FLORIDA 45 SAMFORD 7 REACTION: DJ Lagway shines in first start

we got Gator breakdown here we know we're business Gator breakdown because there's never a dull moment in Gator Nation the gator breakdown podcast is ready to go I am your host David Waters you can find me on social media at Gator Dave coming at you not long after Florida finally on the winning side of the scoreboard this time 45-7 over the Sanford Bulldogs competition of course does come into play but so good to finally get a a win it's been since mid October of last year when Florida beat South Carolina that we've been able to talk about a win uh so of course a week after not what we wanted to see last week this was the a chance to get right of course the big story line coming in the game was DJ W get his first start of course that's the biggest takeaway of course from this game but all in all 457 performance a little slow start in the first half only 14- nothing at halftime but the gator Come Out rolling in the second half behind the the arm the Big Arm of DJ lagway no we all like seeing that pretty good defense settled in pretty good performance there all in all so we'll get into it you know not a whole lot to take away from this game um besides DJ lag way uh and pretty much doing what you were supposed to do uh well I think 50 to 10 50 to 17 is what I saw uh this game something like that so 457 about in that range uh but you know not too deep into the the weeds here how we normally do a game breakdown last week was different of course too just kind of given the circumstance this week a little different than we traditionally do it here on Gator breakdown on on Sundays most of the time for a game reaction a game review but given given the opponent we'll get into the stats we'll get into kind of what happened in the game but also certainly want to get to uh your comments that's what this going to be a conversation of what we got here uh certainly um I know where most of them or are going to go and that's uh number two there for the Gators uh yeah let's start it off right quick everybody hit that like button subscribe right here on Gator breakdown uh if you're not subscribed yet what are you waiting on but smash that like button as you join us here not long after the game goes final and there's some other gamees on right now as we're going live I don't usually do this uh I guess I should explain why I'm not in Gainesville of course if you follow me on social media you know why and if you listen to the podcast last week you know why uh a little bit because really bad storm rolled through here windsday morning uh lightning struck across the street from my house and I had unfortunately some casualties in the house of uh equipment not podcasting equipment thankfully but some other things in the house that got fried so had to replace Place inspection all that kind of stuff that needed to take place on Saturday uh so wasn't going to be able to make it down to Gainesville I won't going to miss the game of course so that's why I can come at you from home not long after the game because uh some unfortunate things happening there on my end due to a big bad thunderstorm last week so certainly wish I'd have been there but uh life gets in the way sometimes uh so hit that like button subscribe keep that conversation going gadg breakdown plus link is in the description Discord of course that conversation going on crazy there all the time uh we got to enjoy the game together uh today all the games that get there today so take part in that Discord chat extra episodes as well should be doing a chat uh some point soon as I said it was a crazy week last week didn't get around to it um get back into the routine this week of course the newsletters as well for Gators breakdown. comom but to join Gator breakdown plus that link is in the description so let me get to some comments and then we'll get into uh some of the game uh let's go Ryan Patrol hope I said that right DJ is God Dave Austin haror DJ's qb1 liquid Flames DJ looked great but the rest of the team was still terrible I won't say terrible uh if that was the SEC team they played they would have lost badly H maybe but yeah I mean as I said defense off to a slow start but got that turnover thought they'd sett I thought they settled in pretty nicely a lot of Havoc up front uh so Run game I thought looked good receivers down the field looked good uh so I mean don't get me wrong I still got some questions about the offensive line uh especially that one drive after the third quarter going into the fourth quarter Florida gets in the goal to go situations kind of falls on themselves uh I won't yeah I won't say the rest of the team played terrible I I won't um so of course and I don't I'm not going to harp on this I'm not going to keep going back to this yes it's Sanford we know that I know that we all know that let's just talk about the game how it happened so um what I will take away from it too you know there was you know Florida wins 457 there was a lot of SEC teams last week that against this CP of competition you know putting up 40 50 60 70 points only a week later not to look all that great today Auburn goes down the calama was fighting Toth Andel for a little while against South Florida before they just went on a fourth quarter Onslaught uh to to get that game now Tennessee they kept it going today those are the games I remember that just kind of jump off Kentucky putting up points last weekend going against South Carolina they couldn't do anything so yes we know level of opponent comes into play we'll see what Florida looks like against Texas A&M it didn't look good last week versus Miami but I think that number two's got a little bit of excitement for this fan base and now let's get into Billy Na's comments after the game of course and didn't have time to pull it off or you know to replay it here or anything but was pretty non-committal uh in saying DJ lagway was gonna be starter next week versus Texas A&M basically saying they're going to follow the process that they have he will play but he did not name DJ lway starter also certainly seems like if you take him for his word sounds like once gr Merz is cleared probably early in the week that he'll start DJ lagway a play but he didn't really come out and say that either said they'll follow the same process so that's look that's what I expected him to say after the game I don't know what he'll do next weekend if it was me if I'm saying it I'm not the head coach of course I would start DJ lagway I would turn the page and see where that gets you if DJ or if Grant mer plays like he did last week and you're playing another good defensive line to Texas A&M I still not great confidence of where this far offensive line is I still think DJ lagway gives you something there you know but of course competition will come into play he was able to take advantage of a of a Sanford defense but we have seen things at the quarterback spot