Tag: Graham Mertz

Florida’s starting QB named Manning Award Star of the Week

Graham Mertz’s superlative effort in Starkville last Saturday did not go unnoticed.

Florida football’s incumbent starting quarterback [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag] earned a prestigious honor after leading the Gators to a Week 4 win at the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The accolade comes as he recovers from a season-opening concussion sustained against the Miami Hurricanes.

While Mertz played two weeks ago against the Texas A&M Aggies, he split time with true freshman DJ Lagway. Last Saturday, he got a bulk of the reps against an SEC opponent and did not disappoint the Gator Nation.

He scored four total touchdowns in the win — three passing and one rushing. There is no doubt that his arm is what led the Orange and Blue to victory in enemy territory.

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The redshirt senior went 19-for-21 passing for a 90.5% completion percentage — the third-best single-game mark by a quarterback in school history. His combined production with Lagway’s 7-for-7 effort gave the QB corps a 92.8% rate, marking the highest single-game completion rate in program history.

About the Manning Award

The Manning Award was created by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2004 to honor the college football accomplishments of Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning. It is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates’ bowl performances in its balloting.

Since the Manning Award started recognizing Stars of the Week in 2011, 538 different quarterbacks from 133 schools have been recognized, with 66 players honored during the 2023 season.

Up next for the Gators

The Gators will be out of action for Week 5 due to their bye week. Florida’s next opponent will be the UCF Knights on Oct. 5 at 7:15 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Analyzing PFF grades for Florida’s passing game against Miss. St.

Florida’s passing game was near perfect on Saturday in a win over Mississippi State. Pro Football Focus says the offensive line was elite.

Florida’s offense had a good day against Mississippi State, scoring at will for most of the 45-28. Pro Football Focus gave the Gators an 85.0 overall grade on Saturday, including an 80.1 on passing plays.

Every week, Gators Wire breaks down PFF’s grades for Florida, but we’re changing things up to make it more digestible. This article will focus only on the passing game. Check back for separate stories on the run game and defense over the rest of the week.

There are three main elements of the pass game — quarterback play, receiver play and pass blocking from the offensive line. Before getting into the numbers, here is a quick refresher on how PFF comes up with these grades.

Understanding PFF grades

The grading scale ranges from minus-2 to plus-2 with increments of 0.5, and players are given a grade on every play they are on the field for. A zero grade means a player did his job, while the two ends of the scale represent extreme success or failure — think red zone interception at the end of a game or a game-winning touchdown pass when applying it to quarterbacks.

There’s a level of subjectivity to it, but each grade is reviewed at least once. Once all plus-minus grades are in, the numbers are converted to a 0-100 scale to easily compare players. There are some loosely defined tiers within the system — 90-100 is elite, 85-89 is Pro Bowl level for NFL players, 70 to 84 is a starter and 60-69 is a backup. Anything 59 and below is considered a replaceable talent.

Since we’re looking at college athletes with a system designed for the pros, we will consider anything above 65.0 as a solid performance.

Quarterbacks

Florida head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] remains committed to a two-quarterback system for now. [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] is still getting a good amount of snaps (24), but it’s not the same 50-50 split seen in Week 3. With [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag] healthy, he’s taking closer to two-thirds of the offensive snaps (43).

Mertz dropped back 23 times on Saturday, compared to just seven from Lagway. The veteran starter completed 19 of 21 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns, while the true freshman completed all seven of his pass attempts for 76 yards.

Two hundred yards on 19 completions isn’t ideal in the SEC, but that’s the playbook Billy Napier runs at Florida. Both quarterbacks saw 70% of their attempts target receivers travel fewer than nine yards, including 42.9% of throws for Lagway going behind the line of scrimmage. These aren’t all screens, but the playbook isn’t asking receivers to run deep routes often.

