2024 Florida Football Postgame Notes
Florida 45, Mississippi State 28
Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field – Starkville, Miss.
QB TANDEM’S RECORD DAY POWERS OFFENSIVE BREAKOUT IN STARKVILLE
- Florida’s two-QB tandem of Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway finished a combined 26-of-28 (92.8%, UF single-game record) for 277 yards, connecting with 10-different receivers.
o Mertz (218.0) and Lagway (191.2) both posted a QB rating above 190.
o 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.
- Florida’s 17-point win is tied for the team’s largest margin of victory on the road against a Power 5 opponent under HC Billy Napier (2022 at Texas A&M).
o The win is tied for the third-largest margin of victory by the Gators over a P5 opponent in the Napier era. - The Gators won their third-straight game in Starkville and improved to 15-5 in the last 20 meetings in the series against MSU.
- Mertz reached 75 total touchdowns for his career, passing for three scores (62 career passing TDs) while rushing for one (13 career rushing TDs).
- Florida’s six touchdowns came from six different Gators in TE Arlis Boardingham, WR Marcus Burke, TE Hayden Hansen, RB Ja’Keem Jackson, Mertz and last but not least, OL Austin Barber.
o It marked the first touchdown of Barber’s collegiate career – in his 29th game.
o Barber is the second FBS offensive lineman to score a touchdown this season (Brandon Henderson, Nebraska).
OFFENSIVE NOTES
- QB Graham Mertz started for the second-straight week, handling each of the first two drives, as well as UF’s fourth and fifth possessions of the first half.
o Mertz rushed for a career-high 24 yards on the first two drives alone. - Mertz opened 15-of-16 (94.0%) for 147 yards while chucking three TD passes to three different receivers on UF’s first five drives of the first half.
o He connected with nine different receivers (t-season high) for a QB rating of 232.8 in the first half. - QB DJ Lagway entered for one play on UF’s second drive and handled the Gators’ third and sixth possessions of the first half.
o Lagway also shined in the first half, going 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. - With the performance, Mertz recorded his fourth game as a Gator (eighth of career) with three passing TDs and first since Nov. 4, 2023 vs. Arkansas.
o Mertz has thrown a touchdown in 28 of his last 32 starts including 13 of his 14 UF starts.
o Mertz’s first TD pass of the day marked the 60th of his collegiate career, making him the 10th active FBS player (sixth in P5) to eclipse that threshold. - Mertz rushed for his first touchdown since Nov. 11, 2023 vs. LSU.
- TE Arlis Boardingham put Florida on the board with his first TD reception of the season (fifth of career).
- WR Marcus Burke caught his first-career TD reception to put Florida ahead, 14-7, in the second quarter.
o Burke also set a career high with four receptions for 45 yards (t-team high). - TE Hayden Hansen hauled in his first TD catch of the season (third of career) to extend the UF lead to 21-7.
- RB Ja’Kobi Jackson rushed for a TD for the second-straight week.
- With 90 total yards, RB Montrell Johnson Jr. surpassed 3,000 career all-purpose yards.
- WR Aidan Mizell had a career-high five catches for 36 yards.
- RB Jadan Baugh ripped off a career-long 32-yard rush in the fourth quarter and finished with a
career-high 53 yards rushing on four carries (13.3 YPC) - TE Tony Livingston made his first-career start and set career highs with three catches and 18 yards.
- WR Andy Jean made his season debut.
- The Gators rushed for a season-high 226 yards, eclipsing 200-plus yards for the first time this season and 12th time in their last 29 games.
- The Gators have punched in a rushing touchdown in 11-consecutive games and in 24 of 29 contests since 2022.
- In 22 of 29 games in the Napier era, Florida has registered at least one passing touchdown.
- The Gators have rushed for 100-plus yards three of four games this season and in 23 of their last 29 contests since 2022.
- Florida scored 30 points for the 15th time since 2022.
- The Gators eclipsed 400 yards of offense for the second time this season and 14th time since the start of 2022.
