Florida football’s DJ Lagway benched for Tramell Jones after...

Florida football’s DJ Lagway benched for Tramell Jones after ugly effort vs. Kentucky

A rough night turned into a hard pivot for Florida football. After an error-stacked first half against the Kentucky Wildcats, Billy Gonzales sat starting quarterback DJ Lagway and handed the offense to true freshman Tramell Jones, per Pete Nakos of On3 Sports. The move followed three first-half interceptions and stalled drives that buried Florida in a multi-score hole. Florida benched DJ Lagway for Tramell Jones as the staff searched for a spark. That call tracked with the in-game drumbeat as fans had already been calling for a change after a “putrid” opening half, and Kentucky’s pass rush kept teeing off on obvious passing downs. Florida trailed 31–7 at the time of the switch. The numbers tell the story. By halftime, DJ Lagway was 11-of-19 for 83 yards with one touchdown and three picks, per the ESPN Box Score. Florida’s possessions skewed short, and field position flipped in Kentucky’s favor. The box score reflected the one-sided flow as the Wildcats controlled tempo and leveraged short fields off takeaways. Enter Tramell Jones. The true freshman came in with a clean season line, 12-of-18 for 131 yards and two touchdowns, mostly in low-leverage snaps. Florida didn’t need hero ball; it needed rhythm. Expect quick game, defined reads, and more quarterback run to calm the rush and get the ball to Vernell Brown III and J. Michael Sturdivant in space. If Florida can lean on tempo and early-down efficiency, the defense at least has a chance to reset the field. There’s off-field fallout, too. Florida played without speedster Jerrae “Tank” Hawkins, who reportedly opted out to preserve his redshirt after appearing in four games, via 247 Sports. That trims the receiver rotation and only increases the pressure on the quarterback to stay clean and on schedule. Florida didn’t wait to see if the tide would turn. It made the change, betting on Tramell Jones’ poise to stabilize a spiraling night.

A rough night turned into a hard pivot for Florida football. After an error-stacked first half against the Kentucky Wildcats, Billy Gonzales sat starting quarterback DJ Lagway and handed the offense to true freshman Tramell Jones, per Pete Nakos of On3 Sports. The move followed three first-half interceptions and stalled drives that buried Florida in a multi-score hole.
Florida benched DJ Lagway for Tramell Jones as the staff searched for a spark. That call tracked with the in-game drumbeat as fans had already been calling for a change after a “putrid” opening half, and Kentucky’s pass rush kept teeing off on obvious passing downs. Florida trailed 31–7 at the time of the switch.
The numbers tell the story. By halftime, DJ Lagway was 11-of-19 for 83 yards with one touchdown and three picks, per the ESPN Box Score. Florida’s possessions skewed short, and field position flipped in Kentucky’s favor. The box score reflected the one-sided flow as the Wildcats controlled tempo and leveraged short fields off takeaways.
Enter Tramell Jones. The true freshman came in with a clean season line, 12-of-18 for 131 yards and two touchdowns, mostly in low-leverage snaps. Florida didn’t need hero ball; it needed rhythm. Expect quick game, defined reads, and more quarterback run to calm the rush and get the ball to Vernell Brown III and J. Michael Sturdivant in space. If Florida can lean on tempo and early-down efficiency, the defense at least has a chance to reset the field.
There’s off-field fallout, too. Florida played without speedster Jerrae “Tank” Hawkins, who reportedly opted out to preserve his redshirt after appearing in four games, via 247 Sports. That trims the receiver rotation and only increases the pressure on the quarterback to stay clean and on schedule.
Florida didn’t wait to see if the tide would turn. It made the change, betting on Tramell Jones’ poise to stabilize a spiraling night.