Florida QB DJ Lagway insults hamstring: Gators freshman sensation carded off field vs. Georgia

Image Credit: UAA

A difficult season turned into a disastrous one for the Florida Gators on Saturday afternoon as freshman quarterback DJ Lagway, who exploded onto the scene in his first season and moved into a starting role two weeks ago, severely injured his left hamstring on a run late in the second quarter against the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs. Lagway immediately grabbed his leg and needed to be lifted off the ground before being carted off the field and into the tunnel.

Head coach Billy Napier confirmed the injury at halftime, referring to it as “pretty significant.”

The former five-star prospect took over Florida’s offense after redshirt senior Graham Mertz, the incumbent starter, tore his ACL at Tennessee on Oct 13. That left the Gators relying on redshirt freshman Aidan Warner, a transfer from Yale who walked onto the program this spring, in Saturday’s game.

Before departing, Lagway completed 2 of 6 passes, one of which was a 43-yard touchdown to redshirt freshman wide receiver Aidan Mizell. He also had 18 yards rushing. In a touching moment, Mertz immediately hobbled off the sidelines to support Lagway.

Warner completed 2 of 3 passes for 30 yards with a 9-yard rushing TD in two brief appearances earlier this season. He is a UF legacy as both of his parents graduated from the university.

The circumstances surrounding Lagway’s injury saw the quarterback slip on a keeper and fall forward. Florida players slipped on the EverBank Stadium field multiple times early in the game — often times with turf getting kicked up — leading to questions both about the surface itself and the cleats used by the Gators in the contest.

Junior linebacker Shemar James suffered a season-ending kneecap dislocation during warmups ahead of the Florida-Georgia game last season.

EverBank Stadium laid down new turf on Oct. 23, five days before an NFL game and 10 days before the Gators and Dawgs met in Jacksonville, Florida, according to the News-Press. It is a normal course of action for teams to replace sodded fields multiple times during an NFL season.

Only Gators will update this developing story.