The good news is that Mertz looked good on the two deep balls he threw, grading out at 86.3 beyond 20 yards. Another positive sign is Lagway lowering his time to throw from last week. There are questions about the true freshman’s ability to make reads at a college pace, but he looked good against a weak defense.

Lagway earned a higher passing grade (79.0) than Mertz (74.6), but Mertz was on the field for several more plays.

Receivers

The receivers had a good day as well, grading out at 79.1 as a unit. Chimere Dike played the most snaps — 56 of 67 offensive snaps — lining up mostly in the slot on the right side. Elijhah Badger lined up 49 times for Florida on the left side, and it was a bit of a revolving door out wide on the right.

Badger and Dike are the two primary receivers in Napier’s offense, but the latter struggled to a 56.4 receiving grade. That explains Dike’s lack of target (3), but at least he brought all of them in. Badger had a better day, grading out at 65.9, but it’s still a borderline replaceable performance.

Aidan Mizell took the bulk of snaps on the right side (34), followed by Marcus Burke (18), TJ Abrams (7) and Andy Jean (1). Mizell caught all five of his targets for 36 yards and a 75.7 receiving grade, but it was Burke who shined brighter over fewer snaps. Burke caught all four targets that came his way for 45 yards and a touchdown, ending the game with a strong 80.3 receiving grade.

The tight ends played a big role in Saturday’s win as well. Hayden Hansen got the start at the primary tight end position, playing 57 of 67 offensive snaps, but it was Tony Livingston instead of Arlis Boardingham who came in on the left side in 12-personnel situations.

Livingston emerged as a pass-catching threat, especially on play action, catching three of four targets for 18 yards. His 79.8 receiving grade was the second highest on the team.

Boardingham and Hansen both hauled in touchdown catches on their lone targets. Hansen went for 35 yards to score and earned a 66.3 receiving grade, while Boardingham (67.6) scored in a goalline situation from three yards out.

Montrell Johnson and Ja’Kobi Jackson combined for five catches and 49 yards on checkdowns. Jackson impressed with 43 yards after the catch and a 77.8 receiving grade.

Pass Blocking

Florida’s pass-blocking unit received a 92.9 grade from PFF on Saturday — the single highest figure for any position group.

Left tackle Austin Barber led the charge with an 85.3 pass-blocking grade, followed by left guard Knijeah Harris (84.6), center Jake Slaughter (83.2) and right tackle Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson (80.0).

Right guard Damieon George Jr. struggled a bit, but his 67.6 grade is still above our threshold for a solid outing.

Backup left tackle Devon Manuel (79.7), backup left guard Bryce Lovett (79.0) and backup right guard Kamryn Waites (78.0) all held their own over limited snaps this week. All three were on the field for 6-9 pass-blocking plays, though.

As a unit, Florida ranks seventh among FBS programs on PFF’s pass-blocking rankings with a season-long grade of 85.2. Slaughter has been college football’s best pass-blocking center (90.3).

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Billy Napier: ‘More work to do’ after Florida football’s win at Mississippi State

What stood out from Billy Napier’s postgame press conference after the Gators victory at Mississippi State.

Florida football got a much-needed victory on the road at Mississippi State in Week 4.

The offense was clicking on all cylinders as head coach Billy Napier made use of both Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway at the quarterback spot. The Gators were able to put up over 500 yards of total offense and scored 45 points as they beat the Bulldogs 45-28.

While the offense found its groove, the same can’t be said for the defense. Defensively, the Gators were missing tackles and not staying disciplined in the gaps.

Mississippi State had 240 rushing yards as a team on Saturday. That is not ideal and with the bye week coming up for Florida, they need to really figure out how to get that fixed. Because that is a real concern for this defense.

Overall, it was a great win for Florida and give credit to Napier for blocking out the outside noise and taking care of business on the road.

Here is what stood out from his press conference after the win against Mississippi State.

Napier talks about how the win feels

“Yeah, it’s good to win on the road in this league, it’s always tough,” Napier said. “And this can be a challenging place to play. Look, we have more work to do.

