There was a lot at stake for sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway last Saturday. The Willis, Texas native grew up just an hour away from College Station where he attended many Texas A&M games over the years. The Aggies were also a finalist in Lagway’s high school recruitment. It was personal for the young signal caller.
More importantly, the Gators had a chance to gain significant momentum following an upset victory over Texas the week before. Florida fell short, losing 34-17 and dropping to 2-4 (1-2 SEC) on the 2025 season.
“This is gut-wrenching,” Lagway said postgame. “I can’t imagine how I feel right now, this is not how I expected this night to go, and we’ve just got to get back to work, that’s all I can say.”
Late in the 4th quarter with the game out of reach, Lagway was seen visibly upset and quite frankly pissed off on the UF sideline.
WATCH: https://x.com/gatorsszn/status/1977398621105479738
Lagway isn’t used to losing. The 6’3, 247-pound quarterback went 12-1 as a senior at Willis High School with their only loss coming in the regional semifinals against DeSoto, a team that went on to win the state championship.
This is new territory for Lagway, but as the quarterback and leader of the team, it’s his responsibility to guide his teammates through a difficult time, even if that message is harsh.
“I kind of told my guys on the offensive side, especially, I’m not comfortable with this losing stuff. I don’t rock with the losing. I don’t like that. We can’t get comfortable with this. It’s not, it’s not acceptable,” Lagway said on the message to his team.
“And I feel like there’s a lot of guys responding to that, and it’s not acceptable, and I’m tired of it, and I can’t go on like this. We got to fix it. And it starts with me,” Lagway added. “I gotta demand the tempo. I got to demand excellence out of everybody, and forget feelings. It’s all business at the end of the day. We got to get to work, got to have hard conversations, and we got to fix some things.”
Florida’s offense struggled to move the ball and put points on the board after the first quarter, combining for just three points and 162 yards after the first 15 minutes of play. It was a game script we’ve seen before, even in Florida’s victory over Texas last week where the Gators managed just 42 yards in the fourth quarter.
The Gators have been outscored 30-0 in the fourth quarter over their last three games.
“I’m frustrated. This ain’t acceptable. I’m tired of it. This ain’t our brand of football. It’s not what we’re coached to do. This is not how we are supposed to play our brand of football. We just got to execute. And it’s frustrating when we don’t execute,” Lagway said.
It wasn’t all bad offensively. Florida scored a touchdown on two of their first three possessions. Lagway completed 21 of 37 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns.
“I’d say just our RPO game, you know, getting the ball out quick, you know, when they came up, getting them over the top and taking them deep,” Lagway said on the early success. “I feel like that was a great way we started the game and it felt good.”
Gator Nation shares Lagway’s frustration. We can all see how talented UF’s roster is, but it’s not resulting in wins. Against Texas A&M and Miami, the Gators had the ball at midfield down by seven points or less in the fourth quarter; the average margin of loss in those games was 18 points. Against LSU, the Gators were down 10 points with over 23 minutes to play. Florida held LSU scoreless for the remainder of the game, but the offense couldn’t spark a comeback.
“It’s about us. We’re beating ourselves, quite honestly, like we’re beating ourselves,” Lagway said. “We shouldn’t have penalties being first and 30. That’s ridiculous. We gotta fix some things internally. That’s basically it.”
DJ Lagway and the Gators are set to face Mississippi State in week eight for Florida’s homecoming game.