Rapid Reaction to UF's win over Samford | Florida Gators Football

what's up Gator Nation Zach alerie and Nick delor here coming to you live from the swamp with our latest rapid reaction following Florida's 45-7 win over Stanford their first of the 2024 season and their first in six games snapping a losing streak that dated back almost 11 months nck it's been a while since we covered a Florida win uh this one was different unique one that will be talked about I think uh as we go through this season and one that'll go down in the record books as DJ laway sets a UF freshman record 456 passing yards three touchdowns it's still crazy to say that um and the seventh most ever from a Florida quarterback in h school history in a single game so about as good as it could have gone for DJ minus you know some Red Zone trips that they came away empty-handed on but def defense pitched a first half shut out nick uh they they got about everything they wanted out of this game and I mean the game has gotten a little bit softer um without that suplex unnecessary roughness with Jason Marshall you might pitch a shut out completely um but this is the DJ lagway show um and he stole it boy yeah it um I mean he's a special player the the pass I mean he made a bunch of really nice passes today but the pass to uh eight him my zel um kind of like scrambled Pockets collapsing as they continue to play right in front of me as they continue to play musical chairs um steps up in the pocket off balance just a flick of the 35 yard flick over a Defender um perfectly placed I think Neil Blackman tweeted it he's like there's only a handful of people on Earth that can make a play like that um and DJ lagway is one of them which we'll get into probably later out does DJ lagway start next week oh what do you mean what are you talking about there's no quarterback controversy Nick what are you saying I will be shocked if DJ lagway starts against Tex which is crazy because I'm sitting here here's your stats DJ lagway was 18 of 25 for 456 yards three touchdowns with a long of 85 on the little flick to Trey Wilson who Trey does most of the work but you DJ gets the credit it's like the kid look like college football 25 on that play it did it did it did I I I enjoy that play Because as a bad student uh I enjoyed being in group projects and showing up when they were due and collecting that day I feel like that's what a quarterback does when he gives that little pass but a phenomenal first showing for DJ lagway I think Florida also handled this well the last time they played Sanford here they live streamed Club Dub in the locker room after coming back to beat FC the FCS Bulldogs this team hadn't won in almost a year so I'm guaranteeing you that was a party in the locker room you put so many hours into it countless reps it's hot it's humid you can tell behind us um you deserve to celebrate you don't need to live stream when you beat an FCS opponent biller comes out and says listen No it's like no disrespect to Samford but we're goingon to have much tougher opponents uh Tyreek Sapp was a little more blunt but Tyreek Sap's a National Treasure who we need to protect at all costs well I must say shout out to Florida's uh director of communications Scott Burns and his partner Matt Hutchinson who brought DJ lagway to Media tonight uh with some convincing on their part or I don't know how much they had to convince after the performance he put up but for those that don't know there is a rule at UF and it's not just a Napier rule but that freshmen don't talk to the media and that's been kind of the case for as long as we can remember Nick and uh they broke that rule tonight but when you set a freshman record and throw for nearly half of a thousand yards uh it's probably time to bring that guy out and as uh somebody said to me leaving media after we got to hear from DJ he probably speaks better at the podium than maybe half the guys on the team and that's not a knock on them it's a credit to DJ and how well spoken he is given the amount of attention and interview that he's had during his recruitment process through all the endorsements and nil deals that he's had uh he is very well vered in front of a camera very comfortable at the microphone and that should not be the last time that we talked to him this season uh but what we don't know is will that be the last time he starts because he came into the University of Florida as an early and Ro Le and I asked him about this tonight uh because back at Under Armour he said during an interview that Keith had with him I'm coming in to try and start yeah I'm coming in to try and and that's probably not what uh people thought that he could do and then maybe that's not something that he saw as a realistic goal but nonetheless he prepared himself like a starter I think that benefited him tonight but he clearly showed that this is not just some oneoff uh yeah you got the start because merch was hurt but this is a dog team you know could you replicate the success that you had again the way that he played sat Saturday night in the swamp uh that can be replicated um and as much as Napier wants to avoid it as much as uh he loves Graham Merz and feels like that might give him his best chance to win games this season it is clear where this program is at right now what the people want and and and why that that is I mean it's not like it's not like they're chanting his names in the stands for no reason the guy is letting it rip down the field he played outstanding in his first career start I mean outstanding and um some of the decisions that