that we haven't seen in quite a while in quite a while from DJ lagway set records for freshman quarterbacks there at Florida um kind of going to this point there Michael Martin does say just glad DJ is finally someone watchable that was fun that was a lot of fun watching DJ lagway do his thing uh there's a lot of things we saw in high school and he's sitting there doing them in his first college football start uh not afraid to let the ball go and showed it with some just big time throws you know no and no matter who he was playing those were some big time throws you know there were guys in position there were some dimes there were some throws where they just needed to be exactly where they were couldn't be anywhere else for that ball to be completed or the ball batted away anything like that it was there for his reers to take advantage there was deep balls um my favorite one being the one the one to Melle stepping up in the pocket and not stepping up in the pocket to run stepping up in the pocket to hit a ball down the field he's not and I love it he's not afraid to let the ball go we've kind of seen that from grah Merz of just kind of being hesitant and wasn't too hesitant last week but didn't see many completed um but certainly um love what we saw from number too and not afraid to let it go uh let's see I know some of you go sit there and say it too DJ has to be the starter moving forward that's from TAG JR says Billy don't like some of the facts that each week confirms mdy Waters great game by lague but man another year with Billy's play calling going to drive me crazy what kind of fourth down or short yardage play calls was that that's a great place to get started let's go into the game I'll get back to some comments um let's go let's go through the game a bit you know uh Stanford started up tempo of course their style of offense that's what they want to do air raid um of course but they got away with a hold on second down where Cam James had some pressure there in the back field Florida forces a fumble a couple plays later Jason Marshall forced out fumble picked up by Aaron Gates DJ lagway first drive set up right there at the 42 yd line um so Florida comes out Montreal has that great spin move on second down run you had a first down um on a gain of 16 to the 26 so uh lagway had a little keeper there his kind of first play getting his um feet wet there but then Florida starts driving down you know and it was first day had third down at the Sanford 23 you hit Hansen for a gain of six so far to goes is short yardage far to goes Wildcat for web can't get the can't get a yard no push whatsoever uh I didn't like the call because you got a what 6 foot three 240 pound quarterback and you go Wildcat and it wasn't the first time we saw it we saw it later on in the game as well you got a big body quarterback man he he can get you that yard I was not I wasn't a fan when before the snap and certainly after the result but you know you had you had you had third and short um or fourth and short you go for it I I just didn't like the Wildcat there uh but get Sanford gets the ball back they had some equipment misdirection on offense they convert a third and eight on a quarterback scramble something you know looking back at last week and when we looked at the preview and looking back at the game last week versus Miami you know what kitton critton was able to do for for Sanford on with his arms and his legs playing cam Ward last week you were kind of worried about the quarterback scramble uh but um they converted third and eight but it wasn't going to be much of a factor uh throughout the game they had a big play callback by Holden it was a third and 18 where George gums and the guy that we've kind of say hey can he show up not a lot of experience playing the defensive side of the football Dayton back at NIU transferred to Florida uh and he gets a tackle for loss on the pop pass behind the line of scrimmage for Samford so they Punt and then we get their first explosion like way he rolls out it was a fake toss he kind of rolls out after that fake toss and 77 yards to Elijah Badger I was hoping Badger could take it to the end zone but uh and you go back and look at that play guys and another thing I like about it will miles and I were talking and he saw at the same time I did he text me he's like lague had all his options open I mean look he had his pick on who he wanted to throw to on that play and he went for it all he didn't settle he was like know I got all these options I'm going to just launch it to Elijah badger badger catches it goes on 77 yard gain they go Wildcat again that's Florida and that was stopped this time with montro Johnson but the next play lagway hands off to him for the first touchdown of the game seven nothing and just kind of let you know guys why we look at you guys know it too you watch enough football why explosive plays matter so much last week Florida couldn't hit it couldn't get the offense going hits him this week something you know we want to continue to see from this offense they going to need to see from this offense against a lot of better defenses coming up but that's what they can do for you sitting there making the game easier uh Gator forc a punt on defense after the first first after one first down for Sanford for has started getting in the back field right around here after about the third Drive of the game you know I didn't didn't really like the lack of Havoc lack of pressure to start the game off with but started getting into their groove right here um got in the back field a bit more on that this drive they forced a fumble on this drive as well that Sanford uh got back on third down F gets the ball back starts at the 28 ball gets his first Carry Jaden ball for seven yards you saw him with some nice runs uh ball again for 14 on the wide Zone play going on on the backside and then another explosion lagway finds DK for 44 yds across the middle of the field down to the seven oh but Jaden ball with the Freshman mistake uh going in for the play pretty much touchdown goes and fumbles into the enzone that was recovered by Sanford Ball at the 20 yard line so hopefully Learning lesson Learning lesson there by Jaden ball the true freshman Florida should have been up by 14 at that point but unfortunately San gets the ball um later on the next Drive TJ CI Tyreek Sapp of course they get they get into the back field for a for a sack seriously and T Tyreek sap get a sack sack fumble Sanford recovers there but Florida gets the ball right back on their own 30 lway finds Hansen for 40 down to the Sanford 40 and you can just tell right then lagway was looking pretty comfortable little looking pretty comfortable letting the ball down the field um that was that was the the biggest takeaway uh I thought I start looked poised um throwing the ball under pressure and still completing it didn't you know he didn't let pressure effect where he really wanted to go