LIU gives DJ Lagway the reps he needed against a live pass rush

DJ Lagway gets off a first half pass (Photo by Chris Spears)

GAINESVILLE – The Long Island Sharks left Gainesville Saturday night with exactly what they came for – a hefty check that will go a long way toward balancing the athletic department books and no serious injuries. That LIU was on the short end of a 55-0 beating at the hands of the 15^th-ranked Florida Gators is of little consequence. The Sharks knew coming into the game there was a better chance of seeing a fly-by of Haley’s Comet than there was of springing an upset.

The Sharks got what they needed and they weren’t the only ones. The Gators needed a cupcake of an opponent so that quarterback DJ Lagway could get the feel of things once again. Prior to Saturday, the last time he had faced live fire against a defense manned by folks other than the ones he sees in the Heavener Center every day was last December when the Gators whomped up on Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl. After missing all of the spring and all but a handful of practices in August when he had to read a defense and throw the ball with an incoming pass rush, Lagway got to shake off the rust in a first half in which he completed 15-18 passes for 120 yards and three touchdowns.

Sure, it was Long Island, which probably doesn’t have a single player on its roster that could suit up for the Gators. That’s irrelevant. It was real football and although Lagway was sporadic in the early going, it started feeling like old times all over again as the first half wore on.

“Really, that was his first scrimmage if you think about it,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “He didn't participate in the scrimmages [in August], been practicing for about two weeks, so, yeah, he'll get in his rhythm. He'll continue to get better. You saw him get better as he kind of got comfortable and settled in.”

Lagway led the Gators to a 38-0 halftime lead, throwing touchdown passes to Tre Wilson (4 yards), Hayden Hansen (4 yards) and J Michael Sturdivant (8 yards). The Gators also got touchdowns from Jadan Baugh (4-yard run) and Bruce Thornton (37-yard scoop and score run with a fumble on the game’s third play). Trey Smack kicked a 56-yard field goal in the second quarter.

Lagway missed a couple of throws he’d like to have back, but he did scramble to his right in the second quarter and with a flick of the wrist tossed a 41-yard dart to true freshman Vernell Brown III who made a leaping 1-handed grab at the LIU eight. It was a big night for Brown, who totaled 149 all-purpose yards (3-79 receiving; 3-45 returning punts; 1-25 on a kickoff return).

Brown joined the ranks of Percy Harvin (2006) and Antonio Callaway (2015) as the only true freshmen to start at wide receiver in the season opener. Based on what he’s been seeing of Brown during the spring and again in August, Napier said the decision to start VBIII wasn’t all that difficult. The 1-handed catch only affirmed his decision.  

“It wasn't a very complicated decision based off what I watch every day,” Napier said. “But, yeah, those are the ones you don't forget, right? That picture's in your mind just like the (Ricky) Pearsall catch a couple years ago. Those are unique and people will be talking about that catch for a long time. Yeah, it was incredible.”

While Lagway was getting his sea legs under him, Jadan Baugh carried the offense. Playing only the first half, Baugh carried nine times for 104 yards. On Florida’s first offensive scoring drive, Baugh had carries of 16 and 17 yards on his first two carries. He finished off the 65-yard scoring drive on which he had 44 yards on four carries with a 4-yard blast off the right side for a touchdown.

In the second quarter Baugh had a 26-yard run that was a thing of beauty to jump start a 6-play, 88-yard scoring drive that put the Gators ahead, 31-0. Baugh fought his way through the line of scrimmage, found the second level and then cut halfway across the field before he was corralled at the Long Island 38. It took a facemask to yank him down, so another 15 yards was tacked onto the end of the run.

“Jadan is special, obviously a lot of creativity,” Napier said. “I thought he made something maybe wasn't there sometimes and he made some plays. I have been impressed with Jadan because he played as a rookie, experienced some success, but I haven't seen him – there’s been no complacency there and I think that's a tribute to his character.”

Lagway gave way to Trammell Jones Jr. in the second half and the true freshman from Jacksonville Mandarin showed why he has moved past Aidan Warner and Harrison Bailey as the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart. Playing the entire second half, Jones completed 12-18 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns.

Jones led an 8-play drive that ended with a 41-yard field goal by Smack that made it 41-0 in the third quarter. He led a 64-yard drive that culminated with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Tony Livingston and finished off the scoring in the fourth quarter with an 11-yard TDP to Taylor Spierto.

