GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Mired in a three-game losing streak and coming off a bye week, the Gators faced many of the same questions this week as in previous weeks.
Most of them concerned the offensive struggles that have plagued the Gators (1-3) in losses to USF, LSU and Miami. The Gators have scored 33 points in their last three games, and with No. 9-ranked Texas (3-1) visiting Saturday for the first time since 1940, a boost in production is mandatory.
Sophomore linebacker Myles Graham, who has emerged as a team leader and potential star, probably summed up best the situation the Gators face.
"Everything we're working for is still on the table," Graham. "For every game, from here on out, we have to have a great sense of urgency, great attention to detail, great intensity.
"We need to make sure we bring that energy every single game, like we're playing it like it's our last game."
With pressure mounting on fourth-year head coach Billy Napier, words have become nothing more than ammunition for his critics. He can't win at the microphone. He can only win on the field to change the narrative.
Quarterback DJ Lagway, who has faced his share of criticism of late, understands the frustration outside the Heavener Football Training Center. He assures it's the same inside, too.
"I would say it definitely feels bad,'' Lagway said. "Nobody likes to lose. If you're on this team and you like to lose, you shouldn't be on the squad. That's point blank period."
For Napier, the challenge is solving what has ailed the Gators. Poor third-down execution. Too many penalties. Slow starts. A general lack of execution at key moments.
To get a win, the Gators will have to beat a Texas team that opened the season ranked No. 1. The Longhorns have their share of critics, too, thanks to a slow start for quarterback Arch Manning and the lack of offensive fireworks.
This is a matchup that carries significant weight if they want to live up to their preseason hype. Texas plays eight consecutive games against conference opponents, starting with Florida.
"Everybody better buckle up,'' Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian said. "There are no gimmies."
In our latest edition of The Opening Kickoff, here is a closer look at the Florida-Texas game:
THREE STORYLINES
The tone around the Gators has been consistent (and loud) since the home loss to USF four weeks ago: win a game. Florida has dropped three consecutive games and has looked bad doing it, at least on offense. There is not much else to say. The Gators need to win, and upsetting the Longhorns would be a big one if they are going to turn their season around and have an opportunity at the postseason.
UF quarterback DJ Lagway and Texas quarterback Arch Manning are the headliners in this matchup, albeit not the way most expected. Both have struggled and have yet to reach their full potential. Manning visits Florida Field 22 years to the day since his uncle, former Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning, led the Rebels to a win over the Gators. It's the last time a Manning has played in The Swamp. The Gators seek a similar outcome to when Manning's other uncle, former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning, failed to beat UF during his career.
This is one of those games Gators fans had marked on the schedule prior to the season. Two marquee brands, two potential Heisman Trophy candidates. The brands remain relevant, but the young quarterbacks have struggled. While the game is officially sold out — the 15th consecutive for the Gators — there are plenty of tickets available online. It will be interesting to see if The Swamp lives up to its reputation on Saturday in a game Florida could use all the help it can get. "It'll be good to be at home, and that needs to be a huge advantage for us," Napier said.
THREE (OR MORE) PLAYERS TO WATCH
Gators cornerback Cormani McClain, who made his first career start at LSU, is set to make his first home start in place of injured Dijon Johnson. McClain is a playmaker who made an interception at Miami that kept the outcome in doubt until UF's offense failed to capitalize on the turnover. McClain will be tested if Manning finds his rhythm.
This sounds like a broken record, but the Gators must produce a more consistent rushing attack to help boost the offense. The Gators are ranked 13th in the SEC in rushing. Jadan Baugh is averaging 5.9 yards per carry, but aside from the Gators' only scoring drive in the loss at Miami, the run game was inconsistent.
Sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway passed for only 61 yards in the loss at Miami and vowed afterward to get the season turned around ...