with the ball just didn't Panic uh and his first start um I don't care who the opponent actually is he just didn't Panic you know you can Panic no matter who who you're going against just because it's your first start in that environment he was comfortable he was ready to go um had a fall start this drive it's first and 15 that ends up turning into a third and n and then DJ finds Badger for a 22 yard catch and run on the sideline uh and that if you guys follow me there on Twitter that is why I wanted Elijah Badger um The Catch and run ability ability the physicality he plays at the wide receiver position with I mean throw right there on the sideline gets it know he's about to take a hit and still gets 22 yards there so that's the that's the throw also where lague had pressure right in his face so then the very next play easy montro Johnson touchdown seven yard run 14 nothing Gators at that point that would be the first half score um as well if you go back to defense on the next Drive sford is at a third and 10 they convert as a Max protect Tyre Sapp in the back field again he had a pretty good game um he was with a tackle for lost there a third and eight at the Sanford 41 and then George gums in the backfield again with Cam Jackson on a quarterback counter run so there's another punt there for the Bulldogs that's was the get defense as I said they started just Domina creating Havoc you started seeing the same names too and that's what I liked about it Tyreek sat making plays George gums making plays there in the back field Florida does take over at their own 19 after that couple runs get the third and seven lague has to scramble and takes a shot to the head with not be the first one would not be the last one uh of the game um but that's where you get some special team love after this that was that third and seven did not pick it up like lagway so you get a 61 yard punt by a croshaw sford ball at their own 10 after that so not much doing there for there Kayla Banks gets his sack on that next Drive earlier in that Drive jaem Jackson can't make a play on the ball uh but great for cayb banks get the third sack of the night there for the Gator um you wanted to see more because Florida was able to force a punt and Gator get the ball back after timeout with a minute nine left starting at their own 21 mon had to run for 14 yards on the first play so okay maybe you can get something going Bingham a catch for nine um I think lagway was I think perfect up to this point if I if I remember right uh but that that drive just looked clunky you know couldn't get the couldn't get the speed right couldn't um put together about a minute drive to go try and put some points up before halftime um 14 nothing you would have like to should have been 21 nothing you'd like to like would have put together something there if you're going to beat maybe Nick picky but it was 14 nothing you wanted that one more score before going into halftime you had third one at their own 44 Florida did uh and Johnson just kind of has to power his way for first down to the 46 F did spike the ball second and 10 goes for six to Bingham third and four passes to Bingham Falls incomplete going forward on Fourth and four the pass to Trey Wilson Falls incomplete so nothing to doing on that drive just little clunky about the first you know clunky Drive where Florida had something going but just really couldn't finish it turnover on Downs going to halftime there no Touches for Trey Wilson in the first half that was a little mind blocking as you were as I said 14 nothing at halftime should have been 21 nothing but no surprising no Touches for Trey Wilson in the first half uh if you keep looking at halftime um West Georgia scored 26 points in the first half versus Stanford you know Florida had only had 14 but that just set the stage for a bigger second half for Florida he had the defense settling in no Touches for Trey Wilson as I mentioned Florida had 295 total yards to 20 for Sanford at halftime Florida was two of five on third down at the time four of 10 for Sanford three sacks for Florida none for Sanford Florida had nine tackles for loss in the first half of this game so let you know right there as I mentioned that defense finally settling in uh second half will go by pretty fast here first and 10 Gaters get the ball first from the 31 and it was a pop pass to Trey Wilson to just get him going that went for 22 uh to the Stanford 47 another deep pass that went incomplete um and then Montreal for 11 and then the boom another big play lagway to tank Hawkins in his first game remember he didn't play last week 36 yard touchdown for him DJ had plenty of time to throw on that one four play 69 yd drive there to get the second half goal in 21 nothing Florida then sford did respond started dinking and dunking their way down the field Jason Marshall call for Unnecessary Roughness few plays later wus scri green goes down to the two Sanford scores couple plays later 21-7 Florida that'd be Sanford's only touchdown of the game good for Florida's next Drive the beautiful pass to Melle that I talked about earlier 41 yard touchdown that's the one he just moved up in the pocket I mean just beautiful beautiful through I mean there was another before that play they had a pass to trade Wilson Trey's kind of just dragging across pin points it right there in front of tre Wilson where he didn't have to slow down and catch it right in front of him if it was thrown behind him there was a Defender behind Wilson he could have deflected it but perfect throw by DJ uh but that throw to mael was it I mean it was a Domin End Zone um the coverage was there but it was just a better throw he out threw the coverage uh the throw was better 287 Gators and the defense with a three and out Florida gets the ball on their own 37 for their next Drive second 13 from Florida 45 lagway is patient finds Badger moving across the middle for 24 um next play launches the ball there into the end zone that falls incomplete third and four lagway pulls up one yard short um got maybe try and go for that one Montreal gets it on fourth down uh but then F just marches down that's kind of the drive I talking about in between the third and fourth quarter uh trayon web had a run to the six you had first and goal remember there's a timeout that uh Florida ends up calling here in between third and fourth quarter gets down to Fourth first and goal George call for Holden to down to the 16 run gets stuffed offensive line struggling blocking the last two plays lague tries to find Bingham In The End Zone not throws High legal formation for Florida on third down that Florida has to settle for a field goal after having first and goal at the six F shoot just shooting themselves in the foot there a bad end to a good drive offensive line fell apart late 317 Florida after that field goal stford punts Florida takes over their own 15 and then the big big big 85 yard pop pass to Trey Wilson some great