BATON ROUGE, La. — Florida’s 20-10 loss at LSU was another comedy of errors, highlighted by five quarterback DJ Lagway interceptions, to turn up the heat on Billy Napier.
Here are five things learned:
Napier’s days are numbered
Based on the past and the future it’s only a matter of time before Napier’s tenure ends. During Florida’s revolving door of coaches since Steve Spurrier, none had a worse record than Napier, who is 20-21, or lasted past Year 4.
UF’s embattled coach will have to recover from another 1-2 start to do what Ron Zook (23-14), Will Muschamp (28-21), Jim McElwain (22-12) or Dan Mullen (34-15) could not. In 2024, though, the Gators traveled to hapless Mississippi State prior to a bye week, followed by a visit from UCF.
With a gauntlet ahead, the LSU loss on the heels of the USF collapse makes a 1-5 start feasible, especially given Lagway’s struggles and the Gators’ undisciplined play.
Florida now heads to No. 5 Miami, fresh off a 49-12 win against USF — surprising 18-16 winners a week earlier in the Swamp. Following Florida’s first bye week, No. 7 Texas will visit Gainesville Oct. 4 before the Gators head to Texas A&M, last-second winners Saturday night at Notre Dame.
An Oct. 18 homecoming date against Mississippi State precedes Florida’s second bye week, followed by a Nov. 1 date with Georgia in Jacksonville. If ever there were a good time for athletic director Scott Stricklin to pull the plug, it might be then.
Zook’s final game as head coach was against Mississippi State, though he agreed to stay through the end of the season. Barring a turn of events, history could repeat itself, with Napier overseeing the Gators through the regular-season finale Nov. 29 against Florida State.
Florida head coach Billy Napier walks along the sideline during the Gators’ 20-10 loss to LSU Sept. 13 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Lagway looks lost
Lagway was made for the moment in 2024. He possessed the arm talent, physical stature and confidence to make big plays off-schedule and throws into tight down-field windows few even would dare.
Rather than build on a breakout season, the slumping sophomore has struggled since Week 1.
Following an offseason limited by shoulder issues, Lagway has forced passes into coverage and missed opportunities, culminating with his 5-interception night— the first by a Gator in more than 30 years.
“I’ve never had a performance like that in my life,” he said. “Bad ball placement on a lot of things, bad misread throws … I played horrible football today.”
Lagway’s third first-half interception came on a pass telegraphed down the middle of the field. Of the five picks, he said that one “really hurt” because it allowed LSU to kick a field goal for a 13-10 halftime lead.
Each of Lagway’s miscues, which included a pick-six, came on ill-advised passes. A lack of practice because of injuries, including ones to his core muscle and calf, might explain some of the issues. Sloppy footwork and mechanics are other factors.
Lagway aims to clean up his act.
“I’m just excited to get back to work,” he said. “I got to get this taste out of my mouth.”
Lagway did make some impressive throws in Baton Rouge, including a perfect fade route to Aidan Mizell for a 10-yard score on third down and a 22-yard third-quarter hook-up with Mizell to the LSU 49 undercut two plays later by Knijeah Harris’ second holding penalty. The 6-foot-3, 247-pound Lagway, who completed 33 of 49 throws for 287 yards, ran with toughness on several occasions, finishing with 37 yards on 9 carries.
Yet, the 20-year-old’s struggles and bad habits might be too much to overcome.
Why not Tramell Jones Jr.?
If anyone deserved the hook or could have used a moment to settle himself on the sideline, it was Lagway. Yet, Napier stuck with his starter, saying he never considered giving Jones a shot.
“I don’t subscribe to that theory,” he said. “DJ’s our quarterback. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country.”
Jones, a true freshman from Jacksonville, showed promise during UF’s season-opening rout of Long Island University. The football came quickly, accurately and to the right spot.
But a night game against LSU is a far cry from a home date with LIU.
“You’re talking about a guy who, he’s a rookie himself,” Napier said.
By Lagway’s fourth pick, the Gators had nothing to lose, other than another road game under Napier — now 5-14 away from the Swamp.
Whether Jones could have provided a spark is unknown. Instead, Napier doubled-down on DJ.
Florida quarterback DJ Lagway is smothered by LSU defenders during the Gators’ 20-10 loss at LSU Sept. 13 in Baton Rouge. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
The defense did enough
UF held LSU to just 316 yards and allowed only three points off Lagway’s interceptions save the pick six. The Gators forced five three-and-outs, including three straight to open the game.
The Tigers also managed only one touchdown drive. On it, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier converted three third downs on completions of 15, 23 and 23 yards — the final one for a touchdown Zavion Thomas for a 10-3 lead.
“We did a lot of good on defense,” Napier said.
Yielding one touchdown each during two losses should be a winning formula.
UF’s D did fail to generate a sack after downing Nussmeier seven times in 2024. Quick throws and playing with a lead made him a tougher target.
The Gators also managed just one takeaway, compared with five for the Tigers.
“We played well,” linebacker Myles Graham said. “It’s closer to the standard but it’s still not perfect. And it wasn’t good enough for the win.”
The end of an era?
The SEC’s move nine conference games could discontinue the annual Florida-LSU matchup.
The Gators and Tigers have played every year since 1971, with the series record 34-34-3 entering Saturday. The schools eventually formed the SEC’s best crossover game between East and West division foes.
But the 2024 arrival of Texas and Oklahoma eliminated divisions.
Another league game in 2026 will require schools play three annual opponents and six rotating ones, thus allowing every SEC program to square off home and away during a four-year span.
LSU could become one of the Gators’ annual foes, or the drama-filled rivalry could become a casualty of changing times.
Two programs with three nationals titles each since 1996 have engaged in their share of epics.
One possession decided nine of the 10 meetings from 2012-2021. Indelible moments a decade earlier included a 2003 upset led by freshman quarterback Chris Leak against Nick Saban’s eventual co-national champions in Baton Rouge, Tim Tebow’s jump pass in 2006 and Jacob Hester’s fourth-down heroics for LSU in ’07 at Tiger Stadium.
But as this annual rivalry likely comes to a close, it has tilted toward LSU, now winners of seven of the past eight meetings.
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com