“Okay, we won today, but we are very much a work in progress. And this group can get so much better. I mean, we got so many individual players, position groups and units on our team, that we’re not even close to being who we can be – and they know that. That’s what I told them in the locker room.”

Napier on having Ron Roberts up in the box

“Yeah, I do think we got it in better, think it helped,” Napier said. “I think he did that at Auburn the last two years, and I think ultimately he and I both agreed that that would be best for the team. He has a good game day eye up there.”

Napier went on to say, “There’s, there’s pros and cons. He’s not around the players between possessions, but I do think just his ability to see it, call it quicker, get the call in, and for those guys to go play. So I think a lot of the things that we did early in the game, I think there was some benefit to that.”

Napier on the quarterback rotation

“I think you’re just evaluating how the week went, just in terms of Graham (Mertz) being back healthy. Really was impressive this week in practice, I thought he had a great week — just really sharp,” Napier said. “The ball was jumping out of his hand. And then DJ (Lagway) obviously got some great experience last week, and then we just kind of went with our gut there, kind of what we felt like was best for the team.

“We’re still committed to playing DJ (Lagway). I think today, he showed that he’ll get a little better the more experience that he gets, I think he’ll improve.”

Napier went on, saying, “So I think we’re getting the best of both worlds there. Both guys make our team better. We used DJ (Lagway)’s legs a little bit today, knowing that Graham (Mertz) was really healthy. So again, I think this is the best thing for our team. And both guys play really well.”

Napier talks about the struggles against the runs up the middle

“We got to get it fixed,” Napier said. “If you want to play really good defense, you got to be strong up the middle. It’s discouraging because it’s at the core of what you do. And I think we’ve got the personnel in there to be really good.

“And again, you got to give Mississippi State some credit, they ran it into the light box and then they threw it when we were loaded up in there so the RPO conflict was on full display today. (Jeff) Lebby’s good at that. That’s what he’s made his living doing.

“So we got to get to this stuff where maybe we can show something and change the picture a little bit. And we did that a little bit in the second half. We got to get better. There’s no question.”

Napier talks about the upcoming bye week

“Well, I think ultimately, we’re gonna take a day and get them out of the building tomorrow,” Napier said. “We have to develop practice plans that reflect the areas where we need to improve, and that’ll be the challenge on all three parts of our team.

“We’re going to get some guys back that are injured and unavailable now, which will be beneficial. But ultimately, it’s back to the basics here. We got to really take a good look at where our issues are at, at the self-scout, and then getting ready for a Power Five opponent coming to the Swamp, which will be a handful and be a challenge there.”

Up next for the Gators

The Gators will be out of action for Week 5 due to their bye week. Florida’s next opponent will be the UCF Knights on Oct. 5. The time is yet to be determined.

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Former Wisconsin quarterback dominates for Florida in Week 4

Former Wisconsin quarterback dominates for Florida in Week 4

Former Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz dominated for the Florida Gators in their win over Mississippi State on Saturday.

Mertz, who returned to the Gators’ lineup a week ago against Texas A&M, completed 19 of his 21 throws for 201 yards and three passing touchdowns vs. the Bulldogs in Starkville. He also rushed three times for 24 yards and a touchdown.

The output vs. Mississippi State is Mertz’s best game of 2024 by a landslide. He finished with 195 yards, one touchdown and one interception vs. the Aggies on Sept. 14 in his first appearance after suffering a concussion in Week 1 against the Miami Hurricanes;

Mertz’s breakout performance in Week 4 is somewhat surprising considering the back-and-forth in Florida’s quarterback locker room this season. The former Badger opened as the starter after a spectacular 2023 season performance in Gainesville. The concussion against Miami, however, opened the door for five-star true freshman D.J. Lagway. The Texas native filled in for Mertz in Week 2 against Samford and totaled 456 yards and three touchdowns.

