Chants of “DJ Lagway” filled Ben Hill Griffin Stadium as true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway constructed a historic performance.
Lagway and the Gators moved the ball efficiently coming out of halftime, scoring in four plays on a freshman-to-freshman connection. Lagway completed a pass to wide receiver Tank Hawkins. For both, it was their first touchdown as a Gator.
Florida never looked back, cruising to its first victory of the season in dominant fashion.
“[Hawkins is] one of my best friends here, so it was a surreal moment to get our first touchdown together,” Lagway said.
In his first career start, Lagway led Florida (1-1) to its first win of the season over Samford (0-2) 45-7, in a record-breaking performance Saturday.
The true freshman, Lagway, went 18-of-25 passing, accumulating 472 total yards and three touchdowns. He broke the UF true freshman single game passing yards record previously held by Chris Leak. Florida’s freshman record of 268 yards was snapped on a 16-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Eugene Wilson lll.
“I feel like the preparation that coach [Ryan] O’Hara, coach [Billy] Napier, and even Graham [Mertz] they helped me a lot with just making sure I was prepared,” Lagway said.
Lagway’s performance also lands him No. 9 on the all-time Florida single-game passing yards list.
“DJ Lagway had a phenomenal night, and we played well around him,” Napier said. “We challenged the team in every position group and all the special teams to rally around him and raise their level of play.”
The Gators made an early statement on the defensive side of the ball, with senior cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. forcing his first career fumble to get the ball into Lagway’s hands for the first time as a starter.
After a turnover on downs from the Gators and a punt from the Bulldogs, the Lagway show commenced. In his second pass attempt, Lagway rolled out to his right and uncorked on a 77-yard pass to senior wide receiver Elijhah Badger to get the Gators down to the three-yard line.
Senior running back Montrell Johnson Jr. finished the scoring drive for the Gators with a one-yard rushing touchdown. Johnson Jr. later found the endzone for a second time in the second quarter when he recorded his 30th-career rushing touchdown.
As the Gators started to move the ball on offense, the defense was also up to the task at hand, forcing five punts and a fumble in the first half.
The Gators defense held the Bulldogs offense to 205 total yards, collecting four sacks and 12 tackles for loss. Senior linebacker George Gumbs Jr. had a stellar night with three tackles for loss and a sack.
“I call him the Avenger because he is literally built like an Avenger,” redshirt junior edge Tyreak Sapp said. “If you see him take his shirt off, you would think he was probably in the penitentiary for a few years. The kid just works that hard and when he came in, he came in ready to learn.”
It was all Florida in the first half, despite the relatively modest 14-0 lead they took into halftime. In the first two quarters, UF outgained Samford 295-120. Lagway completed his first seven passes and finished the half going eight-of-11 for 209 yards through the air.
Samford cut into Florida’s lead on a 12-play, 75-yard drive, scoring on a rushing touchdown from senior running back Damonta Witherspoon.
Lagway continued to shine on the following drive, launching a 41-yard pass on the run to sophomore wide receiver Aidan Mizell.
Wilson lll had an impressive night, going for a career-high 141 receiving yards and a touchdown on six catches. His performance marked the first 100-yard receiving game of his career.
The Gators finished with 632 yards of total offense, averaging just over 10 yards per play.
After a turbulent Week 1 against then-No.19 Miami, UF was determined to get back on track.
“It was difficult that night, it was difficult the next day, but the thing about this game, it’ll be difficult,” Sapp said. “You have to be able to handle success and you have to be able to handle the failure as well.”
The Gators will remain in Gainesville to take on Texas A&M at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
Contact Chandler Hawkes at chawkes@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @HawkesChandler.
