GAINESVILLE, Fla. — After getting blown out by the Miami Hurricanes at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the Florida Gators' chances of having a winning season may be slim at best.
The Gators came into the 2024 season with one of the toughest schedules in the country. Six of the Gators' final seven games are against teams ranked in the top 15 of the preseason AP Top 25 poll.
Florida came into the game against Miami needing to gain a win. Instead, the Gators were dominated along the offensive and defensive lines, and quarterback Graham Mertz couldn't get anything going against Miami's number one defense.
It was a bad performance with one notable glimmer of hope: backup quarterback DJ Lagway.
Lagway was a five-star prospect from Willis, Texas. The 2023 Gatorade Player of the Year was the consensus No. 1 QB in the country. He threw for 4,604 and 58 touchdowns as a senior at Willis High. He also led the team in rushing with 957 yards and 16 scores.
In the game against the Hurricanes, Lagway faced much of the Hurricanes' starting defense, completed 3 of 6 passes for 31 yards, and ran the ball four times for 20 yards. He came into the game after Mertz suffered a concussion.
If Mertz is out for Saturday's game, Lagway could get some good game experience when the Gators welcome the Samford Bulldogs into The Swamp.
Assuming a Gators victory on Saturday, the team will face the Texas A&M Aggies and Mississippi State Bulldogs in consecutive weeks. Florida needs at least a split of those games to be at .500 heading into a bye week.
After the first bye week, Florida plays against UCF in what may be the easiest game left on the schedule.
From there, Florida plays at Tennessee, then at home against Kentucky before an off week.
Then, the gauntlet for Florida truly hits.
The Gators play against the Georgia Bulldogs on November 2, then travel to Texas to play the Longhorns. Florida follows that with home games against LSU and Ole Miss before ending the season in Tallahassee against the Seminoles.
In that stretch, Florida plays the number one team in the country, the number four team in the country, and the number six team in the country...Ouch.
Gators head coach Billy Napier was already on the hot seat heading into this season. After the loss to Miami, it may be difficult for the Gators to find four wins.
If the Gators continue to struggle and fan apathy grows, Napier may not be on the sidelines for Florida much longer.
For Florida fans who were used to Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer's high-flying times, the last few years have been tough. Since 2011, the Gators have not been able to work with Will Muschamp, Jim McElwain, or Dan Mullen as head coach.
Muschamp was 28-21 at UF and took the team to three bowl games. McElwain was 22-12 at Florida, including a 10-win and 9-win season. Mullen was 34-15, including three straight bowl games and an Orange Bowl win in 2020.
All three were fired by UF as the Gators sought to regain the glory of years past.
Napier came to UF after going 40-12 at Louisiana, including a 27-5 record. Since joining the Gators in 2022, he's posted an 11-15 record, including a 6-10 record in conference play.
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