DJ Lagway taking first-team reps, expected to start for Florida football against Ole Miss
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It has been a rollercoaster season for Florida football's starting quarterback DJ Lagway, but the nadirs have been much more frequent than the peaks. Case in point: last week's effort that saw the slumping sophomore throw three more interceptions before being pulled in the opening minutes of the second half.
Lagway otherwise went 11-for-19 through the air for 83 yards and a touchdown while also running five times for 27 yards. His replacement, true freshman Trammel Jones Jr., finished the game completing 9 of 17 passes for 60 yards, but minus-4 yards on three scrambles.
That 38-7 loss on Saturday left the Gator Nation wondering what was in store for the 20-year-old moving forward. For the season, he has thrown 265 passes with 171 completions (64.5%) for 1,762 and 11 touchdowns; that does not look too bad until you see that his dozen picks lead all FBS quarterbacks.
Florida fans got their answer on Monday when interim skipper Billy Gonzales announced that his second-year gunslinger is still in the pole position for the upcoming road matchup at the Ole Miss Rebels after participating in first-team reps in practice. He offered his explanation with an MLB metaphor.
"If a pitcher's struggling in the major leagues, what do you do? You get the next guy in, right? It doesn't mean that he's not a great pitcher. Just means that wasn't his day. For some reason or another, it wasn't breaking. For some reason or another, he didn't have the day that he wanted to have."
As for how the current head coach is handling Lagway's struggles, Gonzales has spoken with his quarterback about the ebbs and flows of college football.
"I talked to him about that. I said, 'So you're a great player, but I'm not going to let somebody just continue to struggle. I wanted to bring you out and let you refocus, let you gather, let you learn, and hopefully it's a learning experience. It's going to make you better this week when we prepare for Ole Miss.'"
Lagway's sophomore slump has been attributed to offseason health issues, which limited his practice time and preparation for this fall's schedule. While former coach Billy Napier insisted that his signal-caller was ready to go for the 2025 campaign, it has become apparent to everyone that his development suffered.
Hopefully, Gonzales — who is also the Gators' wide receivers coach — can get Lagway back on track for the remainder of the season. It all starts again on Saturday in Oxford.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida football's DJ Lagway will start against Ole Miss in Week 12
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