some great blocking Wilson turns on the burners 387 Florida at that point another three and out for the Gator defense Aiden Warner comes in later on makes it 457 so there you go little gra summary if you missed it uh there for the for for the Gators but that's what you got some big passes to man Trey Wilson and that uh good on the staff for as I said it was kind of mindboggling Trey Wilson didn't get the ball in the first half staff realizes it made sure he got the ball in the second half that pop pass um you it's a it's in quotation marks I put cheap stats but a che passing stat because that counts as a pass it's pretty much a run but it counts as a pass but I mean DJ lagway getting a little stat pad right there with that but 85 yards and I said you great blocking that was the first time we've seen that pop pass work that way um it's something they' really implemented into the offense last year and first time we've seen it work to that level you know hopefully we see it as SEC play gets in started in Earnest again this coming up against Texas A&M we see plays like that can happen but Trey Wilson I mean as I said great Block in early on and then he just hit the gas he wasn't being caught there uh so all right let's take a look at some final stats here and I'll get back to some comments uh let's make that let's make that full screen so you guys can see it better 457 final uh right there Florida 632 total yards 166 rushing Florida had 34 rushing attempts 4.9 yards for a rush 466 passing yards DJ lague of course most of those 19 of 28 overall we'll get into some individual stats there 632 yards total yards there for the Gator three passing touchdowns of course Florida had 21 first downs to samford's 15 and that's look that's kind of what the explosives do too um your first down total may not be that high cuz you just gting a whole bunch of yards uh in in certain plays uh total plays as I kind of mentioned there you Sanford had 68 FL only had 62 total plays and 45 points that's what explosives do for you 10.2 yards average per play for the Gators that's what you want to see given who you are playing you want to see that type of domination this is one of those games in a lot of ways Florida still did what they were supposed to do 34 rushes for the Gator 28 passes Sanford only had 205 total yards good job by the defense to show up there um you know sometimes we we've seen no matter who Florida plays that opposing offense still has a lot of success do what they were supposed to here 1.7 yards per rush for Samford 144 yards passing Red Zone attempts Florida was four six in the Red Zone Sanford one of one as I said they only got the one touchdown of course fed with 24 Red Zone points Fed was 5 of 11 on third down that's another worry there good dating back to last week right guys third down was awful awful last week versus Miami five of 11 not what you want to see today either but I I'll keep going back to it though that's why you want the explosive plays you can overcome a five for 11 day on third down if you got the explosive plays to make up for it six of six six of 16 for s on third down Florida was one of three on fourth down not not very great there um Florida seven penalties for 77 yards that's got to get better three penalties for Sanford for only 30 yards sford have four fumbles that's how much Havoc Florida was creating there up front they only lost one but Florida did cost four fumbles right there uh 3330 time of possession Advantage for Sanford to 2630 there for Florida good to some defensive comparison here Florida with 72 tackles to 69 for Sanford tackles for loss Florida with 12 on the game 12 tackles for loss that calls 45 yards loss for Samford sford only had one tackle for loss Florida have five quarterback hurries and four sacks that took away 27 yards for Sanford so all right let's take a look at some Gator stats here quarterback DJ lagu 18 of 25 456 yards and three touchdowns had a quarterback rating of 264.0 Trey Wilson after no touches in the first half had six in the second half six total of course 141 yards had that 85 long one touchdown Elijah Badger three catches 123 yards 77 yards for him on as a long he was targeted four times Hayden Hansen two for 46 AR Bingham two for 16 those are your highlights there montre Johnson in the running game 15 for 67 4.5 for 4 and a half yards a carry had a long of 16 Jaden ball four for 348 and a half yards a carry mon sure Johnson did have two touchdowns of course Jaden ball would the unfortunate unfortunate fumble Jobe Jackson came in two for 18 DJ lagway five attempts for 16 yards there for him Jason Marshall led the way on defense six total tackles five of them solo Tyreek Sapp as I mentioned his name great to see him living in the back Field Five tackles two solo he had two and a half tackles for loss for Tyreek Sapp you know Shamar James not a whole lot of playing time in the second half we have four total tackles two of them solo Jordan Castell also with four RJ mton with four and El J McCrae uh we heard his name and saw him a good bet out there three total tackles for him and a half tackle for loss as I mentioned George gums also had three total tackles all three of his tackles went for a loss three tackles for lost there for George gums Makai burrow true freshman getting into the mix with three tackles cam Jackson there also with three lot of other guys with two uh so Grayson Howard of course you know started the game had that first think the tackle in the first drive as I said not much play in time got those guys out of there once the defense settled in uh so there's just that look right there for the Gators but um man big plays right here too for the Gators 10 big passing plays 407 passing yards were constituted as a big play for the Gator that's games of 15 plus yards look at this guys I me it's been a while since we've seen this 77 44 40 22 22 yards 36 16 41 24 85 that's your big passing Place something we know has been in emphasis gr Merz was not able to do it last week a much bigger game we hope DJ lagway when he's in the game this can translate to when the schedule gets tougher but when you throw 77 44 40 22 22 36 a 41 at 85 that's what we want to see rushing as I said not many huge had 65 big rushing plays so they constituted here gains of 10 plus five of them 16 14 14 11 and 10 all right there we go there's your stat look right there let me get back to some comments everybody one more time hit that like button subscribe tell me what you liked about this game I know most of it DJ lagway what CAU your eye about this game let's get here to the uh to the starred comments first um animal said what happened with the tailgate this morning that was a crazy story uh yes if you once again follow on social media there um Florida down Museum Road and I know other spots on campus as well had yellow tape up and you couldn't get um a lot of traditional parking a lot of traditional tailgate spots especially for