Quarterback DJ Lagway has passed for 690 yards, five touchdowns and six interceptions through four games. (Photo: Dylan Cannella/UAA Communications)
Q:What has been the reaction to your guarantee after the Miami game? A: It's been great. We had a lot of tough conversations as a leadership group and stuff like that, but I feel like we're in a great space, and we are going to attack the week.
Q:How did the bye week help your confidence? A: I would say this is my first real week of just good-on-good reps the whole practice, so it was just great to get out there and compete against the first-team defense that has been playing really well. It is always good to go out there and compete and have fun.
Q:What did you look to specifically improve during the bye week? A: I would definitely say just my pocket — pocket awareness and pocket movement. Stuff like that, working on my pocket movement, keeping my base, finishing through throws. I feel that is something where practice and reps come into play. I feel like every day I'm getting more comfortable in it and getting better.
Q:How are you processing not playing up to your standard and the team's standard? A: It is definitely frustrating. I'm not going to sit here and say it's not frustrating. It is very frustrating, but we talked about it at the beginning of the offseason. You always have to have a good process. Sometimes you might not get the result that you want, but being process-oriented, finding ways to better your process, and the results are going to come.
Q:Are you confident you made enough strides since the Miami game? A: Yes. I know the results haven't been looking the way they are, for me personally, on my playing level, but I feel like every single week I get better and better, and eventually it is going to pop, and when it pops, it is going to be hard to stop. I will tell you that right now. I love this system. I just feel like we gotta execute. That starts with me.
THREE DIGITS
31– Points allowed by Texas in its first four games. The Longhorns (7.8) rank second nationally in scoring defense. 33– Points scored by the Gators in their last three games, 22 shy of their output in the season opener against Long Island University. 7–Power 4 programs without a victory over a Power 4 team this season: Florida, Texas, Penn State, North Carolina, Clemson, SMU and Colorado. INJURY REPORT
The Gators host Texas for only the second time in program history, the first coming 85 years ago on Dec. 7, 1940. The Longhorns shut out the Gators 26-0. This is the fifth meeting between the schools all-time. Texas won 49-17 at home last season and is 3-0-1 in the series against Florida.
Florida has won two in a row against ranked opponents at The Swamp, knocking off No. 21 LSU and No. 9 Ole Miss late last season.
Florida head coach Billy Napier, in his fourth season, is 10-15 against SEC opponents. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is 7-1 against the SEC after the Longhorns joined the conference in 2024.
Florida's defense has continued to play well despite the team's overall struggles. UF has allowed 13.4 points per game over its last eight games since the loss at Texas a season ago.
The preseason Heisman Hype for quarterbacks DJ Lagway and Arch Manning has not come to fruition. In ranking the 68 Power 4 quarterbacks, ESPN.com evaluated Manning No. 41 and Lagway No. 61. Lagway is averaging only 8.3 yards per completion, and Manning's completion rate (61.3%) is ranked 96th nationally.
Florida freshman receiver Dallas Wilson is expected to make his college debut on Saturday. Wilson has missed the first four games due to a foot injury suffered in preseason camp. A 6-foot-3, 194-pound target out of Tampa Bay Tech, Wilson splashed onto the scene with a 10-catch, 195-yard, two-touchdown performance in the Orange & Blue Game. In addition to Wilson, the Gators are expected to have receivers Aidan Mizell (out at Miami) and J. Michael Sturdivant (left the Miami game with an injury) available against the Longhorns.
Freshman running back Duke Clark is the backup to starter Jadan Baugh in the Florida backfield, with Ja'Kobi Jackson listed as out. Clark is a freshman from Plant High in Tampa who has rushed for 20 yards on six carries in limited duty. Meanwhile, in Florida's secondary, Napier said freshmen Lagonza Hayward(nickel) and J'Vari Flowers (corner) have moved up the depth chart in the absence of injured regulars Aaron Gates and Dijon Johnson.
Texas has won nine consecutive conference road games, dating back to 2022. Meanwhile, the Longhorns are 20-1 when scoring first since 2023.
