The annual Georgia-Florida rivalry will be renewed this Saturday in Jacksonville at Everbank Stadium. The No. 2 Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 SEC) will face the Gators (4-3, 2-2), led by talented freshman quarterback DJ Lagway after starter Graham Mertz suffered a season-ending injury a few weeks ago.
Lagway, a former five-star prospect, has had an up-anddown season. He’s still adjusting to the speed of the college game but is a dangerous playmaker on the field.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart praised the former national top-rated quarterback’s ability to throw the deep ball.
“First off, he’s a tremendous talent. His arm talent and arm strength itself is elite. He has great size; he can make all the throws; he’s got a couple of really wow throws,” Smart said on Monday.
“I think for his age and experience, he’s ahead of his time in terms of his pocket movement and management. A lot of freshmen abort the pocket and run out of it. He does a good job stepping up through it, and he’s made several plays where he trusted the pocket and steps up and makes really good throws. He threw the deep ball really well last game against Kentucky.”
Lagway didn’t impress much his last time out, completing just 7 of 14 pass attempts for 259 yards and an interception; however, he was effective as he also rushed for 46 yards on 10 attempts in a 48-20 win two weeks ago over Kentucky.
“He has a running ability, but Graham [Mertz] is a good athlete, too. It’s not a huge change between the two in terms of what they ask him to do,” Smart added of Lagway. “I think he’s capable of making explosives, and they’ve got the extra element in the quarterback run when they need it. They don’t do it a ton, but when they need it, he can do it. He’s large. I mean, he’s big. He’s hard to tackle.”
Another freshman has also made Florida’s offense dynamic. Jadan Baugh, an Atlanta native, has come on as of late. Baugh rushed for 105 yards and five touchdowns against Kentucky.
Smart remembered watching Baugh perform at a high-school camp in Athens.
“I’ve known Jadan a long time. He’s a tremendous talent, great athlete. I saw him during his ninth-grade year here in our 7-on-7 camp, and what a great athlete he was then,” Smart said. “He was playing safety and we knew he would grow into something. He was a big kid then, but he’s gotten so much better. He’s explosive, he’s twitchy, and hard to tackle. He runs physical. He had a great year, but he had a great game against Kentucky with the opportunities he got.”
Florida has improved vastly as a team, especially on offense, since Lagway and Baugh started seeing the field more. Smart has noticed the Gators’ offensive improvements under coach Billy Napier.
“I think they’re executing at a higher level. They’re making explosives, which are those number-one indicators to win and loss, turning it over a little less,” Smart said. “They played a clean game against Tennessee at Tennessee, which we all know is a hard place to play. And they’ve got more and more guys. Some of their portal guys have stepped up and made more plays. I’m very impressed with how they’re playing, playing with more confidence to me on defense and flying around.”
Georgia and Florida will kick off at 3:30 p.m. on ABC.