37-yard field goal by Trey Smack wins the spring game
ABOVE VIDEO: 2024 Florida Football Spring Game Highlights
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA (Florida Gators) – The best part about Saturday for Florida fans was that they already knew the outcome would be one they could live with before the annual Orange & Blue Game.
The Gators would win regardless of whether the Orange or Blue Team emerged victorious. For the record, the Blue pulled off a 19-17 victory as time expired on a 37-yard field goal by Trey Smack.
For the first time since their comeback win at South Carolina in the seventh game of last season, the Gators and their fans departed satisfied with the result.
The same could be said for UF head coach Billy Napier.
“I’m proud of our time. I told them that on the field,” Napier said after concluding his third spring camp at Florida. “I think we’ve made a ton of progress. This group, in particular, I think the leadership, the accountability, the self-discipline, and we’ve got a team.”
The most promising development Saturday was the play of freshman quarterback DJ Lagway, a five-star quarterback from Willis, Texas, and Florida’s most hyped recruit since Tim Tebow. For Lagway, the 2023 Gatorade National Player of the Year, Saturday offered an opportunity to showcase his talent in front of fans who consider him the critical building block for a program that is not used to having three straight losing seasons.
ABOVE VIDEO: The Gators would win regardless of whether the Orange or Blue Team emerged victorious. For the record, the Blue pulled off a 19-17 victory as time expired on a 37-yard field goal by Trey Smack.
The 6-foot-3, 241-pound Lagway delivered a strong punch after a swing and miss on the Orange Team’s opening drive, a three-and-out.
Lagway finished 12 of 21 for 173 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He wasn’t perfect, but you could see the raw talent that led recruiters from around the country to fly into Houston and make the 45-minute drive north to watch Lagway star for the Willis High Wildkats on Friday nights.
“He’s done that all spring,” said winning quarterback Graham Mertz. “He’s done a great job of when we’re in scrimmage settings. I thought he did a fantastic job. He made a bunch of throws.”
Lagway threw a 22-yard touchdown strike to Aidan Mizell on the first play of the second quarter and added a 5-yard scoring throw to Taylor Spierto right before halftime. He made perhaps his best throw to Spierto midway in the second quarter when he tossed a dart on a crossing pattern that gained 32 yards.
The play brought many in the announced crowd of 48,000 to their feet.
Napier said he felt good about Lagway’s progress following a strong practice on Thursday.
“We taught the situation, reviewed it in the team meeting, went out and executed it, and declared it’s going to be worth three points,” he said. “I kind of saw him, ‘Okay, it’s time to compete.’ He kind of flipped the switch. You could see that competitive spirit.
“That’s the good thing because you don’t know. You can practice all spring, but when it’s time, I think he showed he’s a competitor, and he had the ability. It wasn’t too big for him.”
While Lagway was destined to be the headliner because of his stature as one of the nation’s top recruits and the new hot-shot quarterback in town, Mertz did his job for the Blue Team, finishing 15 of 27 for 243 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Mertz led the Blue Team on the winning drive as Napier installed a two-minute drill to finish the game. With 22 seconds remaining, Mertz led the Gators on a five-play, 47-yard drive capped by Smack’s game-winning field goal. He completed passes to Treyaun Webb (11 yards), Chimere Dike (18) and Arlis Boardingham (18) before an incomplete pass with two seconds left brought Smack in to win it.
“I thought it was competitive,” Mertz said. “We talked about momentum all week, and we’ve been talking about [it] all spring ball. If you have it, you have to keep it. If you don’t, you have to capture it.”
Mertz’s Blue Team captured it when it needed it most. Meanwhile, several young players besides Lagway stood out.
Sophomore receiver Eugene Wilson III caught a game-high eight passes for 128 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown from Mertz. Orange Team running back Jadan Baugh rushed 12 times for 77 yards, and Blue Team running back Ja’Kobi Jackson rushed five times for 60 yards. Defensively, transfers George Gumbs Jr. (five tackles for Blue) and Grayson Howard (six for Orange) had a nose for the action, and defensive back Sharif Denson and linebacker Mannie Nunnery each had an interception.
Perhaps most importantly, Napier said the Gators escaped any severe injuries.
The next big date at the Swamp is Aug. 31, when Miami visits for the season opener. The Gators must win that one to keep the momentum they built this spring alive and kicking.
“I think the guys that are coming back on this team understand the expectations,” Napier said. “They know what we expect of them as people, as students, as players. I think as a coach, man, the players are what give you confidence. We’re deeper. We’ve got more height and length. We’ve got more veteran players, and I think the young talent, the freshmen and the portal players, are going to help us.
“That, to go along with the changes that we made after evaluating the season, I feel good about where we’re at.”
On this glorious Saturday, mission accomplished.
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