FINAL: Florida vs Florida State

Saturday, November 29

Gainesville, Fla.

4:30 PM

Florida Gators

4-8 , 2-6

Florida State

5-7 , 2-6

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Florida St.

Florida

FINAL: Florida vs Florida State

Saturday, November 29, 2025 | Football, Chris Harry

Box Score

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

What Happened

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Sophomore tailback Jadan Baugh rushed for a career-high 266 yards and two touchdowns, surpassing the 1,000-yard season milestone along the way, allowing the Florida Gators to exit their tumultous season with a rousing 40-21 victory Saturday night over rival Florida State at sold-out Spurrier/Florida Field.

Baugh's total, which came on 38 carrries, marked the second-highest single-game rushing performance in UF's 119-year history, trailing only the 316 by Hall-of-Famer Emmitt Smith on Oct. 21, 1989 in a 27-21 homecoming win against New Mexico.

Sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway passed for 168 yards and three short touchdowns, but it was mostly Baugh's hard running that put the Gators in position to finish the drives. Baugh averaged seven yards per attempt and when his night was done he had 1,196 yards on the season, making for the sixth-most by a UF back in program history. He also became the first Gator to reach 1,000 yards since Kelvin Taylor in 2015.

Lagway completed 15 of 24 attempts, with touchdowns of five yards to J.Michael Sturdivant, nine to tight end Tony Livingston and three to tight end Hayden Hansen, as the Gators rolled to 440 yards of total offense. Twice the Florida defense stopped Florida State on fourth-and-1, with the UF offense seizing on the momentum by scoring touchdowns both times.

UF, in handing interim Coach Billy Gonzales his first victory in his five since taking over for Billy Napier, scored the game's first 10 points and scored 17 unanswered to go ahead 34-14 after the Seminoles closed within three points at halftime.

The Gators had a Lagway-to-Vernell Brown III touchdown reception overturned on their first drive and settled for a 23-yard field goal from Trey Smack. On FSU's ensuing possession, UF linebacker Aaron Chiles stopped tailback Gavin Sawchuck for a loss on fourth-and-1 at the Florida 22. The Gators answered with a 76-yard driving, with Lagway hitting Sturdivant for 34 yards along the way, then for five and the score a few plays later to go ahead 10-0.

Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos completed 17 of 28 passes for 240 yards, two touchdowns and turned the ball over twice. He threw a 13-yard score to Micahi Danzy to close the Seminoles to 10-7, but the Gators came right back with a 75-yard drive that Lagway finished with a short pitch to Livingston to make it 17-7.

The Seminoles capitalized on a Lagway interception with a Castellanos scoring run of four yards with 1:14 to go before the half that made it 17-14.

The Gators scored the next 17 points. After safety Brice Thornton and linebacker Myles Graham teamed up to shove Castellanos out of bounds for no gain on a fourth-and-1, Lagway and Hansen finished a 40-yard drive with a 3-yard scoring pitch. Baugh followed with a 22-yard touchdown run and Smack added a 54-yard field goal for a 34-14 advantage before FSU scored on a 17-yard TD pass with 3:07 to play on Castellanos' 17-yard pass to Lawayne McCoy.

From there, it was clear the Gators wanted to Baugh to finish his night in the biggest way possible. He had six consecutive touches, including two from the wildcat formation, and accouted for all 56 of his team's yards on the season's final offensive drive, ending with a 12-yard TD run with 56 seconds to play.

Sophomore tailback **Jadan Baugh** (13) on his way to a career game.

What it Means

The series now stands at 39-28-2 in Florida's favor, with two consecutive victories for the Gators. Despite the win, UF's final record of 4-8 equaled the program's worst in the last 44 years. The 2013 Gators also went 4-8. .

In the Spotlight

Take a bow, Baugh, who became the 10th player in program history to reach 1,000 yards in a season. He's just the third underclassmen to hit the mark, joining Smith, a freshman in 1987, and sophomore Errict Rhett in 1991. And Baugh hit the mileston on the 198th carry of his career, which was the seventh-fastest in program history. He's the fifth Gators back this century -- after Earnest Graham (2002), Ciatrick Faison (2004), Mike Gillislee (2012) and Taylor (2015) -- to join the four-figure rushing club.

Staggering Statistic

Anything and everything about Baugh, who Gator fans surely will be hoping opts to return to play his junior season at Florida.

Up Next

Florida will now embark on an offseason that, for now, will start with a cloud of uncertainty relative to the program's head-coaching situation. That cloud likely will dissapate in short order and the rebuild will be underway.

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu Find his story archives here.