Florida football sophomore starting quarterback DJ Lagway has taken a low-key approach to his return to his home state on Oct. 11 when the Florida Gators (2-3, 1-1 SEC) play at No. 5 Texas A&M (7 p.m., ESPN).
Lagway was not made available for interviews this week, but is coming off his best performance of the season, earning SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors after passing for 298 yards with 2 TDs and 1 interception in UF’s 29-21 upset of Texas at The Swamp.
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The 6-foot-3, 247-pound Lagway was a prep phenom at Willis High School in Willis, Texas, about an hour’s drive from Texas A&M’s campus in College Station. In 42 games at Willis High, Lagway passed for 8,392 yards and 100 TDs, while rushing for 2,196 yards in 293 carries with 29 TDs. As a senior at Willis in 2023, Lagway was named Gatorade High School football player of the year.
Off the field, Lagway and his family were active in the Willis community, giving back to the town of 7,222 with turkey drives and backpack for kids, providing children in need with quality backpacks and school supplies.
Lagway was set to play his first game in his home state state on Nov. 9, 2024 at Texas but a hamstring injury the week before against Georgia thwarted those plans. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Aidan Warner started in his place. Now, Lagway will get his Texas-sized opportunuty.
“It’s going to mean the world to me, to be able to go back home, and play in front of a lot of people that I grew up with, playing against,” Lagway said over the summer. “Just playing in the Lone Star State is always a blessing so you know, going back home will be fun.”
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Florida football coach Billy Napier is confident that Lagway will handle his homecoming game the right way. After a rocky September due to missed offseason time with shoulder, core and calf issues, Lagway was on time and on target in his breakout performance against the Longhorns, competing 21 of 28 passes.
“It’s all going to be about how he prepares and how he executes presented with the opportunity,” Napier said. “Maybe it’ll give him a little edge this week. I think certainly for me it would; anytime we play some of these teams where I’m from, it’s definitely part of the puzzle. So I think it could be a positive.”
Why DJ Lagway left Texas to play for Florida football
Lagway committed to Florida in December of 2022 and signed a year later, despite a late, aggressive recruiting push by Texas A&M after head coach Mike Elko took over for Jimbo Fisher.
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“They made a great effort there at the end when coach Elko got hired,” Napier said. “But in general, I think we felt great about everything. And the kid — they were one of many teams that continued to recruit him that entire, kind of that senior year when he started to blow up. Clemson was very much in that mix, Southern Cal was very much in that conversation, A&M and then the Gators. So, if I’m correct, I think those were the teams that were a factor.”
Napier said with recruiting on a national stage, it’s become easier across the country to lure players from out-of-state.
“The days of regional recruiting are getting minimized just due to the ease of travel, the familiarity with travel, and then certainly all the compensation that comes with the game now,” Napier said.
Lagway is one of nine players on UF’s roster from Texas, a list that includes defensive lineman Brien Taylor Jr. (Houston), starting right guard Damieon George Jr. (Houston), offensive lineman Kamryn Waites (Dallas), tight end Hayden Hansen (Weatherford), wide receiver Muizz Tounkara (League City) running back Chad Gasper (Katy), wide receiver DeBraun Hampton (Montgomery) and punter Nicholas Inglis (Dallas).
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“We deal with the same things in the state of Florida,” Napier said. “People come in here. Everybody recruits Texas, everybody recruits Florida. California is no different. Georgia is no different. Some of these states where there’s a huge population of players, those four states I mentioned have the most I think. Everybody recruits those states pretty heavily.”
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football QB DJ Lagway set to make first start in home state at No. 5 Texas A&M
