With momentum seemingly on their side in a heated rivalry game, the Gators were taking advantage. Hanging on to a 10-3 lead, Florida forced a three-and-out to get the ball back at its own 25-yard line. But as high as the emotions were on Florida’s sideline, you could hear a pin drop moments later.
On 1st-and-10, with just over five minutes left in the second quarter, UF true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway ran a quarterback draw before slipping on the EverBank Stadium grass. Lagway was unable to stand up on his own power, having suffered what would later be revealed to be a “significant hamstring injury”, according to UF head coach Billy Napier.
As the former five-star signal caller was carted off the field, the Gators turned to redshirt freshman quarterback Aidan Warner, who came up short of securing the victory for the Gators, albeit in spite of a valiant effort.
Florida (4-4, 2-3 SEC) held its own for most of the afternoon, but was eventually overwhelmed in its 34-20 loss to No. 2 Georgia (7-1, 5-1 SEC) at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville Saturday.
“I’m proud of the way they competed today,” UF head coach Billy Napier said. “The effort in which they played and the pride in which they took in representing Florida and competing. The objective today was to come here and put a fanatical effort on the field.”
The Bulldogs received the opening kickoff, and both fan bases, who historically have not even been able to agree when the first meeting between the two teams occurred, were ready to roll. However, both sides got off to a rather sluggish start offensively.
Defensively, Florida has been stout in its last three games, allowing just over 18 points per contest. The Gators would carry this theme through the entire first half against Georgia.
Initially sticking to a run-heavy offense on their opening drive, the Bulldogs took a shot on 3rd-and-4 at Florida’s 43-yard line. However, the attempt fell incomplete deep down the right sideline.
When Georgia punted the ball away to the Gators, Lagway and the Florida offense took the field for the first time. However, Florida was also unable to build much offensive momentum of its own in the early going of Saturday’s action.
The bitter rivalry game remained scoreless deep into the first quarter. Moreover, it took the Bulldogs a 13-play 83-yard drive just to break the 0-0 tie. On 3rd-and-5 with 2:18 remaining in the period, UF sophomore safety Jordan Castell batted down a pass attempt by Beck.
UGA was forced to settle for a 23-yard field goal off the foot of sophomore kicker Peyton Woodring. Nevertheless, Georgia had now taken a 3-0 lead.
Beck has shown inconsistencies in protecting the football this season, throwing eight interceptions in Georgia’s seven games. With 13:48 left in the second quarter, he made yet another questionable decision.
On 1st-and-10 at Florida’s 44-yard line, Beck heaved a deep pass down the left sideline into double coverage, allowing UF junior defensive back Devin Moore to make a leaping interception. Moore went on to return the ball 32 yards to near the middle of the field, giving the Gators prime field position for their next drive.
“I though in the first half, we did what we were supposed to do,” redshirt senior defensive back Trikweze Bridges said. “We had a lot of turnovers and [we] just kept going at it.”
Just then, Florida’s offense, which only totaled 26 yards in the first quarter, finally found a spark. The ignition was the result of a 43-yard dot to sophomore wideout Aidan Mizell down the middle on the ensuing play. UF junior kicker Trey Smack’s extra point attempt was good, giving the Gators a 7-3 edge with 13:42 left in the second quarter. With one play, the Bulldogs were already on upset watch.
UGA has shown the ability to come back from early deficits time and time again throughout their recent dominance in the SEC. However, it took a while for the Bulldogs to muster one against the Gators.
For the second straight drive, Beck coughed the ball back up to Florida’s defense. The Georgia signal caller dropped back on 1st-and-10 at UF’s 31-yard line and was intercepted by redshirt freshman defensive back Aaron Gates, who was one of three Gators in the area of the pass.
Gates returned his pick back to midfield, where Lagway and company took possession with 11:47 remaining before halftime. Despite Florida true freshman running back Jadan Baugh posting a breakout five-touchdown performance against Kentucky two weeks ago, he was not named the starter against UGA.
