’s getting more and more comfortable.”
All eyes will be on Lagway on Saturday as he tries to outduel Manning on national TV and will Florida out of its losing ways.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
