Lagway-led Florida Football Smashes Samford For First Win Of Season

Florida’s football team took a significant stride forward with a resounding victory Saturday at The Swamp.

The Gators (1-1), led by determined freshman quarterback DJ Lagway, dominated the Samford Bulldogs, 45-7. The victory is a testament to the team’s determination.

Gators win!

Presented by @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/WaFdYjmfJm

— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 8, 2024

Lagway’s performance was nothing short of extraordinary. Lagway, playing in place of starter Graham Mertz (concussion), dominated the game and immediately became the talk of the town. His completion of 18 out of 25 passes for 456 yards and three touchdowns set a record for passing yards in a single game for a Gator true freshman quarterback. Chris Leak had the old record of 268 yards at Kentucky in 2003.

Wide receivers Elijhah Badger and Eugene Wilson III also had a successful night. Both managed to surpass 100 yards receiving. Badger would had his first 100+-yard game with 141 yards and Wilson ended with 123 yards and a touchdown.

Highlights from tonight’s 45-7 win over Samford! 🐊 pic.twitter.com/3IAQvnarG6

— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 8, 2024

First Half

1st Quarter:

Samford elected to receive. On the first drive of the game, Florida safety Jordan Castell forced a fumble, which was recovered by defensive back Aaron Gate.

Lagway displayed his talents by firing a 77-yard missile to Badger, who took it to the 3-yard line. Running back Montrell Johnston Jr. ran for a 1-yard score to give UF a lead it would not give up.

2nd Quarter:

To start the quarter, Lagway threw a perfect pass over the Samford defense to connect with wide receiver Chimere Dike for 44 yards. Unfortunately, freshman running back Jadan Baugh fumbled into the end zone where Samford recover.

Lagway connected with tight end Hayden Hansen for 40 yards to the Samford 30. Johnson later ran in from 7 yards to put Florida up 14-0 at the 7:02 mark of the quarter. It’s Johnson’s 30th career TD.

Second Half

3rd Quarter

Wilson got involved when he took a toss from Lagway behind the line of scrimmage and ran 22 yards. After a Johnson 11-yard run, Lagway found freshman receiver Tank Hawkins behind the secondary for a 36-yard scoring pass. Lagway’s first career TD pass put UF up 21-0 at the 13:38 mark of the quarter.

Samford (0-2) then scored its only touchdown on a 1-yard run by Demonta Witherspoon to cap a 12-plays, 75-yard drive to cut UF’s lead to 21-7 at the 7:40 mark.

Florida then began to pull away.

A 16-yard pass play from Lagway to Wilson started the ensuing drive. Running back Ja’Kobi Jackson picked up yardage to set up another Lagway TD pass. Receiver Aidan Mizell caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from a scrambling Lagway to give the Gators a 28-7 lead with 5:52 remaining.

4th Quarter

Trey Smack culminated a 15-play, 56-yard drive with a 25-yard field goal that gave Florida a 31-7 lead at the 13:18 mark.

Later in the quarter, Wilson again took a short toss from Lagway on a jet sweep before weaving his way for an 85-yard touchdown for a 38-7 lead.

Florida reserve quarterback Aidan Warner finished the scoring with a 9-yard TD run.

Takeaways

Lagway received great support from the crowd. At various points in the game, his name echoed throughout the stadium. Despite the uncertainty of future starts, Florida coach Billy Napier said after the game, “Our intentions are the same. We intend to play [Lagway] every week.”

The team has definitely improved since last week’s performance against Miami, with the defense being less scrambled and more of a solid unit. However, there are many things that need to become more solid if the Gators want to have a chance to compete against the more challenging opponents on their schedule.

“There’s still a handful of things for us to clean up as a whole, but I thought the defense settled in, and obviously, DJ Lagway had a phenomenal night. We played well around him,” Napier said.

Up Next

The Gators begin SEC play with a 3:30 p.m. game against Texas A&M (1-1) at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday (ABC, 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF).