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No lagway meant no chance for Florida football

Posted on by Vanessa
No lagway meant no chance for Florida football

JACKSONVILLE – The early diagnosis for DJ Lagway is a “soft tissue injury.” Whatever it is, things are about to get really tough for the Florida football team.

The Gators lost to Georgia on Saturday, although you know the real story by now. Lagway injured his left hamstring in the second quarter and was ejected from the field.

Florida's hopes of winning came with it, and not just on Saturday. The Gators will likely face Texas, LSU and Ole Miss with their third-street quarterback.

That would be Aidan Warner, a walk-on from Yale. When Graham Mertz tore his cruciate ligament, he was promoted to the second division.

This is just one of the injuries the Gators have suffered. At this point you're wondering if anyone has a Billy Napier voodoo doll and enjoys sticking pins into it.

Why Saturday's game was a before-and-after story for Florida football

Until Lagway left, Napier was coaching his best game at UF. This wasn't UCF or Kentucky all over the field. It was Georgia.

Beat the Dawgs and the Fire Billy train would fall apart. This scenario was largely based on Lagway being the savior of the program that he was thought to be.

He looked that way when he threw a 43-yard TD to Aidan Mizell to give Florida a 7-3 lead. Even more shocking to UGA fans was how Florida's offensive line controlled Georgia's defense.

There's a sentence I never thought I'd write.

On top of that, UF's defense went mano-a-mano with the Bulldogs. It looked nothing like the ragtag unit it was at the start of the season.

“The goal today was to come here and show fanatical effort on the field,” Napier said. “We wanted to increase the intensity.”

That's what they did. The Gators had a 10-3 lead. They had just sacked Carson Beck to force a punt.

The orange and blue half of EverBank Stadium rocked. Then it happened.

What the change in mood says about Florida football's hopes

Lagway tucked the ball under his arm and ran around the left side. He cut through the field and stumbled to the ground.

It looked so routine, so no big deal.

But Lagway didn't get up. He grabbed the back of his left leg and didn't get up.

Everything became quiet. The casualty car was called. The entire UF team went out to show their support for Lagway.

It was a very big deal.

Big enough that even former FSU quarterback Jordan Travis, still recovering from a knee injury last year, posted his condolences on X.

“Prayers for the Lagway man,” Travis wrote.

At least Lagway's injury wasn't nearly as bad as the one Travis had suffered. If it's a torn muscle fiber, recovery doesn't take as long.

But given the mood of sadness after the game, no one believes Lagway will be back this year. And he's not the only one.

Florida football injuries are on the rise

Cornerback Devin Moore was on crutches because of a knee injury. UF lost its other starting cornerback, Jason Marshall, two weeks ago.

Montrell Johnson is still sidelined with a knee injury due to a traffic jam. Mertz is dead. There are others.

Is the voodoo doll Billy a snakebite?

“I don’t believe in that,” he said. “(There were) always injuries in this game. Every team in the country has injuries. One thing I can say is that we have put together a squad that has some competitive depth and that has proven to be beneficial.”

Not advantageous enough. The Gators might not have beaten Georgia with Lagway. They had no chance against Warner, who completed seven of 22 passes for 66 yards.

Florida managed a TD drive that made the score 20-20 with 7:29 left in the game. But Georgia responded with a quick TD, then Warner threw an interception for a short UGA score.

The final score of 34-20 hardly told the story of Saturday.

Florida was far more competitive against the Bulldogs than in recent years. The Gators are playing like they want Napier to keep his job. They showed a lot of perseverance when they equalized in the fourth quarter.

Given what lies ahead, they will need it.

David Whitley is the sports columnist for The Gainesville Sun. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @DavidEWhitley

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