GAINESVILLE — Florida will host Kentucky looking to move past a heartbreaker at Tennessee and stabilize a series once dominated by the Gators but currently owned by the Wildcats.
Kentucky (3-3, 1-3 SEC) seeks its fourth straight win against UF for the only time since Bear Bryant from 1948-51. Like Billy Napier’s Gators (3-3, 1-2), Mark Stoops’ Wildcats need a momentum shift after losing 20-13 at home to surprising Vanderbilt (4-2).
Stoops’ squad will look familiar, featuring physical lines, tough defense and run-based attack. Back-to-back wins against Napier were decisive, by a combined score of 59-30.
“I felt embarrassed,” sophomore safety Jordan Castell said of last season’s 33-14 loss in Lexington. “We went out there and they beat us. They beat us bad.”
The latest matchup during UF’s homecoming will test the Gators’ mettle after an overtime loss at Tennessee.
True freshman quarterback DJ Lagway will make his first SEC start after veteran starter Graham Mertz suffered a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee against the Vols.
Napier’s plan for Lagway tops the list of questions Florida faces.
How does Napier tailor his attack for Lagway?
The 19-year-old’s dual-threat abilities provide options Mertz didn’t. Lagway’s inexperience also presents limitations and potential pitfalls.
During a 26-16 Kentucky win in 2022, Stoops’ scheme flummoxed Anthony Richardson after he’d moved into the Heisman conversation during a Week 1 upset against Utah.
But Lagway processes the game better at this stage of his career and is more accurate. Additional read-option elements would capitalize on his skill set and create mismatches with his legs Mertz could not.
Lagway showed he can also extend plays when he maintained composure, kept his eyes down field and found Chimere Dike for a game-tying 27-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-19 in the final minute to force overtime at Tennessee.
Kentucky’s run defense is stout, allowing an average of just 89.3 yards, and the backbone of the SEC third-ranked defense. Yet the Wildcats allow an average of 8 yards per passing attempt and a 65.6% completion rate, each 15th of 16 conference teams.
Lagway’s ability to attack down the field — he has 7 completions of at least 35 yards, compared with 3 for Mertz — and the ability of veteran receivers like Dike and Elijhah Badger to find openings gives Napier a chance to keep the Wildcats off balance.
Are the Gators best served with Napier calling plays?
When game management issues arise, Napier’s role as play-caller inevitably is questioned.
A coach focused on the next offensive play or pondering the next series would need next-level multi-tasking skills to then manage the game. Few consequently call their team’s plays.
Napier does, despite repeated game-management issues.
Late in the first half at Tennessee with the clock stopped, Napier called UF’s final timeout to avoid a penalty for an illegal formation. He soon needed the timeout when an illegal-substitution penalty negated a field goal to end the half, leading to the 10-second run-off of the game clock UF was unable to stop.
“Even if I weren’t calling the plays, if a guy is misaligned and we are about to get a penalty, we’re going to call a timeout,” Napier explained Monday.
The 45-year-old even took it a step further, insisting calling plays keeps him more engaged.
“You’re probably a little more tuned into it, to be quite honest,” he said. “So, no, I don’t think this takes away from that part of the job.”
Who backs up Lagway?
Redshirt freshman Aidan Warner will be one play away when UF hosts Kentucky. The Gators best hope it remains that way.
The former standout at Winter Park and Yale transfer did have a feel-good moment Sept. 7 against Samford, scoring on a nifty 9-yard run in the final minute of a 49-7 win. He also completed 1 of 2 passes for 10 yards.
Mop-up duty is the best-case scenario for Warner, an offseason preferred walk-on along with Paul Kessler (Santa Monica College) and Parker Leise (IMG Academy). Colorado State transfer Clay Millen is the Gators’ other scholarship quarterback but has yet to appear in 2024.
Can the Gators ‘D’ keep it up?
Florida’s unexpected defensive turnaround the past two weeks gives the Gators a chance to compete during the season’s second half.
UF entered its bye week allowing an SEC-worst 499 yards per game against FBS foes. But the Gators reflected, refocused, recalibrated and then held UCF to a season-low 273 yards during a 24-13 win Oct. 5 in the Swamp.
Florida then duplicated the effort to limit No. 8 Tennessee to 312 yards, or more than 200 below the Vols’ season average (519), while recording 2 turnovers and 3 sacks. The Vols were 4 of 15 on third down.
“We all came together and talked,” Castell said Monday. “You can see just on tape we’re playing so much faster and playing together. That bye week really helped us out.”
Castell said coaches simplified the scheme, allowing players to line up and play faster. Less stunting has improved the pass rush.
During one-sided losses to Miami and Texas A&M, he said, the Gators were thinking and not reacting, Castell said. During a 42-28 win at Mississippi State, players were caught flat-footed against the Bulldogs’ up-tempo attack while awaiting play calls.
“We’re just keeping things basic,” Castell said. “We’ve got a lot of athletes on our team who can play ball. We have a saying that we say in the weight room: ‘Just place the ball; put it down.’
“That’s something we just did throughout the bye week. We took it very serious and was kind of showing week by week that we’re all playing together.”
Florida’s next step is to shore up fourth-down defense after allowing Tennessee a pair of 6-yard runs when faced with 4th-and-1.
Was this a blip for special teams?
Special-teams play has been a positive all season under Joe Houston.
But an illegal-substitution call for 12 men on the field negated a 42-yard field goal by Trey Smack to end the first half. Smack later missed a 47-yarder in overtime.
Those miscues overshadowed a pair of punt returns by Dike for a total of 57 yards and another strong punting night from Jeremy Crawshaw, who averaged 44.9 yards and placed 2 of 5 attempts inside the 20.
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Kentucky at Florida
When: 7:45 p.m., Saturday, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
TV: SEC Network
