It’s difficult to takeaway anything from the kind of games that have such a significant disparity in talent. No.15 Florida vs Long Island was never going to be a close football game, and that makes analyzing the game very challenging. Still, I left Florida’s 55-0 win over LIU with some positive takeaways, and some concerns as well.
No injuries, no penalties
Perhaps the most important takeaway from Saturday night: Florida got out of the game injury free. When you are playing a team like LIU, your main goal is to win comfortably, get a ton of different guys reps, and get out healthy. Florida accomplished all three of those as they played their second and third string players the entire second half.
It was also nice to see a zero-penalty game from the Gators, a feat they haven’t accomplished since 2021 vs LSU. Florida did not commit a single penalty for the second time in team history. This was as disciplined a performance as we’ve seen under Billy Napier, regardless of competition. The Gators also did not turn the ball over. Overall, it was a clean game for Florida.
DJ Lagway looked rusty
Sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway was the first to say he didn’t play up to his standard in the postgame press conference. His stat line wasn’t bad: 15-18 passing, 120 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. However, Lagway never really looked comfortable in the pocket or throwing the football. Nothing seemed easy for him. Lagway held onto the ball too long on multiple occasions, failed to see open receivers, and just flat out missed some, which we aren’t used to seeing. He made his receivers work for many of his completions.
Lagway played as if he hadn’t taken many 11 on 11 reps in the offseason, which he didn’t as be battled multiple injuries. The bright side is Lagway looked much more comfortable in the second quarter and seemed to settle down a little bit, completing five of his last six passes, two of which for touchdowns.
Two first downs
Florida’s defense allowed just two first downs in the entire football game, one in each half, setting a program record. There wasn’t a noticeable drop off from Florida’s first-string defense to the second or third string, which was a promising sign. The Gators speed on defense was evident as they hawked down several ball carriers from sideline to sideline. LIU runs a tricky speed option offense, which the Gators never let fool them. I thought Florida tackled at a high level for a week one game. The secondary wasn’t tested much, but the Gators held LIU to 4-11 passing for 49 yards, recording two pass break ups in the process. The Gators allowed just 86 total yards – the team’s fewest since giving up just 53 yards to North Texas on Sept. 17, 2016. Florida is set for a much more difficult challenge next weekend vs USF, but Saturday night was a very disciplined approach defensively.
New backup quarterback
One bright spot offensively was the performance of freshman quarterback Tramell Jones Jr., who completed 12-18 passes for 131 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. Napier announced postgame that Jones Jr. is the team’s backup quarterback, noting that he’s earned the job in recent weeks. It wasn’t hard to see how; Jones Jr. looked extremely comfortable in the pocket, not shying away from using his legs to pick up first downs or roll out of the pocket. One of his best passes of the night fell incomplete, a beautiful deep ball that fell through the hands of walk on WR Jackson Wade. Jones Jr. is an accurate passer that has more athleticism than many gave him credit for out of high school. He has the ability to make ‘off schedule’ throws on the run. Ultimately, Jones Jr.’s ceiling is a lot higher than the other backups in the room.
VB3
Freshman wide receiver Vernell Brown III was my MVP of the game. Brown III became just the third freshman in Florida program history to log his first career start in a season opener, joining Antonio Callaway (2015) and Percy Harvin (2006). The 5’11, 178-pound receiver hauled in three receptions for 79 yards, which included jaw dropping 41-yard one handed catch. Easily one of, if not the best catch, we’ve seen from a Billy Napier led team, rivaling Ricky Pearsall’s. Brown III’s 79 receiving yards is the most ever by a Gator freshman in his first career start. Brown III also provided Florida a spark in the punt return game, logging two 20+ yard returns in the contest. We saw his wiggle on display as a receiver too with 23 yards after the catch.
Napier clearly things very highly of Brown III, and it’s nice to know Florida could have an electric punt returner for the next 3-4 years.
Run the Baugh
Florida’s sophomore running back was fantastic vs. an overmatched LIU defense, rushing nine times for 104 yards and a touchdown. Baugh averaged 11.6 yards per carry and looked the part of a lead back in the SEC. His ability to make people miss at his size is a unique trait that makes him very difficult to stop.
Offensive line struggles?
I’m going to have to rewatch the game to understand what happened with Florida’s offensive line vs Long Island, but the Sharks forced 11 tackles for loss against UF. That’s more than UF’s defense had (7). Napier indicated that Long Island had some new defensive concepts that hurt them in protection at times. Like I said, I will have to rewatch to figure out exactly what happened.
Several of the tackles for loss allowed were a result of the quarterback holding the ball too long and poorly designed wide receiver screens. Plays that didn’t have much to do the offensive line play. However, the Gators didn’t really have a running back shine outside of Jadan Baugh. Whatever way you want to look at it, 11 tackles for loss is concerning given the level of opponent, and Florida probably should have averaged more than 5.3 yards per carry against LIU.