he made some of the balls that he threw some of the ways that he pushed the envelope on offense is what this unit needs honestly to probably take itself to the next step and whether he starts another game the season whether he comes off the bench whether it's a two quarterback system they need DJ lagway if they're going to reach their potential on offense yeah let's steal a line from uh Jaylen Rose got to give the people give the people they um I don't think you're gonna get what you want next week but but thank you for letting me see do you know who sings that song no no I'm exhausted I have a new war I'm I'm going to show my my music skills right here that's the OJs shout out to the OJs not OJ Simpson that's the same group that sings classic well I think the you know you're they're kind of like checking off some boxes the box that I have left unchecked like gr M's last concussion protocol box is the offensive line um continuing to shift I don't understand uh I was talking to a former quarterback today and he said your the keys to your car are your Center and your left tackle don't take my keys away and Austin Barber who graded out as Florida's best lineman last week continues to sip Gatorade for entire drives um if you're going to continue to play the guys you're playing on the right side who continue to struggle and then rotate your best offensive lineman one of your top two offensive lineman out of games DJ lagways Mobility gives you a better chance and I and I remember saying this last year I don't know that Florida offensive line was good in May's first year you had Osirus torren who was an All-American but you also had a 6'4 250lb quarterback who was not going to be sacked easily and I think Anthony Richardson made Florida's offensive line look better than they were you didn't have that last year with Grant Merz who was stacked more than 30 39 um I'm a man I'm 40 um and now you have a DJ who we clearly saw move around in the pocket show more Poise than a lot of 19-year-old kids would have in their first game F or feeling pressure moving up uh he showed off the arm Talent um I think if you're going to continue playing musical chairs on the offensive line DJ lag gives you a better chance and I would say having watched the replay and I'm sure you guys have seen the Highlight as well but the touchdown pass that he threw to Aiden myel nasty Nick described it but he did step up in the pocket and the right tackle on that play got beat and if he does does not have the situ situational awareness and peripheral vision to realize that that guy was coming from behind him to step up into the pocket and then launch that throw he's getting sacked yep and calling it like it is Florida got sacked last week on plays like that where their right tackle got beat um so again for blackway to show that type of poise pocket awareness uh in his starting debut as a true freshman is why he was ranked the nation's number one quarterback consensus coming out of the classic 2024 uh five-star recruit he lived up to that billing tonight um we could talk about lague for this entire video I do we're just I do want to say that the defense with four St starters down too had a nice solid rebound pitched the first half shut out second quarter they dominated minus eight rushing yards they let him cross the Midfield and uh I thought that some guys stood out George gum looked good uh his guy Tyreek Sapp had another strong game both of those guys stepping up at that edge position is is what you want to see and um you know even it was great obviously because of the lead that Florida got they got to play a lot of young guys miles Graham Aaron Charles that was awesome to see so uh good for the defense as well to go out there and have a Feelgood performance yeah Rob I think dejon Johnson will be the guy that Ste up if Deon Moore is out andem Jackson's out I think dejon Johnson up there um maybe we'll see a little more jir Grimley um he's super athletic super long yeah I think he's gonna be a really good Prospect but yeah Florida's dealing with a little a little injury bug and maybe he'll get some of those guys back like we don't know um you know like sherei Denson had a big brace on his left knee today walking around like not dressed not dressed but like not no visible yeah yeah yeah yeah he's got a h straight inury so so uh this is um this is what Florida needed they probably didn't celebrate as hard as they did the last time they beat Sanford but they they can I just wrote that I'm like listen you only get 12 opport 12 guaranteed opportunities and people are like no 13 16 you get 12 you have to win six games to get the opportunity to play a 13th celebrate it just when it's an FCS team and like it was in 2021 when you give up 56 to an FC team don't live stream your celebration but celebrate with your brothers I hope they had a great time it been a long time since those guys had walk off eight football field winners celebrate last time they went on the swamp we have to go back and look Heavens um so this was um look there was a a little bit of nervousness I think coming into tonight excitement obviously for lagway but at the end of the day folks you were still starting a true freshman quarterback uh seventh in Florida history yeah and you were down four starters on defense there was a lot of negativity surround the program uh how much did the team's confidence take a shot because of how last week went they were embarrassed were they going to show up tonight it wasn't the best first half um but man they they came alive in the second half and uh as