TAMPA, Fla. – Florida quarterback DJ Lagway ended his freshman season with an exclamation point as he passed for 305 yards to complement the Gators’ 224 yards rushing in a 33-8 rout of Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl.
Florida dominated Tulane with 529-194 total yards as the Green Wave was without quarterback Darian Mensah, who transferred to Duke after the team’s loss in the AAC Championship Game.
Florida struggled on offense through the first half with a fast and athletic Green Wave defense in their tracks.
Lagway kept the Gators in a solid position although they couldn’t score touchdowns on the Tulane defense in the first half. When kicker Trey Smack hit a 24-yard field goal with 13:03 remaining in the third quarter to give Florida a 9-0 lead, the Gators began to take the game over as the Tulane defense started to tire.
“It definitely gave me an edge,” said Lagway, who was critical of his two interceptions early. “It’s a bad taste in my mouth with my performance. So it’s going to be straight to work this offseason.”
Lagway completed a 6-play, 70-yard scoring drive on the next possession which saw Florida take a 16-0 advantage on his 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Livingston with 4:03 remaining in the third quarter.
It was Livingston’s third touchdown catch this season. He became a solid offensive producer in the Gasparilla Bowl, where he had four catches for 58 yards after 11 for 109 during the season.
“You know, I think that the adversity we were up against this season really brought this team close,“ said wide receiver Chimere Dike. “Guys like DJ are the reason I wanna play this game. I’m so excited for their future.”
Dike finished with six catches for 96 yards as he ended his five-year career with his best season. After four years at Wisconsin, he had 786 yards on 42 catches as Elijah Badger was the lead receiver, who finished at 20.7 yards per catch (39-806).
Freshman running back KD Daniels put the win on ice midway through the fourth period when he scored on a 27-yard run and Florida collected a 26-0 lead. The Gators had held Tulane on downs after Kamran James recorded a sack on the Tulane 34-yard line.
Florida head coach Billy Napier was pleased with the improvement of the Gators and their 8-5 finish after losses to Georgia and Texas plunged them to 4-5 before the excellent ending to the season where they were able to produce quality wins over LSU and Ole Miss before a 31-11 win at rival Florida State.
Lagway returned as the springboard to the 4-0 finish after he suffered a hamstring injury when Florida led Georgia 13-6 in Jacksonville before dropping the 34-20 decision. He was out at Texas before his return in the 27-16 win over LSU.
“It could have easily gone sideways after the start of the season, but we got confidence and belief and felt we could play with anyone over the last half of the season,” said Napier.
Lagway took control of the Florida attack after starter Graham Mertz was injured in the overtime loss at Tennessee. Despite his injury, he finished the season with 1,915 passing yards. Lagway was a complimentary passer to the lofty Florida running game which constituted 56.1 percent of the offensive plays and featured freshman Jaden Baugh, Montrell Johnson, Jr., and Jakobi Jackson as a solid trio of ball-carriers.