harmonic Woods right there on museum Road everybody knows uh well they had that taped off and you were not allowed to park on the grass and so uh we went on a big tear this morning on social media letting everybody know at Florida how ridiculous this was and it caught wind a lot of others out there got on board and wasn't long probably say an hour and a half 2 hours that they took all that stuff up and thanks for everybody who helped there but uh certainly got the tailgate spot back I hope some others got theirs back as well I heard it was still an issue in some other areas but what are we doing what are we doing apparently it was the you know traffic department there at Florida who set this up uh kind of on their own accord not a lot of people knew about it I guess on the Florida side so UAA stepped in made sure those lots those spots open back up but uh ridiculous I mean a lot of people who were at this game they this was the cheapest tickets all year you're going to get for a lot of people some people taking their families to this game but you got die hards that are sit there waiting to tailgate for you know a team that just hasn't done a whole lot on the field lately um you got your die hards there you got a lot of supporters there uh they were kind of alienated this morning kind of ridiculous situation I won't spend too much time on that Justin Blair we call plays napor as opposed to who that goes to I think believe his postgame press conference where Neer was asked about who's calling plays and who's going to be calling plays and as he said um they do that as a staff during the week uh he thinks it's overrated who calls plays or I guess overrated and letting it be known who calls plays um from what I could gather Callaway was going to be calling all the plays or a whole lot more plays this game versus sford uh so we'll see I'll try and follow up and see if that was still going to be the case that was the conversation I was having during the week but there we go that's what I got on that but um we'll see where it goes from here of course I know a lot of it going to be who play who's playing quarterback um okay let's go to some let's go let's go to some comments liquid Flames I'm assuming going back to Billy Napier naming a starter B saying he won't start lagway Merz will start but I think lagway is going going to get to play oh man um I get it you guys know I'm I was a merch fan uh in the off season I can admit you don't want to overreact to one game that was by far his worst game as a gator last week versus Miami there is a delicate balance of overreacting to one game and if you don't truly believe that is what GR is going to play like then okay I get it from the staff side but I'm I'm you know me I'm starting lague I I I think the explosion I mean I'm not saying that he that even equals a win next week versus Texas A&M I just think he gives you the best chance to win this reminds me a whole lot of that conversation a couple years ago when emry Jones was quarterback and Anthony Richardson sitting on the sideline and Dam all final year in 2021 and we had the conversation now of course that was a little different because it was Anthony Richardson with the injury issues a lot and as the backup quarterback but you saw the explosion you saw the there and that's kind of the lot of the same conversation think he gave the best chance for a win didn't mean Florida was going to win a whole bunch of games that year still thought at the time that he was going to give you the better chance to win I think that's the way I wi with DJ lague I think because of the explosions that obviously he's able to hit now like even then even if gr mer plays against Sanford I think some of those I think some explosives are hit definitely not the same style of explosions we saw think maybe some of them in different ways with G Merz I don't think there would be as many even against Stanford but certainly the style of them I mean that I'll say it again that throw the a Manel I mean look like like a catapult there from DJ lagu and some of those deep balls it just look so effortless so I do think you know we're going to fall into that trap of you know I think with Anthony Richard a couple years ago under Billy Napier was can he do the little things can he do the consistent things now he he could hit the explosives now with his legs as well but the Deep ball was nowhere near as much as an issue with Anthony richardon two years ago as it was with gr merch last year and then I remember turning the page to Grant mer and the talk was well maybe he'll be more consistent in the offense and help make up for some of those explosive that Anthony Richardson had well it didn't fully make up for it but the offense did some good things last year if Grant Merz is going to if teams are not going to be afraid of Grant Merz and really Force his hand of being able to because teams may give him the those explosives opportunities until he proves that he can be that quarterback to hit those so defenses are going to play that Dink and dunk and intermediate and short range passes they're going to play that a whole lot more and until gr mer backs those guys off I'm not sure that Dink and dut's going to work like it did last year defenses are going to just make him make him hit those explosives DJ likewe I mean I don't want to I don't want to fall back on it too soon yeah I know it was Sanford but at the same time I don't think gr MC is hitting those type of explosive plays so that's what you got to weigh here how much are those explosives worse like obviously next week's defense it's going to be tougher for DJ lague it certainly is but can he still get you a few of those explosive plays to make a difference that's what the stats going to be weighing all week I already told you what I do I do agree look if if you ask me right now what the staff does next week I think gr merch does start I'd be I'd be surprised you know this one of my terms for this this staff sense of urgency well it hasn't been there in so many ways do they feel that sense of urgency this week and they do Turn the Page Austin haror great job getting the tape taken down on campus Dave Winston s western peace Electronics yeah yeah yep that was not not fun for a few days let's see spent through I get it yep let's not overreact to DJ look good but this was for um it was got to start somewhere and as I've you got something I'll stand by stand by stand by sometimes we don't give enough credit for doing the things you're supposed to do this was his first start was he even supposed to do this Five Star Quarterback of course getor ready National player of the year was he go was he supposed to go out there and do this did he maybe you that's a that's that's a good question maybe you guys can reply here in the comments on the replay or live right here the DJ lague look better than even you thought he would take the opponent out of it did he look better he actually