much as again they've wanted to avoid it they maybe didn't think it was going to happen I do think that we've got a quarterback controversy on our hands I don't think that it'll be a controversy in the locker room per se uh speaking of Eugene Wilson Knight he said we will we can roll with both of these guys both of them can help us win um as naate said they're going to play lagway in every game that was always going to be their plan it's just now a matter of um does he get more first team reps do they switch things up a little bit with the rotation and the series that he gets does he get the Devon Manuel treatment that Nick loves so much um we we'll find out they continue to shuffle that that offensive line though man right side left side uh it's uh nine equals one makeig make the hats yeah yeah so um but nonetheless the Gators get back in the wind column they are now one and one on the season and they are back in the swamp next Saturday for their SEC opener against Texas A&M and before we get out of here um we got a super chat if Napier starts lagway next week and loses the fan base wouldn't be as mad but if he starts merch and loses it's all hell it's not even if he starts MZ and loses if he starts Merz the pitch fors are out I I sent I sent the Tweet out like in the second quarter the score was still 14 nothing I think it wasn't even crazy yet and I was like y'all are gonna be mad as hell next week when gr M starts I was right the quote tweets you go find that tweet the quotes some of the quote tweets are fantastic some of them are just angry um I I I just think Graham Merz came back the trust that Billy Napier has in him it's an interesting dynamic in my mind because you need to win games to have an opportunity to coach in 2025 they believe Graham MZ gives them maybe that changed a little bit but they believed that Graham Merz gives them the best opportunity to do that I said in the off season right around Signing Day It DJ Agway can save Billy Napier's job but Billy has to get an offensive coordinator and save his own job to make it to Billy or to make it to DJ lagway in 2025 we got a glimpse of the future tonight um and I think DJ lagway has enough athletic ability that he can make up for any play calling woses uh that fans might have speaking of what did you think about Billy's answer tonight when asked Billy's calling place Billy's calling plays I get like listen he's probably tired of being asked about I know he's tired about being asked about it um but when ask if he called the plays last week say with your chess Billy he called the plays this week he said we called the plays say with your chess you know with the with the headset congratulations DJ for being able to hear 12 people uh calling the same play uh and you know figuring it out but yeah Billy neighbor is calling plays and the tinf foil hat last week of Russ was calling the plays when DJ was ining because Billy's microphone was up and was like because the microphone moves and every like the four times you saw a random shot of Billy a the microphone was up and they're like yeah he wasn't calling on Billy ne's calling place there might be collaborative effort it is a collaborative effort to make a game plan and someone might say hey let's try this okay that cool or the next time we're in third and Five Billy this might be a good thing for us to run and it's a suggestion that then he makes the final call on the buck stops at his de he makes the call and look uh as as much as people may not like that if I'm him I'm saying hey my play calling set of freshman record tonight so there Florida fans as I open this water bottle and take a good problem with the water bottle today she probably left it alone I I I I was told they they made sure that those were already open so um what you guys didn't know is Zach glued the cab shut last week it was a fix I wasn't going to say anything but now we'll let the cat out of the bag well the cat's out of the bag in Gainesville Florida DJ lagway can play football it's DJ lagway over at Gator online all night all weekend we are going to write about him we'll have his interview up we'll have stories up from the game we'll have snap counts grades five key plays our takeaways all of it make sure you guys go check out Nick's going to try to go get some sleep I got diapers in my in my future I know I do but sleep sounds good oh I have a yard to Mo but I got stories to write first for you guys we got NFL today that's right that's right so enjoy your NFL Sunday enjoy this win watch those DJ lagway highlights and uh we'll see you Thursday for the ghost show I think I got my buddy Ryan Bron to come on shout out to Ryan my guy bronie coming on WE detail Texas A&M which I know is a special game for DJ lagway Willis Texas is 45 minutes down the road do you think Ryan will know how much Texas A&M is going to pull up to his house after the season in the brink truck with you think he'll know that answer Florida is paying DJ with two commas so they might get him on the cheap no just kidding DJ's Coming Back DJ said today he's all Gator uh did credit Billy naier a lot for the reason why he's here but uh I also want to shout out Joe Houston htown Legend Joe Houston Joe Hamilton Hamilton it's the second time you've done that I got I got special teams you notice again you're partial to special notice again 11 guys on the field in 11 different jerseys every time shout out to Jeremy cross off 61 yard bomb a blooming onion I'm so tired all right y'all we'll see y'all Thursday uh happy weekend happy NFL Sunday for Nick Del Tor I'm Zach alberie