“I think Tramell has earned the job [as the No. 2 quarterback],” Napier said. “He's really had a strong surge the last few weeks. I think we've seen him as he got healthy and we started to give him more reps with the first and second unit. We saw him, he just kept getting better and he's a pure passer, man. He can really throw it. He's got velocity on the ball. The spin rate is impressive and then he's a very accurate quarterback.

“I think you can see he's got some savvy, made a few plays with his feet but in general, he's impressed us and he earned that job. He earned that role. This is an opportunity to give him a lot of work and we felt strongly about that.”

While no one thought Long Island would be able to move the ball with any consistency against the Florida defense, what the Gators did was impressive. Florida held the Sharks scoreless and to only 86 yards of offense (37 rushing yards, 49 through the air). The Gators forced two fumbles, both of them recovered by Bryce Thornton, whose first quarter scoop-and-score was Florida’s first since 2019.

Freshman Jayden Woods (15) celebrates knocking down the LIU quarterback (Photo by Chris Spears)

More impressive, the Gators held the Sharks to two first downs. LIU got a first down on its first two running plays of the game and got the second late in the fourth quarter when Luca Stanzani completed a 28-yard pass to Deion Richardson along the East sideline. The way the Florida defense pursued the football made it next to impossible for the Sharks to get into any kind of offensive rhythm.

“We emphasize it [pursuing the football],” Napier said. “We're fanatical about the effort we practice and play with and there's no doubt that you could see that show up tonight. I always talk about the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth defender showing up. We got some takeaways, which is a positive. We're going to face the best teams in the country, some of the better offenses in the country and the real challenges are ahead.”

Game notes: The Gators played penalty-free football for just the second time in school history (LSU, 2021 was the other time) … The shutout was Florida’s first in 46 games, the last one previously a 42-0 win over Vanderbilt in 2021 … The Gators are 31-3 in their last 34 season openers … The Gators have won five consecutive games. That ties Ohio State for the longest current winning streak in the country.

SEC FOOTBALL

No. 3 Ohio State (1-0) 14, No. 1 Texas (0-1) 7: Texas had chances to win but went only 1-5 on fourth downs. The much-hyped Arch Manning was 17-30 passing for 170 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

No. 5 Georgia (1-0) 45, Marshall (0-1) 7: Gunner Stockton passed for two touchdowns and ran for two to lead Georgia past Marshall.

Florida State (1-0) 31, No. 8 Alabama (0-1) 17: Florida State beat up Alabama’s defensive front for 230 rushing yards. The FSU defense held Bama’s All-America receiver Ryan Williams to five catches for 30 yards.

No. 9 LSU (1-0) 17, No. 4 Clemson (0-1) 10: LSU held Clemson to 31 rushing yards in 20 attempts and turned Clemson over on downs with 59 seconds remaining to preserve the win.

No. 18 Oklahoma (1-0) 35, Illinois State (0-1) 3: John Mateer threw for 392 yards and a touchdown while running for 24 more with another TD to lead Oklahoma to an easy win. Keontez Lewis caught nine passes for 119 yards and two TDs. The Sooner defense held Illinois State to 34 passing yards.

No. 19 Texas A&M (1-0) 42, UT-San Antonio (0-1) 24: Sophomore quarterback Marcel Reed threw for 289 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Aggies. Mario Craver caught eight passes for 122 yards and two TDs.

No. 21 Ole Miss (1-0) 63, Georgia State (0-1) 7: In his first career start, Austin Simmons threw for 400 yards and three touchdowns. Kewan Lacey ran for 108 yads and three touchdowns.

No. 24 Tennessee (1-0) 45, Syracuse (0-1) 26: Joey Aguilar threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns in his first start as an SEC quarterback.

Mississippi State (1-0) 34, Southern Miss (0-1) 17: The Bulldogs put the game away by outscoring Southern Miss 21-0 in the third quarter.

Kentucky (1-0) 24, Toledo (0-1) 16: Dante Dowdell scored a fourth quarter touchdown on a 79-yard run. He finished the game with 129 yards on 14 carries.

Arkansas (1-0) 52, Alabama A&M 7: Taylen Green tied a school record with six touchdown passes. O’Meaga Blake caught seven passes for 121 yards and a TD.

Vanderbilt (1-0) 45, Charleston Southern (0-1) 3: Diego Pavia threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns plus ran for 44 more.