And Billy Napier can hunker down.
“[He] made some plays with his feet, too,” Napier said. “That gets overlooked. The read element in the run game, and then there are a few where they covered, and he scrambled and was able to make some plays. He’s only going to get better.
“The work that he does between Sunday to Saturday contributes to what you see out there.”
Everyone saw Florida steamroll Kentucky in front of a 10th consecutive sellout at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, beating the Wildcats 48-20 in Lagway’s first Southeastern Conference start — and second career start.
A week after the Gators suffered a disheartening overtime loss at Tennessee and lost starting quarterback Graham Mertz to a season-ending knee injury, a pair of true freshmen came to the rescue: Lagway and tailback Jadan Baugh, the first time in program history the Gators started a true freshman quarterback and running back in the same game.
“They stepped up in a major way,” Napier said. “Both were elite players coming out of high school.”
Lagway finished 7 of 14 for 259 yards and added 46 yards rushing, while Baugh rushed for 106 yards and five touchdowns. Baugh’s five rushing scores tied the program record that Tim Tebow and Trey Burton shared and sparked consistent blasts of Orange & Blue fireworks into the night sky above the south end zone.
Lagway and Baugh headlined Florida’s first victory over the Wildcats since 2020, snapping a three-game losing streak in the series UF once dominated. But they had ample support as the Gators piled their most points against an FBS opponent in Napier’s three seasons.
The defense held Kentucky (3-4, 1-4) to 309 yards of total offense, 4 of 13 on third down and 1 of 5 on fourth down. Meanwhile, the Gators (4-3, 2-2) turned three interceptions into 14 points in their most promising victory of the season.
“The thing I’m most proud of would be the resiliency of that team,” Napier said. “This is a resilient group. Been through quite a bit throughout the season.”
In a season that started with the Gators suffering a black eye in a lopsided loss to Miami at The Swamp — and created questions about Napier’s future — the Gators improved to 3-0 in what many fans and media called “must-win”…
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