It doesn't matter who coaches; D.J. Lagway will guide Florida's football future
It tells you all you need to know about the state of Florida and LSU’s programs that this middle-of-the-third-quarter statistic produced equal outrage from Gators and Tigers fans.
At the time, Florida’s defense couldn’t get off the field on third down. LSU’s offense couldn’t do much of anything on any other down. But it felt as if the Gators could finally get a stop, everything else would turn their way.
Then Florida did get that stop: a sack-strip fumble of LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier that led to a could-he-make-it rumbling run by offensive tackle Emery Jones Jr. that ended with Jones fumbling and Florida recovering on the LSU 35-yard line. Then Florida false-started, went three-and-out, and punted.
Fire everyone, both message boards screamed.
But let’s be real here. LSU coach Brian Kelly isn’t getting fired because LSU would owe him the gross domestic product of a small island nation if administrators decided to part ways. Florida coach Billy Napier isn’t getting fired because athletic director Scott Stricklin has already (mostly) promised Napier’s return for 2025. A blowout loss to LSU sandwiched between blowout losses to Texas and Ole Miss might have changed the decision, but Napier and the Gators — and Kelly and the Tigers — made sure that didn’t happen.
Saturday in The Swamp was always going to end with one fanbase wanting blood and another complaining only slightly less. But it went so much worse for Kelly than Napier because, for once, the Gators found a way to win a close game. Plus, Florida once again showed in the 27-16 win that despite Napier’s under-.500 record with the Gators, he possesses perhaps the most valuable commodity in college football — the trust of a potentially transcendent quarterback.
Even after the tease of a sequence described above, Florida’s defense produced more stops. Against an LSU offense that had allowed six sacks all season coming into the game, Florida sacked Nussmeier seven times. Then D.J. Lagway showed why it probably doesn’t matter who coaches Florida next season as long as Lagway is in Gainesville.
Lagway is recovering from a hamstring injury suffered Nov. 2 against Georgia, Florida didn’t use designed quarterback runs. That was the cheat code Texas A&M and Alabama used to beat LSU in the past few weeks. A fully healthy Lagway, whose legs are dangerous, might have made this easy. Instead, Lagway had to show why the mantra in Gainesville all season has been “just keep D.J.”
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The magic came on a second-and-2 play from the LSU 37-yard line in a game deadlocked at lucky 13. Both of LSU’s edge rushers beat their blockers and closed from the outside. A blitzing linebacker twisted through the B gap to Lagway’s right and barreled toward Lagway’s chest. Lagway stepped up to avoid the edges. Lagway flicked his right wrist as linebacker Greg Penn III wrapped his arms around Lagway’s waist.
The ball didn’t float. Despite not setting his feet and having a defender draped on him, Lagway powered it to receiver Elijhah Badger for a 36-yard gain. Ja’Kobi Jackson plunged in on the next play to give the Gators the lead.
LSU converted two fourth downs en route to a field goal — nobody said this was an all-of-Florida’s-issues-during-the-Billy Napier-era-are-fixed column — but Florida responded with a 55-yard touchdown run from freshman back Jaden Baugh.
It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t clear LSU had anything to play for after getting eliminated from the College Football Playoff race with extreme prejudice by Alabama last week. But it was a win. And it was further proof that the most important piece of Florida’s future isn’t the guy in a headset on the sidelines but the guy wearing No. 2 who can make jaws drop by flicking his wrist.
As long as Lagway lives in Gainesville, a brighter future feels possible.