But the Florida Gators (5-5. 3-4 SEC) still want to send their seniors out on the right note on Saturday when they host Ole Miss (8-2. 4-2 SEC) at The Swamp in their home finale (noon, ABC).
Several key seniors have been banged up this season, including cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. and quarterback Graham Mertz, who suffered a season-ending torn ACL on Oct. 12 at Tennessee. Both are expected to take part in Senior Day ceremonies before the game.
Florida senior transfer wide receiver Chimere Dike, who will be honored on Senior Day, said Mertz deserves the largest ovation for his contributions to UF and how he’s helped develop freshman quarterback DJ Lagway. Dike caught passes from Mertz both at Florida and Wisconsin, where he transferred from to join Mertz before the start of the 2024 season.
“The leadership he’s shown to DJ and the rest of our team this year has been really impactful,” Dike said. “I think he played really good football when he was given the opportunity at the University of Florida.”
Florida senior punter Jeremy Crawshaw is having his entire family travel from his native Australia for his Senior Day. Crawshaw, named as one of 10 semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award for best college punter in the country, is averaging 46.2 yards per punt with 22 downed inside the 20-yard line.
“I’m not an emotional guy,” Crawshaw said. “It will be an in the moment thing … it will be good to have some family in the stands.”
Here are five players to watch for Florida against Ole Miss:
Florida football QB DJ Lagway
Lagway improved to 3-1 as a starter for Florida, completing 13 of 26 passes for 226 yards and 1 TD in UF’s 27-16 upset win over LSU. Coming off a hamstring injury, Lagway will likely stay confined to the pocket against Ole Miss, but showed enough mobility to step up in the pocket and escape pressure when he needed to. He will need to do more of the same against an Ole Miss team that leads the nation in sacks with 43.
For the season, Lagway has passed for 1,297 yards on 11.0 yards per completion with 7 TDs to 5 interceptions. Not bad for a 19-year-old true freshman.
“DJ Lagway is one of the best quarterbacks I’ve ever been around,” Florida starting right guard Damieon George Jr. said. “Just seeing him every day, the way he does it, you would think like, he’s 22 years old, the way he approaches the game. DJ is one of those guys, he won’t say that much, but he’ll just go out there and ball.”
Florida football RB Jadan Baugh
Baugh rushed for a team-high 65 yards on six carries in UF’s 27-16 uspet win over No. LSU on Saturday. That included a 55-yard TD with 3:48 left in the fourth quarter that put the Gators up 27-16 and sealed the win.
For the season, the 6-foot-0, 227-pound Baugh leads UF in rushing with 95 carries for 467 yards and 7 TDs.
Florida football WR Elijhah Badger
Badger finished with six catches for 131 yards and 1 TD, including a 37-yard catch that set up UF’s go-ahead TD. The 6-foot-1, 192-pound Badger, a transfer from Arizona State, ranks second in the SEC in receiving with 30 catches for 691 yards and 3 TDs. He’s averaging 23.03 yards per catch.
“Just coming into the SEC, I feel like I’ve shown a different type of skill from me, going to catch deep balls,” Badger said.
Florida football DL Tyreak Sapp
Sapp is coming off a game in which he posted eight tackles, including four tackles for loss, and a sack against LSU. For the season, the 6-3, 272-pound Sapp has posted 36 tackles, a team-high nine tackles for loss and team-high 4.5 sacks, with one forced fumble.
Florida football LB Shemar James
James finished with 11 tackles, 2 sacks and a pass breakup last week against LSU, earning SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors. For the season, the 6-1 229-pound James has posted 48 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 3 pass breakups and an interception. Florida is going to need James to continue to step up with starting linebacker Grayson Howard out for a second straight game due to injury.
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