looked better than I thought he would and I was like I what I I said f was gon to put up 50 points now I mentioned I liked his explosiveness that I thought F could take advantage in that area now maybe didn't hit my point marker but those throws impressive but yeah we got to we know we all know we got to see it against the competition that matters we all know but you got to start somewhere this is all we have to go on right now I'm going to give him credit for doing what he was supposed to do nice man Sanford hurt themselves more than we hurt them H I don't get that I think Florida dictated Samford I think the Havoc up front I think caused Stanford to not be they couldn't get anything consistent going 45 to7 does not equal Sanford hurt themselves more than Florida hurt them I'll disagree there uh yep liquid flames of course I think so too still a bunch of dumb penalties na did mention that in the press conference afterwards he's not too happy with that either uh also yeah the timeout after the quarter break that that that that was it I mean it happened last week versus Miami I think coming back from commercial break FL had to call the timeout before even snapping the ball in the first play of the drive this one comes after a quarter now know I'd have to go back and see of course it's lague making his first start but still that that's a that is an area I mean you got what three minutes two three minutes between quarter breaks there certainly got to get that cleaned up George says DJ say wait till next week uh Scott 20 gotta start him Dave Jonathan G well brings up a good point I think this is going to happen regardless Jonathan says Florida going to a two into a two quarterback system is ideal in my opinion put strain on what opponents can plan for um I agree to a point uh some that's GNA happen to Texas A&M this week if I'm Billy Napier I don't announce it if DJ's gonna be my guy I don't announce it till what till game day till we go out there and Florida's on that first offensive play Texas A&M is not going to find out who's playing quarterback for me until that very first snap and it's the same if it's grah Merz why am I gonna let him know now I went back this to this against Miami last week and um now the element of surprise is gone because DJ leg has played a lot now um I would have designed a whole first drive for Grant Merz then the very second play of the drive I would have designed a whole drive for DJ lway that would have completely thrown Miami off in some in a whole lot of ways now in the end it wouldn't have mattered uh but at the same time that would have it was just something I had thought of you know having some conversations with some friends uh there I just think but yeah I yeah I mean I do think if merch starts you have to give more snaps to lague now and maybe even more so than you planned a week ago going into your first game of the season I think he's proven enough now where he's way too talented just keep on the sideline for too much extended period the thing is I I think nap really trust gr Ms but I think a lot a whole lot of this is we can't dig our head in his hands how much pressure is Billy na feeling does that influence whether he goes with DJ lagway uh Danny says say he just saw the press conference with DJ he's an impressive young man yo I have to go back and uh watch that I wanted to get here live with you guys I'm even missing what I want to cover a little bit but uh coming talking with you guys right here on Gator's breakdown uh George I've never seen anybody that looks as good as DJ lague in a gator uniform except J McCrae well there we go two five stars amazing how that works huh Adam you do not want my friend Dave you're my next candidate nope nope nope I just like talking I just like talking ball I don't know enough anywhere near enough for that anywhere near enough but no I know I'll have all in good fun will backing up a statement right here will py yes it was sford but the placement of his throws the way he went through progression step up in the pocket dude is the real deal yeah and you heard and by the way Steve doio I know Min Gator fans didn't like him as an offensive coordinator he's probably one of the best analysts I've heard he was the way he explained it will and I will miles and I were talking about it we really enjoyed Steve doio on the call um the way he explained things he went a little more technical than a lot of analysts do and I enjoyed the heck out of it especially with the one tackle George gums made and he explained how you know he didn't understand why Stanford was running that certain play call because it played into the hands of what a defensive end is supposed to do in that situation and I like yeah exactly and I just like the way he explained it that way I mean a lot of us know those things but you hear I think a lot of analysts and they don't they don't get too technical I think they probably are told you know don't get two in the weeds with football jargon I Like the Way St doio called the game or analyze the game uh but yeah it was um but even he was saying he wanted to see lagway and plays called where he would have to go through progressions more because and let's admit now there's go with lague and all this film that he has out there teams are going when he's on the field teams are going to play stop the Deep ball first because as I mentioned we all know how those explosive plays are you can't allow DJ lagway to live off of those so you're going to probably try and take those away and then make him think make him make decisions make him go through second third read something he didn't really have to prove too much of against Sanford because you know I think a lot of his first reads were there and he just takes those chances but there's GNA come a time where he's there's going to be a series of plays a series of drives where he's going to have to make decisions and smart decisions and Steve doio had mentioned that too so that is something to look forward to watching DJ more on the field and Scott 20 said yeah Merz would not have put up the same numbers tonight I I completely agree he he would not have dragic hopefully I'm saying that right how do you start merch after that performance got to let the hot hand roll merch should be ready just in case lag W Falls against A&M though certainly certainly both guys need to be ready that would be a weird dynamic though right lague gets the start and merch has to back up and he has to be ready just in case can't say I saw that coming a couple weeks ago and by the way the over unders for DJ lagway certainly that we did a couple weeks ago certainly didn't see this scenario am might and and I mentioned it in there it's all in good fun and also they were mostly based on how a probably normal season would play out certainly didn't see gr merch playing like that versus Miami certainly didn't see him getting concussed during Miami where DJ lagway would have to