The Florida Gators kicked off the 2025 college football season with a dominant 55-0 win over the FCS Long Island Sharks. Here are some key numbers from the contest.
0
The Gators allowed zero points to the Sharks, making it the team’s first shutout win since defeating Vanderbilt 42-0 in 2021. It was also their first shutout of an FCS opponent since blanking both UT-Martin and Towson in 2019.
I bring up the latter point because it can actually be harder to shut out a lower division team because of the way coaches like to empty the benches in such contests to give third stringers and walk ons a chance to play in a live game. Indeed, Long Island connected on a long pass in the fourth quarter to create their only realistic scoring chance. A stand on 4th & 2 at the Gators’ 22-yard-line preserved the perfect zero on the scoreboard.
Also, UF concluded the game with zero penalties and zero turnovers. There was some sloppiness that I’ll get into later, but discipline was not an issue.
1
Long Island had only one drive that lasted longer than three plays, that being the one I just referenced that happened in the fourth quarter.
Also, LIU converted just one third down in 12 chances.
2
In addition to picking up just one third down, the Sharks had only two first downs in the entire contest. The Gator defense was completely, thoroughly dominant for all but one series in the contest.
Also, 2 is for the two quarterbacks that Florida played. There had been some speculation that we could see as many as four signal callers given the differing reports about practice and scrimmage snap splits among DJ Lagway’s backups in preseason camp.
Instead, we saw only Lagway and Tramell Jones behind center for the Gators. I interpret Jones’s extended run, including getting to throw a red zone touchdown with under 30 seconds to go in the game, as a sign that the coaches don’t see him falling behind last year’s emergency quarterback Aidan Warner or journeyman transfer Harrison Bailey.
If a true freshman is going to be the backup, then he needs plenty of work against the FCS opponent to get ready for potentially starting if Lagway’s injury pattern continues. And given Jones’s poise and fairly consistent command of the limited set of things he was asked to do, it was evident how he was able to take control of the backup spot. After a broken play, the TV cameras caught him listening to his running back and tapping his chest to take ownership of the mistake. He then proceeded as though nothing had happened. It was impressive stuff for a quarterback in his first collegiate game, even if it came against a bad FCS team.
3
Normally reliable kicker Trey Smack missed three field goals on the night. The 57-yard attempt that hit the goalpost is plenty forgivable, but he missed three field goals all of last year. He’s been around too long for first-game jitters, so hopefully that performance was just an anomaly.
8
Dallas Wilson was the true freshman wide receiver who made the biggest splash in the spring game, but he was sidelined due to injury on Saturday. That, plus some other health issues, paved the way for No. 8 Vernell Brown III to become just the third true freshman to start at wideout in school history after Percy Harvin and Antonio Callaway.
Brown’s play as both a receiver and returner showed he earned that job for a reason. He delivered the highlight play of the game with a leaping one-handed grab, and he was a threat to pick up chunk yardage every time he appeared on special teams. He might not remain a starter once the entire receiver room is at full strength, but he clearly belongs as a major part of the rotation whether he appears on the team’s first play of the game or not.
11
Far and away, the most concerning stat of the night was the 11 tackles for loss by the Long Island defense.
Now, LIU head coach Ron Cooper is a longtime defensive coach who’s been at it since 1983, including 12 years at four SEC schools — including four years on Steve Spurrier’s South Carolina staff — plus a year with the Tampa Bay Bucs. And, Billy Napier said after the game that the Sharks showed “some real unique things in the first couple possessions of the game … unique stuff that really challenges your rules and protection, even in the run game from an identification standpoint”.
Which, okay, that’s fine and all. An opponent tried something they hadn’t done on film before. And one or two of the the tackles for loss could’ve been from Lagway shaking off rust after having not participated much in spring or preseason camp. And UF was rotating a lot of linemen starting from the second drive of the game, meaning there were not all that many reps with the starting five on the line.
But this was Long Island, an FCS opponent that won four games in each of the last three seasons. Florida has an offensive line that includes four returning starters, including a reigning All-American at center and a potential early-round selection at left tackle. That left tackle straight-up blew his block on the first play of the game, which resulted in a sack after Lagway held onto the ball for too long. The Sharks easily could’ve had more than 11 TFLs if Jadan Baugh and Ja’Kobi Jackson weren’t so hard to bring down. Baugh’s sole touchdown required running through a tackle because starting left guard Knijeah Harris, with the entire starting line playing, blew his block on the play.
The offensive line is supposed to be not just one of the strengths of the offense but of the entire team. For now, we might be able to chalk this poor showing up to some combination of preparation issues by the staff, the effects of Lagway missing so much time, and significant personnel shuffling. Whatever the reasons, there will be focus on line play in the next tuneup game against USF this weekend. If they still have issues against the Bulls, that’s a very bad sign for SEC play.
104
Baugh needed only nine carries to notch his second career 100-yard game. Though the staff has talked up Jackson’s performance and leadership, it was clear that Baugh is the top rusher on the squad on Saturday. He looked just as strong but perhaps a little quicker than he was last season. He got a good start on potentially becoming the Gators’ first 1,000-yard rusher since Kelvin Taylor in 2015.
-4
Tre Wilson pulled off a rare feat: he logged a touchdown catch while finishing with five catches for -4 net receiving yards on the day. With “YAC!” visibly written on a pad extending below his jersey, Wilson had precious few yards after the catch that weren’t horizontal.
Napier did no favors to Wilson, once again hammering plays that he’s called for the speedy wideout since his freshman campaign two years ago. Napier knows he should get Wilson the ball, but he seems to struggle to think of ways to do so within the flow of the offense and not merely by force-feeding him on plays that everyone can see coming.
This was a limited playbook for an opening FCS opponent with a quarterback who’d barely done significant practice in the offseason. I really don’t want to overreact here, but it’s hard not to when the plays for Wilson look exactly the same for the third year running.