While some deemed Lagway’s performance as evidence for Mertz to remain on the sideline for the remainder of the season, Florida head coach Billy Napier affirmed that both Mertz and Lagway would see the field for the rest of the 2024 slate.

Nonetheless, Mertz played like a true Division I starter on Saturday. He will receive another opportunity to flash his skill set against the UCF Knights on Oct. 5.

Three takeaways from Florida’s Week 4 win over Mississippi State

Florida needed a win against Mississippi State this weekend, and the offense delivered a performance to guarantee a 2-2 record. The Gators defense is another story…

The Florida Gators improved to 2-2 on the year with a 45-28 win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs Saturday afternoon in Starkville.

The victory is mostly thanks to the offense, which scored on seven of 11 drives against a porous Mississippi State defense. The Gators split things between the air and the ground, passing for 277 yards and three touchdowns while adding 226 yards and two more scores in the run game.

Despite a three-score win, many of the concerns surrounding the program remain. Winning is good, but 17-point victories are supposed to be convincing. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that it felt like Florida had the lid on the jar when Mississippi State turned to its backup quarterback.

Mississippi State’s defense is not good

Mississippi State’s deficiencies on defense were well-documented coming into this game. The Bulldogs feature one of the worst secondaries in the conference, one that allowed Toledo to put up nearly 300 yards through the air against them last week, and Florida had already proven itself against a bad defense once before.

Florida didn’t achieve the same success it had in the air against Samford, but only two incompletions on the day paints the picture here. The Bulldogs didn’t play the Gators tight, and Billy Napier exploited that with his playcalling after a three-and-out on the first offensive drive of the day.

With the pass game established and a sizeable lead on the scoreboard, Florida ran the ball more in the second half. All four Gators rushers looked comfortable handling the ball and broke rushes of 10 or more yards. Both quarterbacks also had positive rushing days.

It won’t be this easy for Florida’s offense for the rest of the season, though. Mississippi State is at the bottom of the SEC for a reason, and Florida’s schedule only gets more and more difficult moving forward.

Graham Mertz is still QB1

Recycling a takeaway from last week, it’s now clear that [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] made the right decision to keep [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag] as Florida’s starting quarterback. For the second week in a row, Mertz has looked more poised and in control than he did in an ugly performance against Miami.

It’s impossible to deny the raw talent of [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag]. His intermediate and deep passes have more zip on them than the ones we see from Mertz, but he’s still a bit overwhelmed at times. Going through reads and making decisions is what makes Mertz the better option in most scenarios, but it won’t be long until Lagway becomes comfortable.

For now, Napier should ride the guy who went 19-of-21 for 201 yards and three touchdowns. Mertz had one bad throw all day, a pass behind tight end Tony Livingston that could have been picked off, but that’s far from disqualifying.

Florida’s run defense is a major concern

Coming into Saturday’s matchup, Mississippi State ranked last in the SEC averaging under 100 yards per game. The Bulldogs ran for 240 yards and three touchdowns against the Gators, and the front seven looked tired at times as missed tackles piled up.

Mississippi State nearly doubled their rushing yards for the season in one game against Florida’s defense. Imagine what Georgia, LSU and Texas will do to this defense.

The broadcast mentioned that Ron Roberts, Florida’s defensive play caller, admitted that he doesn’t feel like the defense trusts one another with the way the season has played out. There’s no room for the blame game after a performance like this. Figure it out, or stick your head in the sand so you don’t have to watch yourself get buried.

Up Next

The Gators have a bye week coming up. Hopefully, Florida gets a little healthier before UCF comes to town on Oct. 5. Ten players earned inactive tags on the initial SEC Availability Report this week, and Florida can’t afford to be shorthanded moving forward.

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Gators Wire’s Good, Bad and Ugly from Florida’s Week 4 win at MSU

Here’s what the Gators Wire crew had to offer after the Week 4 win for Florida over Mississippi State.

Florida football scored a huge road win on Saturday in Starkville against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 45-28. Sure, it was a battle between two of the lowest-rated SEC teams, but every conference win counts.