start versus Sanford um and at the same time we probably knew DJ lagway was going to play some more snaps versus Sanford than he probably would anybody else but maybe not some much going to be the case now so the over runds are going to be probably shot for all the quarterback talk we did Roland X says ball placement at 40 yards is impressive Muddy Waters Billy at halftime hey man slide second half slid three times got killed almost every time he did it might as well run over the guy there was definitely one he should have run over the guy when it was close to the mark uh for for for lague things of course he'll learn um wasn't going to be perfect in his first start he was for a bit like I said six of six I think is what he started out at uh but certainly learning a lot of a learning experience for him but yeah took some shots to the Head um man I thought he was going might be in concussion protocol after the what was the first shot to the head I believe um got up a little you could tell woozy and there what happen in football and certainly pass all the protocol to get back be on the field George says DJ lague doesn't even know how to throw a ball less than 15 yards and I know all in good all in good fun there Jonathan G says let's cry about Jeet sweeps until it happens and Trey runs one to the house where them receipts a certainly good play that's going to be in the playbook for sure um El wolf brings up a good point here in some in some ways here I I don't like the Wildcats so let me get that out first but he does say put ktie Daniels in at Wildcat because guys if you go back that's what he was more or less in high school we played quarterback for a very run heavy offense uh so that was his that was his main role um I could certainly see him having a little more success at it but look it it starts up front and the offensive line did not protect or block well in those situations much better night for them overall as it should be um crenchaw Dixon got the start at right tackle instead of Cam weights cam weights of course did get get some get some time in there um did he um Damen George on that still a lot of the good runs on the left side not the not the right side for the most part if I remember right um if I'm not you can shout me out later but um still some question going up against a really good Texas Texas A&M defensive line next week let's see yes our D is bad our offensive line is bad yes Billy sucks but after today the SEC doesn't look that insane Kentucky looks bad A&M lost to choke NE Dame looks bad Mississippi state looks bad now which um I had that game but it's not only now um it's on Commercial maybe anyway winnable games Mississippi state was always going to be a winnable game certainly uh Kentucky certainly does look worse South Carolina really put it on them today another Dame loses to Northern Illinois a week after beating Texas A&M now we got to be careful transit property can get you in trouble in college football we all know that um so it's all about matchups all about mat match ups for certainly got a tough one in the trenches next week yeah I don't like this either Antoine R DB sitting back in zone is trash yeah not not a big fan uh still too you know playing the ball in the air uh for a defensive back still seems to be issues at Florida if it's one-on-one coverage and thrown at him uh just man not making plays on the ball all right let's go trying to not repeat so much as I knew a lot of the comments were going to be about DJ lague but everybody thanks up hit that like button one more time thanks for hopping in here U didn't even put out I was going to go I I wasn't sure if I was going to go live tonight or not um usually save it for Sundays you guys know realistic one says what's up Gator Dave love what you do thanks for uh thanks for hopping in thanks for hopping in realistic oh let's see ready to see the uh ready to see the reaction I think from a lot of I guess National media out there for lague it's certainly going to turn heads out there and there's going to be a lot of calls for calls for him to start I think at that level as well it's going to be interesting to see what it ation is um heading in and and and I think looking ahead who's going to be I think most people are going to lean Texas A&M just because of how bad Florida looked last week this win overall is not going to turn DJ lagway is going to turn heads I think a lot of people are going to fall back on and probably rord so hey with Sanford I don't think that's going to turn much heads about who are they going to pick to win Florida or Texas A&M um I hadn't seen the latest lines or anything from Vegas but I do think when you watch game day next week when you watch all that and pick start coming in I don't think this is going to sway many people out there King Malik UF 102 in the playoffs I'd wish not going to let this one game sway sway too much all right get some dumb comments out of here you stay on topic all right all right hard to keep up with all the comments now still flying in here I mean I see see some talk about you know some of lag's bad throws I mean did we expect every throw to to be perfect did it get a little too aggressive at times double triple coverage yeah but I mean he put it either incomplete either his guy was going to get nobody was going to get it those plays were nowhere near turnover PR but yeah we know we all know competition to get better oh all right hard to keep up with the conversations now I could just sit here and delete some of the dumb comments here burnard yeah miss you guys at tailgate too certainly don't miss many of them but yeah that was a that was a crazy way to start the day didn't didn't see myself waking up on Saturday opening up Twitter and having to blast what a dumb decision it was to start roping off places and all right liquid um snap to losing streak finally yep that's another thing I was just tired of talking about losses at least we can even though it's Sanford come on here and talk about a win TI talking about losses okay all right trying to catch go through one more time sorry for the silence it is it's a it's a little uh little hard keeping up with all the comments here toward the end they're flying Fast and Furious here thanks for the conversation good question here Dave do you think it was a missed opportunity to not allow lagway the 27 yards for record I was it more hey get get it if you can but we got to save you soon did did the staff even know I guess that's one thing did they even know a record was in place that he was he was close that he was that close I don't know I don't know if anybody's down there sharing it to him hey he's only 27 yards from a record let's go say let's go let's go let him break it I don't know um not a big deal to me would I like to see him break the record for an incredible night sure had no had no issue pulling him either I mean he he he took some hits to the head tonight and he didn't need to