FINAL: Florida Gators Fall in Overtime, 23-17, to No. 8 Tennessee

The Florida Gators blow a 10-point lead in the third quarter, fall in overtime to rival Tennessee despite late heroics from DJ Lagway.

Tennessee defensive lineman Jaxson Moi (51) celebrates after a play during a NCAA football game between Tennessee and Florida in Neyland Stadium, in Knoxville, Tenn., Oct. 12, 2024. / Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.-- The Florida Gators certainly had its chances in a 23-17 overtime loss to the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night in Neyland Stadium.

After blowing a 10-0 lead in the third quarter, freshman quarterback DJ Lagway who had rotated with and then fully replaced an injured Graham Mertz, hit Chimere Dike for a 27-yard touchdown with 29 seconds left to tie the game, 17-17.

However, a missed field goal by Trey Smack in overtime led to a one-yard game-winning touchdown from Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson, who rushed for 112 yards and scored all three of the Volunteers' touchdowns.

"There's no guarantees in this game," said UF head coach Billy Napier after the game. "You have to put yourself out there, with no guaranteed reward. It takes courage to do that. I think ultimately, there's an opportunity here for our team. I just really believe there's something good on the other side of this."

Final.

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Lagway finished the night with 99 yards passing on 9-of-17 passing in Mertz's place.

"One of the things about DJ that I respect is that as a competitor he has this unique ability to raise his level of play at critical moments. I think you obviously not only picked the right route progression but had to move and threw a strike in a critical moment," Napier said. "And, look, I thought he even did some of his more impressive stuff in the first half when he was playing. I thought he did a lot of really good things. For a rookie to go, play on the road in that environment, to step up in a big time, big moment. He’s got that in his DNA. There’s a bright future ahead of it for him.”

Leading 3-0 early in the first quarter, the Gators would have three other chances in the red zone for points but wound up not scoring on any of them. On fourth-and-one from Tennessee's 18-yard line, Lagway handed the ball off to Eugene Wilson III on a jet sweep, who was promptly tackled in the backfield.

From there, running back Montrell Johnson Jr. accounted for 42 rushing yards on the ensuing drive, which included a 23-yard rush with a trucking of a Tennessee defender. With first-and-goal from the Volunteers' 1-yard line, the Gators elected to try a quarterback sneak with Graham Mertz, who fumbled.

Florida's Sharif Denson intercepted a pass on the Volunteers' next drive drive to give the Gators the ball on Tennessee's 11-yard line. However, a false start, use of the final timeout, an incomplete pass, a one-yard pass and a sack left Florida to try a 42-yard field goal from Smack.

Smack's kick was good, but the Gators had 12 players on the field, and the 10-second runoff ended the first half with Florida leading 3-0.

"It was relative to an injury, just to be cut and dry. It was a substitution error based on an injured player who stayed on the field. Yeah, that's exactly what it was," Napier explained. "The injured player that had been substituted on that unit did not come off. He stayed."

Florida's defense, however, came to play by holding the nation's No. 5 rushing offense (266.8 yards per game) to 41 yards, forcing three punts and accounting for two takeaways through the first two periods, despite the offensive failing to score in three of its four red zone drives.

"Certainly, the tale of the tape is the missed opportunities in the first half on offense. We had many opportunities to score points and left a ton of points out there. A couple short-yardage situations and obviously the sneak-fumble on the 1-yard line," Napier said. "But defensively, man, I have to say, our guys kept us in the game. I thought we had a great plan."

Florida did find offensive success in the third quarter after Mertz hit Arlis Boardingham for a 13-yard score, but Mertz suffered a non-contact lower-body injury after the throw and left the game. He later returned to the sideline in street clothes and in crutches.

Mertz finished the game with 125 yards passing while completing 11 of his 15 passes.

"Obviously Graham played phenomenal in the game. I thought he was lights out. Really prepared well and came to play. He does have an injury, a lower-body injury," Napier said. "Obviously, we'll give you some updates on that when we get to next week. It was significant enough that he couldn't complete the game."

From there, the wheels fell off, and Tennessee woke up.

Dylan Sampson scored from six yards out to put the Volunteers on the board, and Lagway threw an interception on the Gators' first play of the ensuing drive, which led to a field goal. Sampson added a 23-yard score in the fourth quarter to give Tennessee its first lead of the game.

The Gators' 10-0 lead quickly disappeared, and the Volunteers led 17-10 with 9:42 left in the game before Lagway hit Dike nine minutes later to tie the game.

Tennessee drove down the field before a holding penalty stifled the drive, and Tennessee elected for overtime.

To start, Lagway threw an incomplete pass, Jake Slaughter was called for a false start, Jadan Baugh lost five yards on a reception and Baugh earned six yards back to set up a 47-yard field goal attempt for Smack, who missed the kick wide right.

Sampson did the rest in the second overtime drive, aided by an 11-yard catch by Dont'e Thornton Jr., with 11 yards rushing, which included the game-winning one-yard touchdown.

The loss brings back outside questions about the direction of the program under third-year head coach Billy Napier, who now falls to 14-17 as the Gators' head coach and whose seat became scorching after a 33-20 loss to Texas A&M in the third game of the season.

Next week, the Gators return home for its annual matchup with Kentucky, which is designated as UF's homecoming game. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. with television coverage on SEC Network.