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DJ Lagway makes 1st appearance for the Florida Gators

On3 imageby: Keith Niebuhr08/31/24On3Keith
DJ Lagway
(Matt Pendleton / USA TODAY NETWORK

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA — It was not clear before the game if touted true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway would play in the Florida Gators’ season opener vs. Miami at The Swamp. But when starter Graham Mertz sustained an injury while throwing an interception with 24 seconds left in the third quarter, that meant Lagway would get a shot.

And he did with 14:44 on the clock in the fourth quarter.

With Florida trailing 38-10, Lagway’s first play was a hand off to running back Treyaun Webb, who gained 2 yards. He was stopped for a 4-yard loss on second down, then followed that up with an incompletion on third down.

Lagway stayed in the game and his first completion came one series later — and 11-yarder to Eugene Wilson. He then followed that up with a 16-yard completion to Wilson on the next play.

Lagway threw his first Gators interception with 2:50 remaining in the game.

Lagway, listed at 6-feet-2.5, 230 pounds, signed with Florida last December. A native of Willis, Texas, he was the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the country for On3 and No. 3 overall recruit in the 2024 class. Friday, legendary Gators quarterback Tim Tebow said this about Lagway while making an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show.

“DJ Lagway, our freshman quarterback. I think he’s extremely special,” Tebow said. “It’s not to take away from Graham, because I think Graham is the leader of the team. But I think DJ can step in and help in a lot of areas and I think give d-coordinators a couple of nightmares.”

Mertz’s status moving forward is unknown. The severity of his injury was not immediately clear.

When Mertz was knocked out of the game, he was only 11-of-20 passing for 91 yards and one touchdown. Behind a porous offensive line, he was generally ineffective and often had little time to throw.

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