take many more I have no issue getting him out of there had no issue getting out of there at all Gator great 80 says DJ said in his press conference he came to Florida for Napier but also how much the fans showed him love and that he's a gator through and through he is staying um yes if the worst happens I still there's going to be a lot to have to pull DJ lag away from Florida he is a gator he is a gator I'm not saying he wouldn't but I don't think he'd be automatically looking to leave if Billy Napier is someone let go this season that was another thing Jamal Milton says a lot of teams look bad today yeah might be setting up a weird year for college football it's a pretty good question Michael kak hopefully I said that right Michael do do you think there's a different chemistry with the team with lague under Center as opposed to Merz is there I'm assuming a different feel feels different to me as I said kind of going back to the point where we don't know if like I said I think Merz would have hit some explosives just because given the opponent I don't know they would have been hit like that I mean I can see where with lague out there is some more exciting offense to play in for the rest of the players as well uh if you're an offensive line you have a little bit of help with a quarterback that can move and get away from pressure I mean I think lagu looks to keep plays open too I don't think he is U I think some other skill players can K kind of dis especially wide receiver dis disinterested if a quarterback is a one read and go take off and run uh because and they're not getting many receptions out of that but so far lague is a I'm going to scramble to pass I'm going to move to pass first and if I got a run I'll run uh so I can see I can see where there's a different chemistry there and going back to the biggest one that Aid misel thr good for Aiden misel too because someone we certainly identified in recruiting as a burner a guy who could take a top off of a defense and that was still a play where there was great coverage on him and likewe just drops it in to where only he can to to get that touchdown uh but it was good to see Aid mael get that opportunity to catch that and that kind of leads to Justin Torres saying where's Andy Jean Andy Jean's injured he should be back hopefully in a few weeks I heard originally near midseason so we'll go there but yeah um I think chemistry I think there's a lot I really do think there's a lot behind that and now as I said it could be it could be false we could be sitting here in a couple weeks and we see DJ lagway play against some SEC competition and it doesn't look anywhere like what we saw tonight and that the offense is just in a rut and when the competition ramps up but for now I can I can see it man I do not get why people just want to come in comments and be idiots but long as I can keep up in the comment section I can take care of most of it so thanks for most of you for keeping a good conversation going on in here but hey um first instant reaction episode of course probably will rewatch The Game more on the defensive side a little bit I knew lague was going to be dominating uh the the conversation but see what Florida did some on defense like I said I like to Havoc up front there you know coverage by Corners still would like to see a bit better I like the Jason Marshall early on and making a play forcing a fumble um but I like the I like the names that we heard from Tonight George gum's a guy of course who you don't know what to take away from Fall Camp a whole lot there's been some things that we heard in Fall camp that have come to fruition like a pup Howard and how he was fitting in and you know Desmond Watson last week against Miami went I thought the defense up the middle played well you know last week thought they did well this week as well something we were hearing that hey up the middle this defense isn't that bad those things come to fruition George gums was another guy but didn't get to see much of a pass rush last week can you replicate it can you do it versus more than sford but it was as I said got to start somewhere hopefully we start seeing George gums TJ CI Tyreek sap guys we saw in the backfield tonight and translate that to sec play oh all right Rob is asking where is Corman I'm I'm not expecting Corman to be much of a contributor this year I mean we'll see I mean Deon Moore injured stays injured um to Jackson had the hamstring injury I believe in the game as well uh so we'll see flid has to go down the depth chart there you know so look for dejon Johnson to start getting some more playing time there with Jason Marshall Ryan patol Dave would you think about linebacker play tonight I tell you one thing I like when Shamar and puer out there I thought moton did some good things as well if I remember seeing him in the back field um him running and attacking Wingo I still got a whole you know lot of questions about um but I still and we saw it this game too I remember seeing it and it alarmed me last week versus Miami and we saw it again versus sford you know I thought last week it could have just been hey it's it's it's Miami it's a 3:30 game it's gonna be really hot let's get some bodies out there but you know that second drive it happened last week I believe and it happened this week too Shamar and pup come off the field and wingo and moton are out there together I don't get the I don't get the strategy there uh especially with what I've seen from pup and Shamar so far who to me are by far and it's not even close your top two linebackers right now and they're coming off the field a lot now as the game played on tonight fine I think the defense was in control there was not much happening where Sanford was was going to you know crawl back into the game but even it was only 14 nothing at half time so even in the first half of the game I still think pup Shamar getting pulled off the field too much now I know Shamar had the unfortunate incident of uh taking a shot to the jewels there I know he was laughing about it I heard somebody from at the game uh but um I just I want to see I want to see more of pup and Shamar that really all it boils down to for me so maybe as Florida gets into SEC play more and we know they're going to need those guys more that they are on the field more but as far as specifics you know I want to go back and watch the game the next day or two and they have more as we turn the page to Texas A&M in the middle of the week all right there we go about an hour right here of a good reaction show thank you guys so much for hopping in on this instant reaction there's some good late games I'm going to go watch while I uh post this podcast and stuff but everybody thank you so much for hopping on this episode of Gator breakdown I am your host David Waters you can find me on social media at Gator Dave SEC be back Monday night with Will Miles and I'll see you guys later right here on Gator breakdown