This past Saturday, the University of Florida football team evened its record at 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference with a 45-28 win at Mississippi State.
Florida quarterbacks Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway were a big reason why.
The duo finished a combined 26-of-28 (92.8%, UF single-game record) for 277 yards.
They connected with 10 different receivers.
“I was really impressed, offensively, we had some tempo, thought we played well around the quarterback, and I thought the quarterbacks did a really good job of being the point guard of the offense and distributing the ball,” Florida head coach Billy Napier said after the game.
Mertz (218.0) and Lagway (191.2) both posted a QB rating above 190.
Mertz threw the only two incompletions (19-of-21, 201 yards, three TDs) to post the third-highest completion percentage (90.5%) by a Gator ever while Lagway went a perfect 7-for-7 for 76 yards.
In his first SEC road game, Lagway led two scoring drives starting inside UF’s 10-yard line, becoming the first freshman QB to lead a pair of 90-plus-yard drives in a road SEC tilt since Jalen Hurts.
Mertz was a guest today on “SEC This Morning,” which is hosted by Peter Burns and former Gator wide receiver Chris Doering on Sirius XM and is simulcast on SEC Network.
“I was so proud to have DJ come in and whenever he got those reps, he maximized them,” Mertz told Doering on the show. “I think we talked about that all week. Whenever your play gets called, whatever call coach puts in, it’s our job to make it right, so I think we had a great week of prep leading up to it, but it felt good. We just needed to get that win.”
It was the best week of practice that UF has had, and Mertz said it was because the players took a step back, looked in the mirror, and asked, “What can I do better?”
“I think we did a great job after that game (Texas A&M) of the players looking at each other and be like, ‘What can we do better and how do we hold each other to a higher standard during practice? How do we communicate better so that it translates to the game,’ so I think the players did a great job last week of truly maximizing every rep at practice, every meeting, and just nailing down the things that we needed to, whether that’s communication, execution, and just trusting the plan, working the plan and translating it to the field,” Mertz said.
Mertz, who started for the second-straight week, watched all of Lagway’s reps on tape when the two were on separate fields during spring ball.
He has served as a mentor, but there is also a genuine respect and friendship between the two quarterbacks.
“Without a doubt,” Mertz said. “I think it goes back to we care about this place and we want to win, so we’re going to do whatever we can to go do that and I think that DJ, and we’ve talked about it a bunch, but ever since he came in here his humility, his approach, just going about it day by day, and just trying to grow a little bit every day has been awesome. I think that the young guys see that and want to be like that so they’re trying to push themselves to get that level of consistency in their prep and how they do everything. We’ve got a great relationship.”
Mertz and Lagway are roommates on the road.
“Those are the fun times when it’s just him and I and we can be real and talk about everything and if he’s got a question, I can help him out and just talk about life,” Mertz said. “It’s definitely a blessing and I’m so grateful that DJ is on our team.”
Burns asked Mertz who the messier roommate was on the road.
“I think we’re both pretty clean,” Mertz said with a laugh. “I’m like an uber neat freak, like you should see my apartment, it’s spotless. I can’t go to bed unless everything is clean. I think we’re both neat freaks. It’s a solid roommate combination.”
Mertz, who connected with nine different receivers (tied for a season high) for a QB rating of 232.8 in the first half, threw three TD passes to three different receivers on UF’s first five drives of the first half. He also rushed for a career-high 24 yards on the first two drives alone.
There’s no Ricky Pearsall (San Francisco 49ers) or Eugene “Tre” Wilson (injured), but Doering noted that he was in sync with the other receivers and wasn’t missing a beat without those two main pass catchers last year.
Among the explosive plays, redshirt junior wide receiver Marcus Burke (from Mertz) caught a 20-yard TD reception in the second quarter and had a 15-yard reception in the fourth quarter. Redshirt sophomore tight end Hayden Hansen (from Mertz) had a 35-yard TD reception in the second quarter.
Also, senior wide receiver Elijhah Badger (from Lagway) had a 27-yard reception in the second quarter, redshirt freshman wide receiver Aidan Mizell (from Mertz) added a 15-yard reception in the third quarter, and senior wide receiver Chimere Dike (from Mertz) had a 28-yard reception in the third quarter.
“I think that’s one thing that we did really well, not only during the week but during the game, was kind of our mindset going into it and how we’re going to approach the game from an offensive standpoint,” Mertz said. “I think a lot of guys touched the ball because we were doing a good job like in our PO game of they’re giving us a light box we’re going to plug it in there, and if its’ a heavy box we’re going to put in on the edges and we’re going to let our guys go make plays.”
Lagway entered for one play on UF’s second drive and handled the Gators’ third and sixth possessions of the first half, finishing 4-of-4 for 49 yards to make the two-QB tandem a combined 19-of-20 (95.0%) for 196 yards in the first half.
“They bring two elements to the game, and we definitely saw it today,” redshirt junior offensive lineman Austin Barber said on Saturday. “They both do a great job with communication and seeing the field and telling us different points and checks and stuff like that, which is really good. I have full confidence in Graham and DJ. I trust them… whoever is on the field, I think will be really good. It’s really fun blocking for both these guys.”
While it remains to be seen how long Napier will continue as the Gators coach, Mertz said what happens behind the scenes tells a different story.
“If you’re in this building every day, you work with coach every day, there’s nobody else as a player you want to play for,” Mertz said. “Just his approach every single day, the way he goes about his business, it truly sets the standard for everybody. I said it after A&M, and I’ll always say it, we have a great plan going into every game and I think it’s always up to us players to go out there and execute it.
“There’s no stone ever unturned in our prep and I think that’s where you saw during this week of prep where the players took ownership of that and we’re not going to settle for any lack of execution during practice. We’re not going to settle for a mental error, we’re going to replay the play, and you saw a bunch of players taking that ownership.”
Mertz said that Napier is “hands down the best coach I’ve ever played for.”
“Coach is awesome,” he said. “He sets the standard every day for us, and he truly cares about us as young men and our growth and that aspect too. The people who don’t believe in him are not in the building and they’re not working with him every day. Everybody in here believes in him, care about him and trust him, and in the end we just want to go out there and win.”
Florida is off this week. The Gators are back in action at home on Saturday, Oct. 5, against the UCF Knights. The SEC announced today that the game will kick off at 7:45 p.m.