Gators get good news! Lagway might be able to play against Texas

DJ Lagway scrambles for yardage against Georgia (Gator Bait Photo by Chris Spears)

Good news arrived Sunday in the form of an MRI that revealed the soft tissue injury to quarterback DJ Lagway doesn’t seem to be as significant as initially feared. When Lagway left the Georgia game on a cart late in the second quarter, it was feared he might be done for the season, but Billy Napier said Monday that Lagway hasn’t been ruled out of Saturday’s game with Texas in Austin.

“The good news is we’ve had positive information on that front,” Napier said at his Monday press conference. “That is the positive there. We do think the injury is less significant. We do think there is a pathway to a recovery and a return. We did find that out yesterday evening. So a lot of good on that front. 

“So less significant than we anticipated, and he's been doing well so far this morning. We have not completely ruled him out, and I think a lot of that will be to be determined as we move our way throughout the week. So that's a good thing for all involved and certainly for DJ.”

The Gators were leading Georgia, 10-3, with 5:06 remaining in the half when Lagway was injured on a short run over the left side of the line. He left the field on a cart, although it should be noted he was sitting and not stretched out, a sign that perhaps he hadn’t suffered any kind of a knee injury.

Sunday, Napier got the MRI report that revealed the extent of the injury and the possibilities for this week.

“Ultimately you have to get to the MRI to find out how much damage there is, and that's what we did,” Napier said. “We did the MRI Sunday, got it back last night. So positive news on that front.”

With Lagway in the game against Georgia, the safeties had to play several yards back because he throws such a great deep ball and Florida receivers such as Elijhah Badger, Chimere Dike and Aidan Mizell all have serious field-stretching speed. On the first play following Devin Moore’s interception of Carson Beck and 32-yard runback in the second quarter, Lagway threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Aidan Mizell that was a thing of beauty. Mizell was clearly faster than Georgia’s DBs and Lagway showed incredible touch on the deep throw. Later in the quarter after Aaron Gates picked off Beck and ran it back 19 yards, Lagway led the Gators on a drive that culuminated in a Smack field goal that gave UF a 10-3 lead.

At that point in the game Florida had all the momentum and it felt like an upset of the nation’s No. 2 team was brewing. Then came the Lagway injury and Florida proceeded to lose its momentum. Backup Aidan Warner did lead the Gators on a drive that produced a field goal with three seconds left in the half and a touchdown that tied the game at 20-20 in the fourth quarter, but the Gators lacked the explosive passing threat they have with Lagway, which showed in the final yardage totals. In taking out the Gators, 34-20, Georgia held a 455-228 yardage advantage overall, 233-78 in the second half. 

Texas was established as a 21.5-point favorite when the betting lines went up in Las Vegas Sunday. That was before it was determined that Lagway might be available. If he is able to play, expect the line to come down by a touchdown or even more.

On that end, Lagway will be closely monitored during the week to determine if he can play against the 5th-ranked Longhorns. It might be a late week or even a game time decision.

“We're going to kind of see how that goes," Napier said. "I think obviously the position he plays makes that possible. Look, it's going to be pretty clear-cut once we get to Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, so we'll know.”

Meanwhile, Warner will be prepping for the first start of his collegiate career in the event Lagway can’t go and Colorado State transfer Clay Millen will be the backup. Against Georgia, Warner completed 7-22 passes for 66 yards with one interception.

Warner earned the No. 3 quarterback job during August so he never got reps with the first or second teams until Graham Mertz went down with a torn ACL against Tennessee. Since then Warner has taken the second team reps and shown enough potential that he’s stayed ahead of Millen, who started 10 games at Colorado State in 2022.

“Now, the three quarterback gets no reps, right?,” Napier said. “He (Warner) got reps for the last couple of weeks as the two, and I would say he's had some really good practices. I think there are some things to be encouraged about.”

Of course, nothing will be more encouraging than for Lagway to continue to respond to treatment that will make him available to play against Texas. Getting him back would be a huge boost for the Gators, who will be going against the nation’s No. 1 defense.

Lagway wasn’t the only Gator to go down Saturday. Corners Devin Moore and Dijon Johnson both left the game injured. Their status won’t be known until later in the week, but Napier wouldn’t rule them out just yet.

“I think both of those guys are in a category they could very easily be available for the game as well,” Napier said.

If Moore and Johnson are unable to go, Aaron Gates and Trikweze Bridges will probably start at the corners. Gates had a very productive game against Georgia with four tackles, an interception, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. Bridges, who’s played the nickel and safety all season, showed his versatility against Georgia by shifting over to corner. He finished the game as Florida’s leading tackler with eight.

Cormani McClain, who played a significant role in the corner rotation against Georgia, finishing the game with four tackles, and freshmen Jameer Grimsley and Teddy Foster will all be involved in the defensive game plan this week.