GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida running back Jadan Baugh scored five touchdowns as the Gators took a 27-13 lead at halftime and ran to a convincing 48-20 win over Kentucky at The Swamp on Saturday.
Florida had lost four of the last six games in a series where the Gators once had a 32-game winning streak vs. the Wildcats.
Baugh and freshman quarterback DJ Lagway became the first two true freshmen to start together in a Florida backfield in the 113-year history the program.
Baugh rushed for three first-half touchdowns after starting in place of injured starting running back Montrell Johnson. His 106 yards on 22 carries were the most of his young career.
“Hats off to Montrell,” said Baugh. “He brought me in and put his arms around me and told me ‘You’re a good player, but you have got to keep working.’ He being the leader in that room makes me better and the guys around me, too.”
Johnson was sidelined after suffering a leg injury last week’s 23-17 overtime loss at Tennessee. He leads the Gators rushing attack with 373 yards on 70 carries and four scores third season.
Baugh had ran for seven touchdowns in a game in high school at Columbia High School in Decatur, Ga. His confidence and emotion for the ability to keep improving is at the highest level.
He scored on three one-yard runs, a seven-yard rush and a 10-yard slant play off the left side.
“It gives me confidence, but also gives my team confidence in me,” Baugh said. “We knew we could be like this as an offense and a defense.”
Lagway has proven that he is the Gators’ premiere quarterback and that he was ready to be a starter. Unfortunately, quarterback Graham Mertz went down for the season with an ACL injury which gave Lagway the starting position.
The true-freshman QB settled in and played with a myriad of confidence as he could relax and play within his game and not worry about the schedule that Napier had put in place as he was given every third drive within a game.
Lagway completed seven of 14 passes for 259 yards. He found Elijah Badger three times for 148 yards as he hit Badger for 58 yards on a deep post route which set up Baugh’s 10-yard score.
“He played very good, but we can always show improvement,” said Baugh. “He’s been doing it the whole time we have been here. It’s about something he can do and we can change Florida back to what it was.”
Baugh, who found out about his starting assignment on Saturday, credits Lagway with his decision to choose Florida over Alabama.
“I knew that DJ was going to be here too and it gave me the confidence that DJ was the player he was,” said Baugh. “He showed it tonight and he has been showing it the whole season.”
Gators Flex on Defense: Cornerback Devin Moore flew around the ball with an interception and two passes broken up on night as he complemented safety Trikweze Bridges, who led UF in tackles with 10, added his own interception.
Moore appeared to be in position to score off of his interception, but was tackled on the one-yard line. That allowed Baugh to score from a yard out which gave Florida the 27-6 lead late in the first half.
Moore commented that the secondary improved on the bye-week after the win at Mississippi State.
“There was a whole different approach to practice,” he said. “We try to not let anybody catch a ball each practice. You gonna get coached up even if you let somebody catch the ball. Not only by the coaching staff, but you also have freshmen who are motivating seniors.”
Florida held Kentucky to 309 yards and picked off three passes which opened the doors and resulted in three Gators touchdowns.
The Wildcats have been an offensive atrocity all season. They tightened the Florida lead to 27-20 on a 99-yard kick-off return by Barion Brown. He set an SEC record with five kickoff returns for touchdowns in a career.
“The defense was playing great today,” said Baugh. “They gave us the opportunity on offense to do what we did today.”