Nevertheless, he made his presence felt on UF’s next scoring drive. Baugh carried the ball four times for 28 yards to lead the Gators down to Georgia’s 24-yard line. With their backs against the wall, the Bulldogs defense forced back-to-back incompletions from Lagway, setting up a 32-yard field goal attempt by Smack that went through the uprights to increase Florida’s lead to 10-3 with 7:22 left in the second quarter.
The two squads capped off the first half with a pair of hurry-up drives that resulted in field goals. A four-play, 26 second UGA scoring drive led to a field goal off of Woodring’s foot to cut UF’s lead to 10-6 with less than a minute left before halftime.
As the Gators led by just four points, the fate of a rivalry game victory fell in the hands of redshirt freshman quarterback Aiden Warner following Lagway’s injury. On 4th-and-4, the Winter Park, Florida native completed a short pass across the middle to senior wideout Chimere Dike with 15 seconds left. The completion set up a 53-yard field goal attempt by Smack, giving the Gators a bit of momentum with a 13-6 lead at the break.
“Hats off to Aidan Warner,” Napier said. “We’re talking about a guy who didn’t go through Spring practice. “Two weeks ago he started taking real reps with the second unit… For him to be able to go operate today [was impressive].”
Even as the second half began, it certainly didn’t appear that the Bulldogs would run away with it. Florida held its own until midway through the third quarter, as Georgia finally found a way to break through.
On 1st-and-10 at midfield, Beck handed it off to UGA junior wide receiver Dillon Bell, who exploded to the right side for a gain of 33 yards to Florida’s 15-yard line.
The Bulldogs worked the ball down just in front of UF’s goal line before Frazier punched in a two-yard carry for a game-tying touchdown. With 7:05 left in the third quarter, Georgia had knotted the score at 13 apiece.
Once again, Florida continued to show no signs of quitting in response. Warner led the Gators on a nine-play, 34-yard drive to Georgia’s 33-yard line, setting up a field goal opportunity for Smack.
Special teams have been a recurring issue during Napier’s tenure at UF. While the unit looked sharp in 2024, a costly miscue seemed to swing the momentum in the Bulldogs’ favor.
UF redshirt junior long snapper Rocco Underwood delivered a poor snap that rolled through the hands of senior holder Jeremy Crawshaw, allowing Georgia to take back possession at the Gators’ 36-yard line with 2:50 left in the third quarter.
“Special teams are a team effort,” Napier said. “On that play, we did not execute.”
The turnover proved to be pivotal. Just three plays later, the Bulldogs took their first lead of the game after Beck found redshirt junior running back Cash Jones on a short pass. Jones would scurry his way through various UF defenders, eventually finding the end zone to give UGA its first lead of the game at 20-13.
Two three-and-outs from Georgia to open the fourth quarter allowed Florida to hang around just long enough to tie the game, with the matchup coming down to the wire.
Midway through the quarter, Warner found UF senior wideout Elijhah Badger for a 26-yard pickup to UGA’s 29-yard line.
“Aidan obviously has a really good arm,” senior wide receiver Chimere Dike said. “The thing I like most about him is he's a competitor. [He] wasn't scared of that big moment. We tried to rally around him. Obviously [we have to] do a better job offensively. I was proud of the way he played today.”
Just four plays later, redshirt junior running back Ja’Kobi Jackson carried the ball to the right side en route to a 15-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game 20-20 with 7:34 left on the clock.
From there, it was all Bulldogs. UGA closed out the game by scoring 14 unanswered points and never looking back. Nonetheless, it proved to be a hard fought loss for the Gators, although larger and perhaps more important questions now loom. With the potential loss of Lagway going forward, there’s a chance that Florida could field Warner as the starter for the remainder of the season.
Florida will next travel to Austin to take on No. 6 Texas on Nov. 9. Kick off is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET.
“I think injuries are something that's out of your control,” Dike said. “I haven't been in a game where we had this many, but I think that shows the growth on our team… There is no moral victories. We're at the University of Florida.”
Contact Max Tucker at mtucker@alligaotr.org. Follow him on X @Max_Tuckr1.
Max Tucker is a senior transfer student at UF. After obtaining his A.A. in Journalism from Santa Fe College in 2023, he chose to further his education at Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. Max is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a specialization in sports and media. He enjoys golfing and going to the beach with his friends in his free time.