The Gators outperformed expectations overall but still showed a few warts in their game plan. The good news is that the quarterback duo looked great in Week 4, with [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag] getting the lion’s share of the passing duties; the bad news is that the defense just cannot seem to get on the same page for an entire 40 minutes.

Immediately following the conclusion of the UF-MSU game, the Gators Wire staff convened to offer their respective good, bad and ugly takes. Take a look below at what we had to offer collectively.

Matt Pendleton/Gainesville Sun

Adam Dubbin

GOOD: Quarterback play was exceptional in this game. Mertz got a bulk of the plays under center and made the most of it; meanwhile, [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] also maximized his limited reps while demonstrating maturity beyond his years in his ability to be ready to play whenever his name is called. 

Together, they tossed a combined 26-for-28 through the air for 277 yards and three touchdowns. Not too shabby. 

BAD: Florida’s run defense left a great deal to be desired against a team that has struggled significantly through the first three games (373 yards on 89 total attempts) and allowed an embarrassing 240 yards but it took 56 attempts. 

Overall, MSU scored far too many points for Napier to feel comfortable with — and almost added a touchdown as the clock expired. It was the most in four games this season for the ‘Dogs, in fact.

UGLY: Other than the defensive futility, Florida’s two fumbles — one of which resulted in a touchdown, fortunately — are probably the ugliest part of Florida’s performance on Saturday. Additionally, MSU had three fumbles to its credit — but UF only recovered one — so it all adds up to a bad day when it comes to loose balls. 

Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

David Rosenberg

GOOD: Mertz was excellent today even with Lagway going 7-for-7. Mississippi State’s defense was poor, but it’s still very difficult to complete 90% of passes against an SEC program. What’s even more encouraging is that Mertz was fairly efficient on mid-range and deep balls.

His bread and butter is still behind the line of scrimmage and within five yards, but Mertz showed some touch placing ball over the underneath defender and hitting his receivers in stride. Mertz also spread the ball well. He went to Chimere Dike just twice, both for gains, targeted true freshman Aidan Mizell a team-high five times and found all three of his tight ends throughout the game — two for touchdowns.

They say that Mertz has the benefit of experience on his side when comparing him to Lagway, and his decision-making was on display all afternoon.

BAD: Florida’s run defense looked bad for most of the afternoon. A goal-line stand to open the fourth quarter, six tackles for loss and two sacks will save the front seven some face, but they still allowed the SEC’s worst run game to put up 240 yards and score three times.

For context, Mississippi State put up 373 yards on the ground over its first three games. Allowing a rushing attack like that to go for 10-plus yards eight times is concerning. The defensive line is dealing with injuries — Jamari Lyons is out for the year and Joey Slackman is recovering from knee surgery —but that doesn’t excuse some of the missed tackles by the healthy players.

Some help from the second level of the defense would be nice, too. Grayson “Pup” Howard has been solid so far, but third-year linebacker Shemar James came into Week 4 with a 62.1 run defense grade, according to Pro Football Focus. That number needs to come up if Florida wants to compete in the second half of the season.

UGLY: Five penalties for 52 yards isn’t the worst we’ve seen from this Gators team, but the timing of the flags made them feel worse than their. Montrell Johnson was called for a blindside block to erase an Aidan Mizell touchdown, and Sharif Denson was flagged for pass interference twice on the same drive, once on fourth and short.

The Johnson call was questionable, but those mistakes by Denson will cost Florida a tight game against Kentucky or UCF. It’s the little things that can make a three-score win feel a lot closer than it actually is, and the broadcast reported that Florida’s defensive play-caller Ron Roberts believes the defense doesn’t believe in one another. It was a good win, but there’s still so much to clean up.

Matt Bush-Imagn Images

Aidan Gallardo

GOOD: The quarterback play was great to see from the Gators. Both Mertz and Lagway performed well and there were just two incompletions between the two combined. Mertz was 19-for-21 passing with 201 yards and three touchdowns while Lagway was 7-for-7 for 76 yards passing.

