The kids looked good but success will require a healthy DJ Lagway
- Franz Beard
- Apr 13, 2025
- 5 min read
The annual dog and pony show they call the Orange and Blue Game went off without a glitch Saturday afternoon. The crowd estimated at 56,563 got to celebrate Florida’s NCAA basketball championship in an extended halftime that was sandwiched between four quarters of a glorified scrimmage that wasn’t televised. At least those in attendance got to see more points scored (72) than the combined total of the previous two Orange and Blue games.
DJ Lagway dressed out but didn’t throw a single pass although he did hand the ball off five times.
After the game, Billy Napier said don’t worry, DJ will be throwing soon and everything is on schedule with his injury. It’s a shoulder so we’re told and while shoulders can be tricky -- just ask any of the zillion or so pitchers who have had to rehab and come back from one -- Napier doesn’t seem outwardly concerned.
“DJ’s doing great,” Napier said after the Blue team beat the Orange, 38-34. “He’ll start throwing here in a couple of weeks, but yeah, just in general, very positive there. The lower body stuff is good and I think he’s been able to do that and I think we’re working on just kind of getting him in position for the next step, but in general there are a lot of positives. Everything is on schedule.”
On schedule as in ready when the Gators begin practice for the season opener with Long Island University on August 30. On schedule as in ready for organized team activities in the summer.
“We’ll start OTA’s in June,” Napier said. “He’ll be 100 percent. He’ll start throwing in a couple of weeks.”
Without going into detail about the Lagway injury, Napier said the rehab process has been more of the “holistic” approach rather than surgical. Pitchers for Florida’s baseball team have had a slew of shoulder issues throughout the years that have taken an entire year to rehab. Napier seems rather confident that Lagway will be okay, which is good news because he’s definitely a step above backups Aidan Warner and Harrison Bailey.
In Lagway’s absence, Warner quarterbacked the victorious Blue team to a win. He completed 10 of his 23 passes for 157 yards and touchdowns to tight end Hayden Hansen and wide receiver Aidan Mizell. Warner handed the ball off 21 times, 10 to Ja’kobi Jackson who ran for 198 yards and three TDs; 11 to Jadan Baugh, who carried 11 times for 56 yards. Jackson broke off touchdown runs of 23, 40 and 90 yards. Baugh also caught a pass for 48 yards. Freshman Vernell Brown III caught four passes for 34 yards, 30 of which were after the catch. Stud transfer J. Michael Sturdivant (from UCLA) had one catch for 29 yards.
Harrison Bailey, a 6th-year guy whose whistlestops include two years at Tennessee, a year at UNLV and two at Louisville, was a 5-star quarterback out of high school. Playing behind the No. 2 offensive line, he was sacked five times, but when upright was able to fling the ball downfield for 363 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman Trammell Jones Jr. threw for 30 yards.
Freshman wide receivers Dallas Wilson and Naeshaun Montgomery were quite impressive. Wilson caught 10 passes for 195 yards and three TDs, while Montgomery caught three passes for 70 yards.
“This is by far the deepest receiver group we’ve had since we’ve been here and documented speed,” Napier said. “There’s a bunch of speed out there, so that’s got a chance to be a strength for us.
“If we can put together some balance there and distribute the ball and get good quarterback play, [we’ve] got a chance to make more explosives in the future. I think ultimately that’s an area we need to improve to go the distance.”
Even without Lagway, the offense showed great promise. The Gators will return four starters and some key backups an offensive line headed up by first team All-American center Jake Slaughter. With a healthy Lagway playing behind a veteran O-line and so many weapons at his disposal, the Gators potentially should be one of the best offensive teams in the country in the fall.
Defense was largely absent Saturday. When the Gators put together their four-game winning streak at the end of the 2024 season, it was the defense that stepped up its game and became dominant. Saturday, the defense was for the most part absent but that had plenty to do with injuries. Napier pointed out all the key players held out due to injuries, but even with so many youngsters playing in their place he wasn’t happy with the result.
“I thought we could have been better on defense today,” Napier said. I think the players will probably tell you that as well. Just tackling in general. In the beginning of the game we were not ready. In the beginning of the game, we were not ready. I think we settled in and did that better, but [we] got to start a little faster.”
On paper this should be the best Florida team since 2020 when DAn Mullen had the Gators a handful of plays away from an undefeated regular season and a win over eventual national champion Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game. Good recruiting of high school kids and judicious use of the portal has allowed Napier to construct a roster that has all the right pieces to win big. This has been a rather systematic approach taken by Napier. Losing seasons in his first two years at UF created plenty of skepticism, but the four-game winning streak at the end of last season created a wave of hope that has swept through the Gator Nation.
Todd Golden and the Florida national championship basketball team was on hand Saturday and their presence was electric. It should be noted that the 2006 Florida basketball team shocked the world by winning the NCAA championship. In the fall, the Florida football team that wasn’t supposed to be anywhere as good as Big Ten powers Ohio State and Michigan, blasted Ohio State, 41-14, for the national championship.
Could it happen again? Could the football Gators surf the big wave generated by the basketball team to a national championship? With a healthy Lagway, you have to believe it is a very real possibility.
Hope springs eternal