Steve Sarkisian explains how Texas is preparing for Florida with DJ Lagway uncertainty

The Texas Longhorns have turned their attention to the Florida Gators. There, head coach Steve Sarkisian has a problem in prepping for the game, it’s not clear who the Gators quarterback is going to be on Saturday.

Thanks to injuries, Florida finished its rivalry game against Georgia with third-string quarterback Aidan Warner under center. However, it’s not clear who will get the start against Texas. So, Sarkisian is preparing for the system that Florida runs, rather than a specific quarterback.

“I think you prepare for the scheme,” Steve Sarkisian said. “You know, Coach [Billy] Napier‘s been doing it for quite a while. His time at Lafayette and what he’s done at Florida. So, they’ve got a very intricate scheme. Lot of shifts, lot of motions, a lot of formation adjustments that they tax you with. So, I think that’s the first part. They’re in a little bit of limbo from a quarterback perspective, but at the end of the day, I think they’re going to run their offense and that’s what we have to prepare for.”

It, interestingly, is a similar situation that teams preparing to Texas have been in at times, with Quinn Ewers missing time and Arch Manning replacing him.

Freshman quarterback DJ Lagway suffered a scary injury, needing a cart to exit the field and later appearing on the sidelines using crutches. With Graham Mertz already out for the season, Florida was forced to turn to a walk-on transfer from Yale, Aidan Warner.

On Monday, Florida head coach Billy Napier did share a positive update on DJ Lagway. However, he was unclear if the young quarterback would be able to play against Texas.

“The good news is we have positive information on that front,” Napier said. “We do think that the injury is less significant. We do think there’s a pathway for recovery and a return. We did find that out yesterday evening. He’s been doing well so far this morning, so 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… I think that he, in particular, is a great competitor, and he wants to be loyal to his teammates and be available to do his part for the team.”

The Florida Gators and Texas Longhorns are scheduled to kickoff at 12:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, November 9th in Austin.