Mertz had a rushing touchdown as well. The rotating quarterbacks didn’t seem to affect Mertz or Lagway in terms of rhythm and with the help of the offensive line play today, the quarterbacks were given time to throw. For the most part, the quarterbacks were a huge reason why Florida won this game.

BAD: There is not enough consistency on defense. The Gators’ defense seems to let their foot off the gas whenever the offense scores. It’s as if they think that they can ease off the pressure since they have a lead.

Look, you’ll get away with it against sub-par teams but we’ve seen what happens when you play against a quality opponent. Florida needs to find a way to stay consistent with their defense throughout the entirety of the game.

UGLY: The run defense has been unacceptable. The Gators have had such a tough time stopping the run this season. Last week, they gave up 310 rushing yards against Texas A&M and against Mississippi State, they allowed 240 yards on the ground.

Poor tackling plays a vital role in this because it seems as if the first tackler often misses which allows the rusher to get those extra yards. Gap discipline is also a factor because that’s what prevents these wide-open holes from opening up for the rushers.

Up next for the Gators

The Gators will be out of action for Week 5 due to their bye week. Florida’s next opponent will be the UCF Knights on Oct. 5. The time is yet to be determined.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Graham Mertz leads Florida football to big win at Mississippi State

Gators connect on the offensive side of the ball as they get a much-needed road win at Mississippi State.

Florida football (2-2, 1-1 SEC) defeated the Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-3, 0-1 SEC) on the road by a score of 45-28 in what seemed like a must-win game for [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] and his Gators.

The cowbells in Starkville, Mississippi, were quieted almost immediately as Florida lit up the scoreboard with ease.

The Gators had 503 total yards of offense and it was a nice balance between the passing and rushing attack. Florida had 277 yards passing and 226 yards rushing.

Napier continued to utilize both Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway at the quarterback position and they each played well.

Mertz was 19-for-21 passing for 201 yards and three touchdowns while Lagway threw for 76 yards while completing all seven of his passes.

Both Florida quarterbacks were virtually perfect in the first half, combining for just one incompletion. Mertz was 15-for-16 throw the air with 147 yards and three touchdowns while Lagway was 4-for-4 for 49 yards passing.

The Gators got the scoring started thanks to a 3-yard touchdown throw from Mertz to tight end Arlis Boardingham. It was Boardingham’s first touchdown reception of the season.

Mississippi State would answer right back as the Bulldogs’ senior running back Davon Booth rushed up the middle at the goal line for a touchdown.

But Florida did a good job in not letting that score rattle them, as the offense picked apart Mississippi State’s defense all game long.

The Gators scored touchdowns on three straight drives to end the first half.

Mertz threw a 20-yard touchdown to receiver Marcus Burke and a 35-yard touchdown to tight end Hayden Hansen that gave Mertz three passing touchdowns in the first half.

Ja’Kobi Jackson ran in for a 10-yard touchdown to give Florida a season-high 28 points in the first half.

Mertz was able to keep the scoring going in the second half as he sneaked in the end zone for his fourth touchdown of the afternoon.

It was, for the most part, smooth sailing on the Gators’ offensive side of the ball but the defense was a bit shaky.

The Gators’ defense has to be better, especially with stopping the run.

Florida allowed Mississippi State to have 240 yards on the ground. A lot of that has to do with poor tackling which is inexcusable with this type of team at this point in the season.

The Gators still have some things to clean up on the defensive side of the ball and the coaching staff will have plenty to review with a bye week coming up.

Up next for the Gators

The Gators will be out of action for Week 5 due to their bye week. Florida’s next opponent will be the UCF Knights on Oct. 5. The time is yet to be determined.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Billy Napier’s hot seat starting to burn as Florida football loses to Texas A&M

Gators lose big at home in the Swamp vs. Texas A&M, fall to 1-3 and 0-1 in SEC play.

