Florida quarterback DJ Lagway will undergo further tests to find out how long he will be out due to a hamstring injury.
Lagway left the game during the second quarter of Saturday’s 34-20 loss to No. 2 Georgia. He returned to the sidelines in the second half with his leg wrapped and using crutches. He is the second Florida quarterback to get injured this season, joining starter Graham Mertz.
Replays showed Lagway grabbing his left hamstring while making a 3-yard run. He was taken off the field on a cart to cheers from the crowd, with the Gators leading 10-3 in the rivalry game known as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.”
“Every team in the country has injuries,” said coach Billy Napier. “One thing I can say is we built a roster that has some competitive depth, and that’s proven to be helpful.”
“You play in this league, with the level of competition and the explosive players, height, length, and speed of the game, plus the physicality, you always need depth.”
Mertz is out for the season with a torn ligament in his left knee, so the Gators had to rely on walk-on Aidan Warner against one of the top defenses in the Southeastern Conference.
Warner completed 7 of 22 passes for 66 yards, including an interception that led to a late touchdown. He was also sacked twice.
“There were some challenges, but the guy made some plays,” Napier said. “We literally tied it up. We didn’t turn it over until late, threw it away when he needed to, and leaned on the defense.”
Lagway, a highly regarded freshman from Texas, completed 2 of 6 passes for 47 yards, including a 43-yarder to Aidan Mizell for a touchdown. After Lagway took over for Mertz, Napier mentioned the importance of protecting him as much as possible.
Quarterback runs are a key part of Florida’s offense, but the bigger issue is how the Gators ended up with a walk-on playing important minutes in a crucial game.
Coach Billy Napier has lost eight scholarship quarterbacks earlier than expected during his three years in Gainesville.
Emory Jones and Carlos Del Rio-Wilson transferred after Napier’s first spring in 2022. Anthony Richardson went to the NFL draft after having a mixed season.
Backup Jalen Kitna was let go following his arrest on child pornography charges. Former Ohio State transfer Jack Miller had trouble staying healthy and moved on. Backup Max Brown also transferred.
Napier pulled a scholarship offer from four-star recruit Marcus Stokes after a video showed him singing lyrics that included a racial slur. Additionally, signee Jaden Rashada never made it to Gainesville after a nearly $14 million name, image, and likeness deal fell apart.
Rashada ended up at Arizona State for a year and then transferred to Georgia. He is now suing Napier and a major booster over the NIL deal.
Clay Millen, a transfer from Colorado State, is the third scholarship quarterback on Florida’s roster, but Aidan Warner has been ahead of him on the depth chart.
“First of all, hats off to Aidan Warner,” Napier said. “We’re talking about a guy who didn’t go through spring practice. … Then two weeks ago, he started taking real reps with the second unit. So after just two weeks of work with the second unit, for him to be able to go out and play today, he made some plays but also had a few mistakes.”
