GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) In this week’s edition of The Russell Report, Steve Russell talks about Freshman Gator quarterback DJ Lagway and the show he put on in the Swamp on Saturday against Samford:
Coming out of high school, quarterback Dj Lagway was one of the most highly recruited athletes in the nation. He showed why Saturday night in the Swamp, throwing for a freshman quarterback record 456 yards in a Florida victory over Samford. And of course, after that performance, many Gator fans now want him to be QB1 for the team for the rest of the year.
You remember Graham Mertz, don’t you? The guy who completed over 70 percent of his passes last year, the undisputed team leader this year, and the starter in week one against Miami. But then the offense struggles, he gets hurt, and gets put in concussion protocol. Lagway steps in and throws beautiful deep ball touchdowns we haven’t seen around here in quite a while, showing nice footwork in the pocket in the process, and predictably, some Gator fans want him to be the starter moving forward.
After the game, gator coach Billy Napier, now off the fire train for at least a week, said Mertz would not be Wally Pipped. You remember that scenario, don’t you? Pipp was the first baseman for the New York Yankees when he got hurt and was replaced by some guy named Lou Gehrig…Pipp was popped and the rest is history.
Napier also said after the game the plan all along was to play both quarterbacks and that possibility took a big leap forward after Lagway’s performance Saturday. But the competition again moves up big time, as a very tough, physical Texas A&M defensive team comes to town Saturday to open SEC play. At the very least, teams will now have to prepare for two quarterbacks and seemingly two different types of offenses, with Lagway’s ability to run and throw the deep ball. It will be fascinating going forward to see how all of this plays out in terms of how they use Lagway…How much he plays, when he plays in the game. The fine line here is figuring out how to best use both quarterbacks without creating a quarterback controversy that can divide a locker room and a fan base. But there is no doubt that for one night, Gator fans were reminded of offenses gone by and at least teased by what that offense could look like in the future with a dynamic guy throwing the rock.
I know Florida’s SEC schedule is tough, but look what happened last Saturday. Kentucky absolutely imploded offensively in an embarrassing home loss to South Carolina. Mississippi State’s high-powered offense got slowed down in a loss at Arizona State; Auburn lost at home to Cal and let’s not forget the offensive issues Texas A&M and quarterback Connor Weigman had against Notre Dame, a team that then went out and lost to Northern Illinois. And Vanderbilt is 2-0! It’s week to week folks; you can ride high one week and fall off the horse the next, that’s what makes college football so great.
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