Florida football (1-2) takes a brutal loss against the Texas A&M Aggies (2-1) as they lose, 33-20, in the Swamp. The hot seat is starting to sizzle for head coach Billy Napier just three games into the schedule.

The offense couldn’t find any rhythm while the defense was torched through the air and on the ground by the Aggies’ offense in the Gators’ SEC opener.

“Two out of three weeks here, we have not played good enough football in many parts of our team at all,” Napier said.

Backup quarterback Marcel Reed started for the Aggies after their starter, Conner Weigman, was sidelined due to an injury.

And you would not think Reed was a backup after the way he played in the game.

Reed finished the game throwing for 178 yards and two touchdowns; he also had 13 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown. Texas A&M running back Le’Veon Moss had 18 carries for 110 yards.

The Gators defense just couldn’t stop the run. A mix of missed tackles and poor angles resulted in the Aggies having 310 rushing yards.

Flipping it over to Florida’s offense, there wasn’t a whole lot going right with them as penalties and mishaps proved costly.

Florida quarterbacks Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway were taking turns alternating on each drive throughout the game and while teams have had success utilizing the dual quarterback approach in the past, it’s hard for the players to get in any sort of rhythm.

“We ultimately made a commitment to rotate the players,” Napier said. “A certain progression, a certain way regardless of the outcome. Basically, to keep those guys in a good frame of mind.”

Mertz threw for 195 yards and a touchdown while Lagway had 54 yards through the air and a touchdown pass as well.

But both quarterbacks threw interceptions. Mertz gave up a pick-six while Lagway threw two interceptions.

Mertz was able to throw a touchdown to Elijhah Badger on the first drive of the third quarter, extending the Gators’ scoring streak to 451 consecutive games.

Lagway had a touchdown throw to Chimere Dike late in the third quarter but at that point, the Texas A&M lead was too much to come back from.

Dike had a really nice game for the Gators. The senior transfer from Wisconsin had six catches for 91 yards and a touchdown.

The Gators start out conference play 0-1 and are just 1-2 in their first three games in the Swamp. Not an ideal way to start the season because this was supposed to be the more manageable part of the schedule before the gauntlet arrives mid-season.

But apparently, that gauntlet started in Week 1.

Up next for the Gators

Florida will play their first road game of the season as they travel up to Starkville to play against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday, Sept. 21. Kickoff is set for noon ET and will be broadcast on ESPN.

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Three takeaways from Florida’s depressing loss to Texas A&M

With the season potentially on the line as early as Week 3, Florida laid an egg in the first half against Texas A&M and floundered to a loss.

A two-score loss to open conference play doesn’t usually signal the beginning of the end for the Florida Gators, but it’s hard to find any optimism in Gainesville after a 33-20 defeat at the hands of the Texas A&M Aggies.

Things were ugly from the start.

The Gators put together eight total yards of offense in the first quarter and trailed by 20 at the half. Things were actually okay in the third, but [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] put the wrong quarterback in during the fourth and blew any chance of pulling things within one score.

And all of this happened with a backup under center for Texas A&M.

Sure, the rain in the first half played some part in the sloppy play, but the Aggies didn’t seem to mind the wet conditions in The Swamp at all.

It’s unfair to say that there are no positives coming out of the game, but the negatives far outweigh whatever little good did come about on Saturday.

The defense is (once again) a problem

Florida’s defense has been problematic dating back to the [autotag]Dan Mullen[/autotag] era, and there’s no sign that it’s going to improve soon. Three big third-down conversions in the first quarter set the tone for the evening. The Aggies were going to do whatever they wanted to and try to make the Gators look silly in the process.

With a mobile quarterback under center, Texas A&M figured to run the ball often, and Florida regularly appeared unprepared for it. Redshirt freshman Marcel Reed attempted just 17 passes all night, but seven Aggies rushers — including Reed — combined for 310 yards.

