Former Florida legend Steve Spurrier makes big claim about DJ Lagway following Graham Mertz's injury
The Florida Gators have named DJ Lagway as their new starting quarterback following Graham Mertz's season-ending injury which he suffered in Week 7. Not long after the decision was made, former Florida quarterback Steve Spurrier gave his two cents on the situation.
During an appearance on Another Dooley Noted Podcast, Spurrier spoke to host Pay Dooley about Florida handing over the reins to Lagway after the team's 23-17 overtime loss against the No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday.
"Hopefully, we can regroup," Spurrier said. "And DJ Lagway, I guess he's our man now. If we don't have a quarterback who's there? He's there. Maybe we can turn a corner and start scoring all those times and not have those 12 guys on the field and we can play some pretty clean football."
Florida coach Billy Napier confirmed that Mertz suffered an ACL injury against Tennessee. The quarterback suffered a non-contact injury after throwing a 13-yard touchdown pass to Arlis Boardingham midway through the third quarter to put Florida ahead 10-0.
Mertz was then replaced by Lagway, who completed nine of 17 passes for 98 yards with one touchdown and one interception. However, the freshman couldn't see the job through for the Gators after Tennessee fought back to take the win.
Notably, Saturday's game against the Vols also proved to be the last college football game for Mertz, who had his sixth season cut short due to an ACL injury.
DJ Lagway to lead Florida's offense vs Kentucky in Week 8
As things stand, Lagway will lead the offense for Florida (3-3) in Week 8 against the Kentucky Wildcats (3-3) on Saturday. Lagway has shown promise as Mertz's understudy this season and has featured in six games.
The freshman quarterback has completed 47 of 72 passes for 765 yards and thrown five touchdowns. He has also thrown four interceptions and that is something Lagway will need to work on.