Florida’s quarterback situation just got a whole lot murkier after the Gators’ ugly 38-7 loss to Kentucky. During the game, the interim head coach, Billy Gonzales, made the tough call to bench DJ Lagway at halftime after the sophomore threw three interceptions in the first half. The QB finished the night completing just 11-of-19 passes for 83 yards for a 57.9% passing percentage, his third-lowest for the season.

Gonzales inserted true freshman Tramell Jones Jr. to start the second half. That decision raised immediate questions about who would start Florida’s next game against No. 6 Ole Miss. But the interesting part is that despite the benching, the HC announced that Lagway will still take first-team reps in practice this week.“There’s competition everywhere, and there should be competition,” offensive coordinator Billy Gonzales said when asked about an open quarterback competition.

He made it clear that the benching wasn’t solely on the QB’s shoulders. He told the reporters he spoke with the sophomore about the decision: “It’s not all on him, and I told him that. As a coach, it’s our responsibility, if someone’s struggling, take them out so they don’t have to keep fighting through that.”

The fact that Lagway is getting first-team reps signals that Gonzales hasn’t completely shut the door on the five-star prospect, even after one of the worst performances of his college career. The HC praised Jones for doing “a fantastic job” and called it “a learning experience for him” against Kentucky. But he stopped short of naming him the starter moving forward. The coaching staff is clearly walking a tightrope here.

DJ Lagway entered the season as one of the top quarterback prospects in the country and went 6-1 as a starter last year with 1,915 yards, 12 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. But this season has been a nightmare from the start, with injuries to his shoulder, core, and calf limiting him throughout fall camp and preventing him from participating fully in practice until 12 days before the season opener. 

But this season, he’s just completed 64.5 percent of his passes for 1,762 yards with 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He leads the SEC in picks. Florida needs to win its final three games to reach bowl eligibility at 6-6. They’ve got brutal matchups ahead against No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 25 Tennessee, and Florida State to close the regular season.

Whether DJ Lagway gets another shot to prove himself or Gonzales hands the keys to Jones remains to be seen. But keeping Lagway with the first team in practice suggests this isn’t a permanent demotion. It’s more like a wake-up call for a talented quarterback who desperately needs to find his footing before the season slips away entirely.​

Rock bottom in Lexington

The 38-7 thrashing at Kentucky was Florida’s worst performance against the Wildcats since 1950. The Gators managed just 247 total yards while allowing Kentucky to rack up 401. That includes 233 rushing yards on 5.3 yards per carry from the Wildcats’ ground game.

“It wasn’t anywhere close to what we wanted,” Gonzales admitted afterward. “Not acceptable in any terms to take a loss the way we did, so we’ve got to get back, we’ve got to get back and look at the film and evaluate where we’re at, so kind of go from there.”​ The most telling reaction came from linebacker Myles Graham, whose post-game comments captured just how blindsided Florida’s defense felt.

“It’s really shocking, honestly,” Graham said. “It’s really embarrassing, and I did not know we were going to come out and play like that. I’m really blindsided just like everybody else is. So, we got to look in the mirror, and we got to do better. That’s completely unacceptable, and that’s not the Gator standard. We really have to shake back and just do better all around.”

The defense that had been Florida’s saving grace most of the season allowed Kentucky to convert 8 of 12 third downs and 2 of 2 fourth downs, with the Wildcats scoring on their first four possessions and eventually breaking the game open with a 65-yard touchdown run by Dante Dowdell in the fourth quarter.