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Article: Everything Billy Gonzales Said After Florida’s 38-7 Loss To Kentucky In Week 11

Discussion in 'RayGator's Swamp Gas' started by ETGator, Nov 9, 2025.

  1. ETGator

    ETGator Long-Time Gator Stuck In East Tennessee Moderator VIP Member

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    [​IMG]

    By: Nick Marcinko -- November 8, 2025

    The Florida Gators dropped to 3-6 (2-4 SEC) on the 2025 season after a disturbing 38-7 loss to Kentucky on Saturday night in Lexington. Here’s everything interim head coach Billy Gonzales had to say postgame:

    Opening statement:

    “Obviously it wasn’t anywhere close to what we wanted. Not acceptable in any terms to take a loss the way we did, so we’ve got to get back, we’ve got to get back and look at the film and evaluate where we’re at, so kind of go from there.”

    On the decision to bench DJ Lagway:

    “Well that was my decision. I think we had a rough first half, and I thought it might be good for him just to gather and look at it from a coach’s point and a coach’s point from the sideline. But yeah, we need to to play better all around, not just him, everybody needs to play a little bit better, not just him, and I’ll take the blame for everything. I think if you take a look at what we do and what we need to be and it’s unacceptable and I’m going to put me up in front and say that’s on me. I’ll take the blame for this loss, 100 percent, so we got to be better, and we’ve got to be better, I’ve got to be better, make sure these players continue forward.”

    On if DJ Lagway is the starter next week vs. Ole Miss:

    “We’ll take a look at the film and obviously we think he’s a very talented young man but we’ll take a look at everything and move forward once we get back home.”

    On how it unraveled:

    “Yeah, you get four, you have four turnovers in the first half, you’re not going to win the game. You’ve lost time, especially when you’re playing a team that takes up so much time of possession early on. We started off offensively, I thought we did a decent job coming out. We came back, started off moving the ball, then we had an interception. Obviously the fourth drive we had a fumble, came back another interception, seventh drive another interception, so if you don’t take care of the ball you’re not going to win the game, so we did a poor job taking care of the ball. They did a really good job rushing the ball, and obviously we didn’t get off the field on third down, they didn’t punt at all. So like I said I’ll take the blame for everything.”

    On Tramell Jones’ appearance:

    “Yeah I think he came in and he did what he was supposed to do, having a chance to have a chance to try to move the ball, and we had penalties. You start moving the ball and you get a penalty and you get behind third and long again, you’re not going to be successful that way, so again we’ve got to be better, and I keep saying it over and over, I want these players to continue to play hard. We’ve got to put them in better situations, but I’ll take the blame on this one. It’s not acceptable by any means, and that will come straight on me.”

    On the defensive collapse:

    “We knew we had to tackle. We knew we had to wrap. I give a ton of credit to Kentucky. When you get put into a situation early on when you got the turnovers – I’m just trying to look at some of the drives now, written down – they were put in a bad situation early in the game. Going into halftime didn’t help with 24-7. Then they came back out and did a good job moving the ball, came out and scored. We need to get better. We need to get off the field on third downs. But we got to put them in better situations where they’re not in those situations. Again, that’s on me.”

    On if Tank Hawkins opted out:

    “Tank came up, very professional. He came out and asked if he could preserve his redshirt. Absolutely. I said I 100 percent honor it. So at this point yes.”

    On how to motivate this team:

    “I just told them we got to get ready. Don’t splinter. We’ve talk about persistence without exception. I just mentioned it again. When times get tough, people quit. And why do they quit? Because they start second-guessing themselves: Is this what I want to do? Is this the right thing to do? Is this where I need to be? So they veer off course. We talked about the without exception part. Without exception means listen I’ve got to focus. If I’m a competitor and I;m fighting to be better and I know at the end of the day what I’m doing can help me out later down the road, and continue to fight for my teammates and continue to fight for the school, the without exception part comes into play. Just talked to them. We’re not going to splinter. We can’t splinter. But anything from that standpoint, like I said, as far as motivation and leadership. Leadership comes from me, and I have to do a better job.”

    https://www.gatorcountry.com/featur...er-floridas-38-7-loss-to-kentucky-in-week-11/
     
  2. mfpardnor2

    mfpardnor2 Old School Gator VIP Member

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    I can respect a man who will take total ownership of failure.
     
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  3. MaceoP

    MaceoP GC Hall of Fame

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    Billy is a good coach. How many would be put in his shoes and succeed? He has players who weren't trained properly, coaches who have no resume nor experience.. Who can he rely on, especially on O? What did Ohare ever accomplish in his career as a coach? How about Calloway? CBN didn't give a crap about coaches resume because he just wanted yes men. On the D side he was forced to hire a pro, especially after Toney/Armstrong. Seems to me that DJ is going through the motions, just collecting a check.
     
