COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Florida quarterback DJ Lagway’s homecoming ended in disappointment after a hot start as Billy Napier’s Gators failed to complete a Texas two-step and finally beat a ranked team on the road.
A 34-17 loss Saturday night at earsplitting Kyle Field dropped Napier’s team (2-4, 1-2 SEC) to 0-13 on the road against Top 25 foes and intensified the pressure on UF’s head coach.
Napier and the Gators looked to build on last weekend’s decisive 29-21 win against Texas but could not replicate their dominance at the line of scrimmage or unleash true freshman receiver Dallas Wilson.
“We dug a little bit of a hole and we had trouble getting out of it,” Napier said. “There was a great atmosphere in there tonight. We got a lot of respect for how they play the game and our kids battled their ass off, but in general, the parts of football that you have to do to win, we did not do and they did.”
A 2-yard touchdown run by Rueben Owens II iced the game with 4:39 remaining for the No. 5 Aggies (6-0, 3-0) after a bold move by Napier backfired as a reported crowd of 105,086 roared.
Facing 3rd-and-6 from at the Aggies’ 49-yard line, Lagway handed off to Jadan Baugh, who was stopped for no gain. Trailing 24-17 with 13 minutes left in the game, Napier opted to attempt a fourth-down conversion, but A&M pressured Lagway and his pass over the middle to Vernell Brown III was high and behind the true freshman receiver.
The Aggies proceeded to march 50 yards on 12 plays to put away the game.
“The analytics would say at that point you go for it; that’s one you think about,” Napier said. “We got to execute the third-down play a little bit better. You always look back at those when they don’t work. Sometimes they do and you’re happy with them, but when they don’t you second-guess yourself.”
On the Gators’ first play after Owens’ touchdown, Lagway fumbled while getting sacked by A&M end Dayon Hayes on a night UF’s front was a step slow and wore down against the relentless pressure of coach Mike Elko’s defense.
A week earlier, the Gators had been the aggressor, sacking Texas quarterback Arch Manning six times and hurrying him 10 more.
But quarterback Marcel Reed proved much slipperier and the Aggies’ front much stouter. Florida finished without a sack and just one QB hurry as Reed shined from A&M’s opening drive.
Lagway kept pace with his counterpart early on. The sophomore from Willis, just 75 minutes east of College Station, went 6-of-6 for 58 yards to lead the Gators’ best opening drive of 2025, capped by a 1-yard scoring pass to Amir Jackson.
“Just our RPO game, getting the ball out quick, when they came up, getting them over the top and taking them deep,” Lagway explained. “I feel like that was a great way we started the game and it felt good.”
Reed answered with a 67-yard pass to SEC leading receiver Mario Craver followed by an 8-yard quarterback keeper to tie the game in two plays at 7-7.
“We weren’t ready to play,” sophomore linebacker Myles Graham said. “That wasn’t our brand of football. We feel like that wasn’t who we are.”
A quarterback duel appeared in the offing after the teams combined for touchdowns on five of the first six possessions as A&M staked a 21-14 lead.
But Florida’s offense petered out, managing 19 yards on 19 plays on the final four drives of the half. The Aggies lost tailback Le’Veon Moss to a left knee injury to open their fourth drive and lost steam themselves.
A&M’s defense proved the difference. The Aggies sacked Lagway three times, forcing two fumbles, and hurried him five times as UF went 1 of 11 on third down — A&M’s three opponents are now 2 of 34.
The Gators’ sophomore finished 21 of 37 for 229 yards with two scores, including a 6-yard pass to Wilson. The third touchdown in two games for the rising star was the highlight of an otherwise quiet performance featuring 3 catches for 20 after he recorded 6 receptions for 111 yards against Texas.
“This is gut-wrenching,” Lagway said. “You can’t imagine how I feel. This isn’t how I expected this night to go.”
Meanwhile, Reed continued his strong play, going 16 of 26 for 234 yards and a score while rushing for 37 yards and a score. The Aggies were 9 of 17 on third down and compiled 189 rushing yards a week after the Longhorns managed just 52.
“We did not do a good job of containing him,” Graham said. “He converted on third down. He got upfield on us, and that’s a big issue for us. We talked about that during the week and we didn’t execute our plan. We didn’t do our job.
“Everybody didn’t do their 1/11th and it showed.”
After its second touchdown drive, UF punted five times, fumbled twice to end drives and turned the ball over on downs another time. The Gators finished the night with just 74 rushing yards a week after compiling a 159 against Texas.
“We were inefficient on first and second down,” Napier said. “We weren’t able to run it effectively. When we did throw it, they were able to get pressure. Then you are playing third-and-long.”
The loss left Napier looking shellshocked, but he tried to remain positive.
“There’s no quick fix here,” he said. “The best thing to do is go win. We saw that last week (against Texas). We got to stay the course to keep going here. We got a lot of kids in there trying to do things the right way. We’re close.
“We’re getting better on offense, and the defense has played really tough and hard the entire way.”