Steve Spurrier reacts to struggles of Florida QB DJ Lagway

Florida QB DJ Lagway really struggled this past weekend in Baton Rouge with five interceptions thrown, bringing him to a career total of 15 picks in 15 college games so far. Stats like that have Steve Spurrier now wondering what the Gators can do different on offense instead.

On ‘Another Dooley Noted Podcast’ on Monday, Spurrier reacted to the five-pick performance from Lagway in the 20-10 loss for Florida at No. 3 LSU. He thinks that’s the kind of outing that can make a team have to regroup offensively, as Lagway has accounted for all of their six turnovers on the season in their start at 1-2.

“Yeah, he’s off a little bit from what he did last year, because last year, at the end of the season there, he was really good in those wins over Ole Miss and LSU,” said Spurrier. “But, right now, yeah, offensively, we need to regroup somehow or another and do something different. That’s what I’m saying. Let’s do something different.”

“If what you’re doing is not working, you got to try something else,” Spurrier said. “That’s pretty common sense, I think.”

Through 15 collegiate outings, Lagway now has a nearly a one-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio with 17 scores and 15 picks. That number shrunk from nearly two-to-one in just one night against the Tigers on Saturday, with Lagway throwing nearly a half dozen in what finished as a one-possession loss in Death Valley.

Meanwhile, Florida’s numbers in the run game are the lowest they’ve been since the turn of the decade. The Gators are putting up just 137.3 yards per game, at 4.3 yards per carry, on the ground, with RB Jadan Baugh accounting for over half of that with 81 per game, at 6.6 per carry, and one touchdown.

Allowing just 13.7 points per game so far, Florida is doing enough to win football games on that side of the ball despite the start at 1-2. That leaves the Gators trying to figure it out ahead of another top-ten matchup on the road this weekend against No. 4 Miami in Coral Gables.

“We still got a lot of ball left, and, obviously, we’ve got to do some things differently from what we’ve done the last two weeks. So, we’ll see how it plays out down in South Florida this week.”

Napier on how he can help DJ Lagway: ‘It is what it is at this point’

DJ Lagway had about as bad of a night as a quarterback could have in the loss at No. 3 LSU, throwing five picks in Baton Rouge on Saturday. However, with that awful outing behind him, Billy Napier is focused on how it can improve from there for the Gators’ quarterback.

During his press conference on Monday, Napier was asked how they can help Lagway, the sophomore now with 15 games and 10 starts, after what happened this weekend against the Tigers. The biggest thing was more and more reps in practice, especially when considering the time he missed this offseason.

“Yeah, I just think, in general, you know, conceptually? I think that, obviously, a week of prep, you know, exposing him to some of those maybe. And then just continue to coach, continue in the practice environment – the importance of each repetition, the quality of the rep, try to recreate the game for him during the week,” Napier said. “And, just know where he’s at relative to the missed time in spring ball and training camp.”

“I’m always of the opinion that, when the student maybe struggles on the test, you know, as a teacher, you’ve got to take a good look in the mirror. And, for me, that’s what it’s about,” Napier said to start. “So, I’ve got to do a better job helping DJ in that regard.”

“So, you know, it is what it is at this point,” said Napier. “We’ve seen him at his best, and then we’ve seen him struggle. So I think the important part is we try to get him back to where he can play winning football, which we know he’s very capable of.”