DJ Lagway implosion dooms Gators in Death Valley, leaving Gators to wonder when the nightmare ends
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The No. 3 LSU Tigers defeated the Florida Gators 20-10 on Saturday night in Baton Rouge, handing the Gators a loss in their SEC opener for the third time in Billy Napier’s 4 seasons as head coach.
Florida fought. Competing hasn’t been an issue under Napier. Florida entered Saturday night’s game in Death Valley 9-8 after losses under Napier, with 4 of those losses coming by a score or less. For all their warts and flaws, Napier’s teams don’t give up. But Florida isn’t supposed to be a program that prides itself in having pride. Moral victories don’t move the needle at a place with 3 national championships.
Another thing that won’t move the needle?
The performance of DJ Lagway, Florida’s 5-star recruit turned preseason Heisman aspirations throwing 5 interceptions leading directly to 13 LSU points. A Freshman All-American a season ago, Lagway threw for 287 yards and helped Florida move the football for 4 quarters, but was confused all evening by LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who cooked up a host of 6-man pressures and disguised zone defenses that kept the Florida quarterback guessing, especially on third downs.
Lagway’s issues aren’t entirely attributable to rust, but the lack of practice repetition has undoubtedly contributed to his lack of rhythm and progress early in his sophomore campaign. Lagway didn’t practice 11-on-11 after an injury suffered against Georgia late last season, and he didn’t play 11-on-11 in practice until the final week of fall camp. On Saturday night, that lack of high-level, full speed competition showed. On all 5 of Lagway’s interceptions, including a pick 6 by LSU defensive back Dashawn Spears that functionally put the LSU victory to bed, Lagway made an incorrect read, tossing the ball into double or, in the case of the first interception, triple coverage. Lagway finished 6-13 for 57 yards with 1 TD and 4 interceptions on third downs, plays that ultimately proved to be the most consequential in an otherwise evenly matched football game.
Lagway’s struggles breathed life into Tiger Stadium on a night when the Florida defense stifled LSU most the first half, blending its own brand of pressure defense and terrific coverage to limit LSU to just 7 first downs at halftime. No matter. LSU led at halftime 13-10 thanks to turning 2 Lagway interceptions into 2 field goals, and the Tigers would extend that lead in the third quarter on Spears’s 58-yard interception return for a touchdown.
By the time Dijon Johnson intercepted Garrett Nussmeier to produce a Florida turnover with 10:55 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Gators trailed by 10 points and Tiger Stadium was a cauldron of Cajun fury and sound.
Florida moved the ball into LSU territory and kicker Trey Smack’s field goal range, threatening to cut the lead to a single score, before Lagway tossed his fourth interception, an especially silly deep shot for Tre Wilson thrown into triple coverage in the end zone that was easily hauled in by LSU’s Tamarcus Cooley. As the Tigers’ faithful roared “Neck” in approval, Florida fans had to wonder what happened to a season that started with so much promise.
What happened to the fastest, deepest wide receiver room Florida’s had since at least 2020, a group assembled to exploit Lagway’s ability to take the top off defenses downfield?
What happened to the notion that this Florida team would be able to impose its will in the run game behind the best offensive line at Florida in over a decade, a group anchored by an All-American center and a bona fide All-American candidate at left tackle? Florida never committed to the run on Saturday night, giving Jadan Baugh, the SEC’s second-leading rusher entering the game, just 9 carries from scrimmage.
Most importantly, what happened to Lagway, who led all freshman quarterbacks in 2024 in pass efficiency and led all SEC quarterbacks in average depth of target (11.4) and big time throws per snaps (1 in 6 in 2024)?
If there are any silver linings for Florida in a loss stemming from a Lagway meltdown, it’s that Florida’s defense stood incredibly tall, giving Lagway, playcaller Billy Napier, and the offense chance after chance to rally and pull the game from the fire.
LSU managed just 3 first downs in the second half, gaining the bulk of their yards on a long run by Caden Durham with the game already decided and a 65-yard Nussmeier connection with Bauer Sharp on the lone coverage Florida’s secondary busted in the second half. Florida’s defense played, without question, well enough to win the game on the road. They lost by multiple scores anyway because their quarterback, listed consistently on preseason award and All-American lists, couldn’t stop tossing the football to the other team.
One might suggest it’s just a learning experience for Lagway, an immensely talented quarterback with program-changing potential and intangibles.
That’s fine in theory, but the reality is things are likely to get worse before they get better.
The Gators travel to another top 5 opponent, Miami, next week. The Hurricanes are sharper than LSU offensively and will put more pressure on Lagway to consistently move the Florida offense. If Lagway forces passes and commits turnovers at Miami, the Hurricanes will do far worse to the Gators than the 13 points LSU managed off Lagway’s errors. They’ll feast and make a scene about it. It will, put plainly, get lopsided and ugly awfully quick.
Speaking of getting ugly, how do you continue to justify these losses if you are the Florida administration?
Napier is now 20-21 as Florida’s head coach. He’s 3-11 in rivalry games. He hasn’t defeated a ranked road opponent in his tenure at Florida.
Despite these middling results, Napier continues to double as the Florida offensive coordinator and playcaller, a decision that has yet to produce a top 40 offense at Florida, the school that revolutionized SEC offense in the 90s and did it again by bringing the spread to the league in the 2000s under Urban Meyer.
Lagway’s performance in Napier’s scheme hardly inspires confidence that Florida will change that stat in 2025, and Napier reiterated this week that he has no intention of giving up playcalling duties to any other human being, no matter how evident it is to anyone else inside or outside the building that such a change is essential for Napier to succeed as a high-level head coach.
What’s worse, Napier appears ill-equipped to improve Lagway, who has the talent to become the 6th Florida quarterback to be named a Heisman finalist but on Saturday looked like a kid more likely to find a seat on the bench than at the Downtown Athletic Club.
Now 1-2, with games against top-10 Miami and Texas teams and a terrific Texas A&M team looming, Florida may find itself 1-5 before an improved Mississippi State visits The Swamp in mid-October.
Will Napier be around by then?
That mostly depends on Lagway.
Unfortunately, Lagway’s progress mostly depends on Napier.
Neil Blackmon covers SEC football and basketball for SaturdayDownSouth.com. An attorney, he is also a member of the Football and Basketball Writers Associations of America. He also coaches basketball.
