GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway has gone from appearing rusty to looking lost. It's not what anyone envisioned even though he missed nearly nine months dealing with various injuries.
He is dancing in the pocket, leading to off-balance throws that end up sailing over receivers or spinning into the ground. He is failing to get through his progressions, allowing defenders to lock onto his first read. He is lacking situational awareness — when to audible, when to run and when to slide
— and showing little feel for the game.
He is still coach Billy Napier’s guy, and that is unlikely to change.
Napier is sticking with his turnover-prone starter despite a five-interception performance in a 20-10 loss at No. 3 LSU on Saturday night.
“DJ’s our quarterback,” said Napier, now 20-21 in four seasons at Florida. “He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country. He made some good decisions, but he also made some bad decisions."
Lots of them. The sophomore threw an interception in every quarter in Death Valley, including back-to-back picks on Florida’s final two drives while trailing by 10. The fourth one came with the Gators in field-goal range and prompted a lengthy sideline discussion with Napier.
“I’m just excited to get back to work,” said Lagway, who was making his first road start in Southeastern Conference play. “I got to get this taste out of my mouth. I played horrible football, and I got to do better.”
Lagway couldn't recall ever turning over the ball five times in a game before Saturday. Not in high school. Not in peewee football. Not in his backyard.
“I’ve never had a performance like that in my life, so it’s kind of hard to process it,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it’s all about how you bounce back and how you respond. And I’m planning on doing so.”
The Gators, who have now lost consecutive games in each of Napier’s four seasons, play at rival and fourth-ranked Miami (3-0) on Saturday night. Florida is winless in eight road games against ranked teams during Napier’s tenure.
Florida (1-2) faces seven more ranked opponents this season, including three in a row against the Hurricanes, Texas and Texas A&M over the next month. No one should be surprised to see Lagway start all of them, even though promising freshman Tramell Jones Jr. waits on the bench.
Napier has shown unwavering loyalty to his players and coaches. He kept defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong, special teams coordinator Chris Couch and strength and conditioning coach Marc Hocke despite essentially demoting them. And he continues to rotate backups into games even though there’s an obvious drop-off.
It is hard to argue with his Lagway decision. After all, Lagway went 6-1 as a starter as a freshman and showed glimpses of greatness. But he has experienced setback after setback since.
He missed the majority of two games last season because of a left hamstring injury. He was slowed to start 2025 following surgery to repair a core-muscle injury. He missed all of spring practice because of a sore throwing shoulder that team doctors believe stems from a lingering high school injury. And then he strained his left calf while running with teammates days before training camp began in late July.
He has fully practiced just four weeks since January, although his popularity continued to soar. The 20-year-old Lagway has name, image and likeness deals with Gatorade, Jordan Brand, Mercedes-Benz, Lamborghini Orlando, T-Mobile, Beats by Dre, Chipotle and others.
His value as a brand ambassador seemingly took a hit in Baton Rouge. Lagway completed 33 of 49 passes — both career highs — for 287 yards and a touchdown against the Tigers. He was sacked three times and finished with 19 yards rushing on nine carries.
Those modest numbers probably would have been enough to win, but his turnovers were the difference. His second pick set up a field goal and his third was returned 58 yards for a score.
“It’s not just on one person," linebacker Myles Graham said. "It’s on all of us, and we’ve got to all-around play better. The game slipped out of our hands two weeks in a row, so that’s a problem that we’re going to fix.”
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