Georgia's Kirby Smart on Facing Florida's Freshmen Lagway, Baugh

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart spoke highly of the Florida Gators' freshman duo in DJ Lagway and Jadan Baugh.

Florida Gators quarterback DJ Lagway (2) pitches the ball to Florida Gators running back Jadan Baugh (13) in the first half during the Orange and Blue game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, April 13, 2024 [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]2024 / Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- The Florida Gators freshman offensive duo in quarterback DJ Lagway and running back Jadan Baugh have quickly put the nation on notice despite a tough beginning to the 2024 season.

Lagway, one of the top-rated quarterbacks in the 2024 recruiting class, has thrown for over 1,000 yards and five touchdowns while appearing in every game this season, two of which he started. After Graham Mertz's season-ending ACL tear, Lagway became the Gators' full-time starter and helped lead the team to a dominating win over Kentucky last week.

But he isn't the only freshman Gator that people are watching.

Running back Jadan Baugh, who made his first-career start two weeks ago in place of an injured Montrell Johnson Jr., tied the program record with five rushing touchdowns against the Wildcats. The Lagway-Baugh duo were individually named true freshman standouts by On3 after the win.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart on Wednesday spoke highly of the duo during his session on the weekly SEC coaches' teleconference.

"Extremely physical, twitchy, really good athlete," Smart said of Baugh. "Returns kicks for them. He does it all and catches the ball out of the backfield well, and yards after contact is really high. They allow their run game to wear you down because they're committed to it."

On Lagway, Smart credited his veteran presence and decision making despite his youth.

"His presence, ability to navigate the pocket, decision making on when to run and pass versus scrambling around and staying in the pocket," Smart said. "His deep ball accuracy was really elite."

Against Kentucky, Lagway threw five passes of over 40 yards while finishing 7-for-14 with 256 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. That mark tied a program record, which he set in the win over Samford in Week 2.

Now, though, the Gators face a much-tougher test against Georgia, which is ranked No. 2 in the country in the most-recent AP Poll. With reps in every game this season and larger roles in recent weeks, Florida head coach Billy Napier is confident in his young duo, especially Lagway.

"Playing him in every game has made for a preparation that becomes real, like, 'I'm going out there,'" Napier said on Monday. "He's been able to do that each week, so I think that helps. We played several top-10 teams so far this year. Obviously, two weeks ago was his first SEC start. Then Georgia, we all understand what comes with that, so hopefully the first of many for him."

The Gators' yearly trip to Jacksonville to take on the Bulldogs kicks off at 3:30 p.m. Television coverage can be found on ABC.