Reed threw a pair of touchdowns, including a 73-yarder for a quick score after Florida started to show signs of life, and he also ran for 83 yards and found the end zone as a rusher.

Total domination of the Florida defense. Keeping Texas A&M under 500 total yards seems like a miracle considering the way they moved down the field.

Florida knew its secondary would be banged up coming into this game, missing Asa Turner, Devin Moore and others. Losing Trikweze Bridges to a questionable targeting call in the first drove the nail into the coffin.

DJ Lagway isn’t ready

For all the controversy surrounding Florida’s quarterback situation coming into the game, starting [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag] was far from the biggest mistake Napier made as the primary offensive playcaller.

Lagway looked unprepared to face an SEC defense, which is expected of a true freshman, but throwing him into the fire after a rough couple of drives led by Graham Mertz proved costly. He threw two picks to Mertz’s one and completed just six of 13 passes for 54 yards.

That isn’t to say Lagway should be on the sidelines moving forward, but he needs to be eased into things. Lagway led a successful drive in the third quarter after a pick-six out of Mertz’s hand, but entering a 33-7 game after throwing an interception in the first half isn’t exactly high pressure.

Mertz looked better overall on Saturday, even if there are some glaring holes in his game. He’s not a deep ball guy. He’s a game manager. The problem is that it’s hard to manage a game when the defense digs a big hole early.

There aren’t any good solutions for Florida here. Lagway’s going to be green for a while, and Mertz doesn’t appear capable of navigating a schedule that’s only going to get tougher from here. Florida State and Kentucky feel like the only winnable games — UCF is better than Florida right now.

What a disastrous time for Montrell Johnson Jr. to no-show…

The six paragraphs above would never have been written if Florida’s RB1 did anything other than average minus-one yard per touch over seven carries.

Montrell Johnson Jr.’s longest rush went for two yards. Sophomore Treyaun Webb and redshirt junior Ja’Kobi Jackson combined for 60 yards on a day that Florida netted 52 on the ground.

With Mertz coming back from concussion protocol, Lagway still very inexperienced and the team’s top receiver out with injury, Florida needed Johnson to step up. He didn’t.

Veterans such as Chimere Dike and Elijhah Badger stepped up in the passing game to make things palatable, but Johnson holds a significant amount of blame on his shoulders. He’ll bounce back, but Florida needed him on Saturday.

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Report: Former Wisconsin quarterback to return to starting lineup vs. Texas A&M

Report: Former Wisconsin quarterback to return to starting lineup vs. Texas A&M

Former Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz is expected to return to the starting lineup for Florida‘s Week 2 game against Texas A&M on Saturday, according to a report from 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

This update follows what has been a back-and-forth saga at quarterback for the Gators.

Related: How Wisconsin’s recent transfer departures fared in Week 2 of 2024 football season

Mertz began the season as the starter after excelling in the role with the Gators in 2023. But he was quickly forced out of Florida’s Week 1 loss to Miami with a concussion, which gave way to five-star true freshman D.J. Lagway. Lagway went on to start Week 2 against Samford with Mertz sidelined. He impressed, to say the least, with 456 yards and three touchdowns.

Many around the sport thought that Lagway’s performance would give him the full-time starting job. That viewpoint was bolstered by head coach Billy Napier’s current need for long-term hope, as the Gators have not done much winning with him at the helm and Mertz under center. In other words, Lagway’s emergence could end up saving Napier’s job.

But Napier said earlier this week that Mertz would start against the Aggies, with Lagway also seeing time. That snap breakdown was supported by Zenitz’s report on Friday.

This still appears to be a fluid situation, where terrific play from the true freshman should only result in more snaps. For Badger fans interested in Mertz’s career after transferring after the 2022 season, it will be interesting to watch how Saturday’s game against Texas A&M plays out.

The game is set for a 3:30 ET, 2:30 CT kickoff on ABC and ESPN+.

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