Freshmen Shine in Florida Gators Orange and Blue Game

Who's up and who's down after the Florida Gators Orange and Blue game on Saturday.

Florida Gators freshman quarterback DJ Lagway, Orange and Blue game / Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

The 2024 edition of the Florida Gators Orange and Blue Debut has come and gone with the Blue team, led by the starting offense and second-team defense, winning 19-17 in front of an estimated crowd of 48,000 on Saturday afternoon. 

“I think for the most part it was pretty clean,” said Gators head coach Billy Napier. “I think there's a lot of balance in the game and a ton of situation work, in particular right there at the end.I'm proud of our time. I told them that on the field. You think about, we're at the halfway point through the offseason. 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. We've got a group that gets along with each other and has worked hard. 

“And we got out of here injury-free today for the most part, and we'll be able to take a break and kind of restart here in the middle of May. It's been a good day's work.” 

Here are three winners, two losers and one honorable mention from Saturday’s spring contest in The Swamp. 

Winners 

WR Eugene Wilson III 

Florida’s biggest wide receiver threat finished with eight catches for 128 yards and a touchdown to lead the Blue team’s offense. 

His best moment came on Blue’s two-play, 80-yard touchdown drive when quarterback Graham Mertz hit Wilson on a 20-yard strike to begin the drive. Then the two connected for a 60-yard score on the very next play. 

Donning a backplate with the acronym “Y.A.C.,” which stands for “Yards After Catch,” for most of spring, Wilson III explained it was where he felt he made the biggest stride this spring. It showed as he led all receivers with 77 yards after catch on Saturday. 

“I done put on a few pounds. I felt like there was a lot left on the field last year, so I made sure to be able to get after the catch and all that,” he said. 

QB DJ Lagway 

Although he suffered from a slow start, Florida’s five-star freshman phenom played well in his first-collegiate spring game. Lagway finished with 173 passing yards and two touchdowns. 

He also completed five passes of at least 20 yards, which included a 37-yard pass to Marcus Burke to set up a touchdown pass to Taylor Spierto in the second quarter. Lagway also showed tremendous accuracy on his first touchdown, a 22-yard strike to Aidan Mizell across the middle of the field. 

Additionally, he briefly flashed his running ability on a few scrambles, but was quickly called down by officials due to being non-contact for quarterbacks during the contest. 

“He kind of flipped the switch,” Napier said. “You could see that competitive spirit a little bit. 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.” Napier said.

RB Jadan Baugh 

Baugh led all rushers with 77 yards on 12 carries. His 25-yard rush in the first quarter set up Lagway’s first touchdown, and he added a 14-yard run later in the game. His 6.4 yards per carry were second-most on Saturday behind only Jakobi Jackson, who averaged 12 yards on five-total carries. 

Although he failed to record any other big runs, Baugh’s size - six feet, ¾ inch and weighing 237 pounds - made him hard to tackle, and the freshman wasn’t tackled behind the line-of-scrimmage. 

“Yeah, another rookie that put on a show out there today,” Napier said. “It was fun to watch… I think we'll look back at that one, and that's going to be good for the Gators. I think we saw a little flash of that today.” 

Losers 

Fans of explosive offenses and high scoring 

Although it wasn’t like last season’s 10-7 lackluster of a spring game, Saturday’s performance was far from perfect for Florida’s offense. 

Both teams combined for only three touchdowns and had to settle for seven total field goals, three of which were missed. 

“It will be part of the evaluation of the game; I think we all understand red zone touchdowns are important,” Napier said. “A couple borderline go for it situations where we maybe can manage the game a little bit better first, second, and third down.” 

That’s not to say there weren’t any explosive plays on Saturday.

Outside of his 60-yard touchdown to Wilson III, Mertz was able to hit Kahleil Jackson on a 50-yard pass in the third quarter. Additionally, running back Jakobi Jackson recorded a 32-yard run. 

Additionally, the Orange team only had one other play of at least 20 yards outside of Lagway’s five 20-plus-yard completions (Baugh’s 25-yard run). 

At the end of the day, there was an improvement in scoring from last season, but touchdowns were left off the board due to field goal attempts, which in turn were not always capitalized upon. 

K Hunter Smith 

The FAU transfer kicker, who also handled punting duties, struggled for the Orange team with three missed field goals and a shanked punt. Smith missed kicks from 34 yards, 52 yards and 38 yards with the last two coming in the fourth quarter. Additionally, his shanked punt set up the Blue squad’s game-winning drive. 

Meanwhile, incumbent kicker Trey Smack was perfect on the afternoon with three-made kicks, which included the game-winning 37 yarder as time expired. 

Honorable Mention 

LB Grayson “Pup” Howard 

The South Carolina transfer was praised throughout spring camp for taking advantage of snaps available due to injuries in the room, and he showed why that praise was warranted on Saturday. 

Howard was active early and often with three tackles during his first drive, and he saved a touchdown with a pass breakup inside the 10-yard line. He finished with six total stops, which was tied with edge Quincy Ivory and linebacker R.J. Moten for the game-high mark.