Tennessee football heads to Gainesville this weekend to face off against rival Florida in its final road game of the 2025 season. The Vols are looking to earn their first major win of the season and their first win in Gainesville since 2003.
Ahead of each Tennessee game, we’ll talk to someone who covers the Vols’ opponent that week. This week, Gators Breakdown’s David Waters discussed DJ Lagway’s inconsistencies, how Florida has responded to Billy Napier’s firing and much more.
*Some answers have been shortened or slightly altered for clarity
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From your perspective, where is Florida’s team at from a bought-in standpoint? Are they still playing hard and engaged?
“That is an interesting aspect because of the last couple weeks. You have the coaching change with Billy Napier and then you go play Georgia really tough. Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve won that game. Then get blasted by Kentucky and it did look like there was not a lot of buy in, not a lot of effort. Kentucky has improved but nowhere near like that. That was the worst game Florida had played all year.
So Florida had the coaching change, played Georgia close, made these changes. The changes didn’t work so maybe the buy-in fell off from there. But you have the Ole Miss game this past week where the effort looked like it was there. The team looked bought in. They go on the road and play an Ole Miss team really tough and lose by 10 points.
Big picture, they’re still bought in. That was a calling card even when things weren’t going great under Billy Napier. Date back to the winning streak in November last year. Coming back home for the first time in a month, I think, will bring another spark for the buy-in for this team.”
What do you expect the environment to be like Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday night amidst the struggles?
“It being a night game will obviously help. Lot of late games for Florida this year. This will be another one. I still think people are excited to talk about Florida football even though it may not be about the team. This season was built up so much to finally turn things around under Billy Napier so a lot of the tickets and seats were already sold. So what else is everybody going to do on a Saturday? It’s still one of the 12 chances you get to see your team every year. Tennessee is rival. It’s a night game. First time they’ve been home in a month. I still think the environment will be pretty powerful.”
What do you make of DJ Lagway’s inconsistency? What are the biggest differences when DJ is playing well and when he is playing poorly?
“You have to go back to the offseason and all the time that he missed. Dating back to the hamstring injury from last year. Actually, the beginning of last year is where we started to hear about the shoulder issues that he had. It didn’t seem like too big of an issue and then he gets hurt against Georgia. Ever since pulling his hamstring against Georgia, it’s just been a litany of injuries. Basically missing all of spring and fall camp. Not taking serious reps until two weeks before the season.
“Obviously that is part of why we’ve seen the inconsistencies with DJ Lagway. They tried to work on throwing motion. Tried to work on footwork. But how much could they really work on those things being injured all offseason? It has stunted his growth.
“He is still making some mistakes you would not like to see a second year quarterback make. Especially one coming off some experience he did gain last year. It does look like he’s regressed in some ways. I think some of that is confidence and some frustration has come into it as well. Not being able to take the necessary steps in the offseason for him to take a next step. I think it’s just a culmination of a lot of things.”
What have been the weaknesses for an otherwise really strong Florida defense?
“Given the last two games you have to say the run defense. Florida has struggled there two games in a row now against Kentucky and Ole Miss the last few weeks. Run defense had been okay. I’d say the biggest hurdle for this defense is kind of just the clutch moments. The middle eight of the game or the fourth quarter when the offense is struggling and the defense needs to bail them out, they don’t have that big play in them. It is asking a lot. The offense has struggled and not put a lot of plays together. It’s asking a lot of the defense to continue to bail them out but that’s just the reality of the situation right now. For the defense, it’s really about just trying to hunker down more and find a way to make difference making plays.”
What are the biggest keys for Florida in this game?
“You mentioned the mindset for this team, I think that is still a factor. To me, just because of DJ Lagway’s struggles it’s about getting the run game going. Jadan Baugh is still one of, if not the, best player on the team. The offensive line has not taken the steps forward this year that many thought they would take. I think Jadan Baugh is really making a lot of his own yards at times. I think if Florida can get the run game going to help a struggling DJ Lagway, I think that’s the focus here and where Florida really needs to find something to settle the offense down. This is still Billy Napier’s offense and it works really well when the run game is going. It’s hard to live in the passing aspects of this offense.”
Score prediction?
Tennessee 31, Florida 24