Texas sophomore running back Jerrick Gibson leads the team with 155 yards rushing. Gibson is from Gainesville and started his prep career at Gainesville High before later starring at IMG Academy in Bradenton. He has helped carry the load with tailbacks CJ Baxter and Quintrevion Wisner hampered by injuries.
Longhorns linebacker Liona Lefau has a team-high 25 tackles, with three for loss and one sack. He made four stops in the victory over the Gators last season.
TEXAS TIDBIT
The Gators and Longhorns had not played since 1940 until a season ago, when Florida traveled to Austin and lost 49-17. Here is what I wrote in this space prior to the game: The Gators have not played at Texas in 85 years, their last game in Austin coming in 1939. Times have changed. The Gators departed Gainesville on a Wednesday night by train, according to news reports in September 1939. They made a stop in Mobile, Ala., to practice on Thursday, then arrived in Houston on Friday. They bused from Houston to Austin for the game, losing 12-0 to the Longhorns.
Fast forward almost a year, and the Longhorns are coming to Gainesville for the first time in 85 years. And, much like how the Gators made it to Austin in 1939, Texas took a while to arrive in Gainesville for its game on Dec. 7, 1940, at Florida Field. According to reports, it took the Longhorns 42 hours to travel by train from Austin. They stopped in Pensacola, then traveled to Jacksonville, and finally caught the last leg of their journey to Gainesville.
Unfortunately for the Gators and their first-year coach, Tom Lieb, the Longhorns remained fresh and took home a 26-0 victory before 14,000 fans (see below) ...
THEY SAID IT
"Our backs are against the wall, so we have to play like our hair is on fire." — Gators linebacker Myles Graham on must-win game against Texas
"He has his swagger back. We've all known all the swagger that he's got, and he's just got to go play with it. Everybody knew that it was in there, and he just had to stay the course." — Longhorns safety Michael Taaffe on quarterback Arch Manning
"I think Florida is going to win this game. Don't ask me how. Don't ask me what happens afterwards with Billy Napier. I don't know. I think Florida is going to find a way to win the game. I'm just telling you, I don't think there's that much separation between the teams." — National college football analyst Josh Pate
THEY WROTE IT
"If Florida coach Billy Napier is able to save his job, it will begin this week against No. 9 Texas. Another Gators' loss would be their fourth straight and leave them in an inescapable hole." — Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel
"No. 9 Texas is about to find out what it's really like to play on the road in the Southeastern Conference. The Longhorns travel to one of the league's most daunting venues when they open SEC play at Florida on Saturday." — Mark Long of the Associated Press
"Saturday will mark 22 years to the day since a Manning played the Gators. While Arch Manning has not yet met the preseason hype, he will have his chance to continue the family winning streak and another rancorous chapter to the rivalry." — Jeremy Willis of ESPN.com
WHY GATORS WILL WIN
They show up and play like the team many expected a month ago when the season started. As quarterback DJ Lagway pointed out in the Q&A above, it begins with him. Lagway has to show improvement from the bye week, as he and head coach Billy Napier discussed this week. For the offensive execution to pop, Lagway has to be sharp, the play-calling on point, and the offensive line efficient. Meanwhile, the running game needs to produce, too, against a tough Longhorns defense. If Florida's defense continues to perform near the same level it has early this season, the Gators should have a chance to pull the upset.
WHY TEXAS WILL WIN
Quarterback Arch Manning has a breakout game, and the defense pressures Lagway consistently and forces the Gators to face third-and-longs. Florida was 0-for-13 on third down in the loss at Miami, and Napier said it's imperative to stay "on schedule" on first and second down. If the Manning-Lagway matchup is a draw, the Texas defense will likely be the deciding factor. The Longhorns are strong against both the pass and run, and if they establish an early lead and neutralize The Swamp's impact, it could be over by the fourth quarter.
Sophomore linebacker Myles Graham, who has emerged as a team leader and potential star, probably summed up best the situation the Gators face.