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  4. twodaparty

    twodaparty GC Hall of Fame

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    Or is he officially benched and will backup?
     
  5. gbranton

    gbranton GC Hall of Fame

    I hope not. Not solely because of his on the field performance but I think he needs time to heal, physically, mentally and emotionally. He needs time to figure out who and what he wants to be or IF he wants to be at UF.
     
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  6. DowntownGator

    DowntownGator GC Hall of Fame

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    I honestly think DJ should not have been benched at UK because it just wasn't fair to put in T. Jones ostensibly to manage a loss. He didn't have a chance, and the abysmal play calling that ate up the clock (runs on 1st and 2nd down) showed that there was no sense of urgency, creativity, and the coaches were calling plays scared. As such was the case, DJ should've stayed in until the end of the game and owned the loss. Then again, DJ was playing so poorly there may have been no other choice but to bench him.

    I'd like to see Coach Billy G announce sometime today that Jones will be getting 1st team reps all week and getting ready to start the game on Saturday. If he doesn't then the plan is obviously to start DJ. I won't be watching the game if DJ starts. I just can't watch that anymore. It's no fun at all.
     
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  7. GatorArts

    GatorArts GC Hall of Fame

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    It would be nice to see Jones as starter for next week and the practice that comes along with it.
     
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  8. sqgator

    sqgator GC Hall of Fame

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    I think we have seen enough DJ for this season.
     
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  9. Wanne15

    Wanne15 GC Hall of Fame

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    Im glad he played. Especially if he plays going forward. He got his feet wet against a hostile crowd on the road. I dont buy into that ruining a kids psyche. They either have it or they dont. You find out quickly when thrown in the fire. He didnt break.
     
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  10. traubgator

    traubgator GC Hall of Fame

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    Lagway stats:
    112th in passer rating
    57th in completion %
    75th in Yards
    75th in passing TDs
    499th in INTs - dead last in football -- This stat is unimaginable (is that a word)
     
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  11. DieAGator

    DieAGator GC Hall of Fame

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    The staff Napier assembled is sub SEC. Billy cannot fix that overnight, although I was hopeful they could do better than Napier.

    Looks that way. You wouldn't think he's trying to get better bc he's terrible. What happened to that guy? We need him off the NIL payroll asap. He's bad for the team at this point.
     
  12. duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

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    Well, 499th in INTs is unimaginable.
     
  13. DieAGator

    DieAGator GC Hall of Fame

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    Unfortunately, it is.
    un·im·ag·i·na·ble
    /ˌənəˈmaj(ə)nəb(ə)l/
    adjective
    adjective: unimaginable
    1. difficult or impossible to imagine or comprehend.
    The long INT he threw was horrific. Was he coached poorly since HS, is the system counter intuitive for his sensibilities, is he just at this level a bad QB? Who knows. It's unlikely he's a starter next season even with a new coach and better coaching. The new HC is not going to want to rehab his psyche, more likely going to want him gone so the NIL money can be better spent.
     
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  14. gatorr4life

    gatorr4life -WE ARE THE BOYS-

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    He will start. Not a doubt in my mind. The question is how long will his leash be. I don’t mind him starting, but he better bring his A game and show some damn heart.
     
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  15. UF24ou14

    UF24ou14 GC Hall of Fame

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    We put way too much stock in his deep throws. Easiest throw to make. Not worth a crap anywhere else. Combine his weaknesses with abysmal coaching and we have what we have. Both he and AR were vastly overrated with no chance to get better.
     
  16. thom1507

    thom1507 GC Legend

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    Can we just start the qb that earned it in practice regardless of what their last name is? Is that asking too much?

    DJ needs to spend his time ingraining the basics of footwork and internal clock. You simply can't play qb at this level if you have to think about your footwork in-game. It should be muscle memory at this point which will also help with timing.
     
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  17. fox

    fox GC Hall of Fame

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    Florida Beachland
    Either Jones and Warner can probably move the team well. But maybe not until the last game.
     
  18. bullish

    bullish GC Hall of Fame

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    They both have better fundamentals than DJ.
    Trammel has a gun of an arm and scrambles well, Adrian has crisp short to medium passes. Either could move this team’s offense. DJ has lost his confidence and has many coaches in his ear confusing him. He needs a reboot somewhere else to help him get better. If Lane does come, I don’t think he would stand for forcing passes, side arming passes or not getting in the pocket.
     
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  19. phideltdj

    phideltdj GC Hall of Fame

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    I think if TJ plays in the last 3 games he loses a redshirt year so he might want to sit out the Ole Miss game and then finish the last two...why burn a year when you don't have to and the rest of these games mean nothing.
     
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  20. Wanne15

    Wanne15 GC Hall of Fame

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    The guys up front better put dome effort into blocking for him.