● The Gators eclipsed 500 yards for the seventh time in the Napier era.
o This is the 18th time in Florida’s last 52 games that the Gators have totaled 500-plus yards.
● By totaling 23 more yards than Mississippi State, the Gators have out-gained their opponents in 15 of their 29 games since 2022.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
● Florida forced a three-and-out on MSU’s opening drive, allowing zero total yards thanks to a combined tackle-for-loss from LB Shemar James and DB Sharif Denson.
● Denson finished with a career-high 2.5 TFLs and seven tackles (five solo) highlighted by his first- career sack and forced fumble.
o Denson and LB Grayson Howard logged their first-career pass breakups.
● Howard also posted his first-career fumble recovery on the first play of the fourth quarter.
● LB Jack Pyburn recorded his third-career TFL in addition to a career-high six tackles.
● DB Trikweze Bridges notched his third-career forced fumble and first as a Gator.
o Bridges led Florida with a career-high 10 tackles.
● DB Jason Marshall Jr. reached 26 career pass breakups with two breakups tonight.
● DT Caleb Banks had a six-yard TFL in the third quarter.
● With today’s fourth-quarter fumble recovery with MSU in the red zone, the Gators have produced at least one turnover in 20 of 29 games in the Napier era.
● The Gators recorded three sacks in tonight’s game.
o Since the start of 2021, Florida has out-sacked its opponents by a plus-14 margin.
o Florida’s 209 sacks since 2018 season ranks third in the SEC and 13th nationally.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
● P Jeremy Crawshaw punted two times for an average of 42.0 yards including a long of 43.
● LS Rocco Underwood recorded a tackle (fourth of career) on Florida’s first punt to hold K. Coleman Jr. to a zero-yard return.
● WR Chimere Dike returned a punt for a career-long 35 yards in the first half.
● K Trey Smack drilled a 47-yarder to put the Gators ahead three scores with 2:34 remaining in the fourth quarter.
o Smack improved to 3-for-3 on FG attempts this season.
EXPLOSIVE PLAYS (16)
● QB Graham Mertz: 16-yard rush, first quarter
● RB Montrell Johnson Jr.: 12-yard rush, first quarter (lost fumble)
● RB Ja’Kobi Jackson (from Mertz): 15-yard reception, second quarter (illegal block in back)
● WR Marcus Burke (from Mertz): 20-yard TD reception, second quarter
● TE Hayden Hansen (from Mertz): 35-yard TD reception, second quarter
● QB DJ Lagway: 13-yard rush, second quarter
● RB Montrell Johnson Jr.: 11-yard rush, second quarter
● RB Treyaun Webb: 11yard rush, second quarter
● WR Elijhah Badger (from Lagway): 27-yard reception, second quarter
● RB Ja’Kobi Jackson: 10-yard TD rush, second quarter
● RB Montrell Johnson Jr.: 10-yard rush, third quarter
● WR Aidan Mizell (from Mertz): 15-yard reception, third quarter
● WR Chimere Dike (from Mertz): 28-yard reception, third quarter
● WR Marcus Burke (from Lagway): 15-yard reception, fourth quarter
● RB Jadan Baugh: 32-yard rush, fourth quarter
● RB Jadan Baugh: 10-yard rush, fourth quarter
SERIES UPDATES
● Today’s game represented the 56th all-time meeting between Florida and Mississippi State and 13th meeting in Starkville.
● With tonight’s victory, the Gators improve to 35-19-2 (.643) in the all-time series vs. Mississippi State and 6-7 (.462) in Starkville.
● Florida has won 15 of the last 20 meetings since 1982 including three consecutive meetings in Starkville.
- HC Billy Napier improves to 1-0 against Mississippi State HC Jeff Lebby.
THE STREAK
● Florida has scored in 452-consecutive games — an NCAA record and 53 games longer than any other college football team in history.
o The Gators broke Michigan’s record of 365 games (1984-2014) vs. LSU on Oct. 7, 2017.
o The last time Florida was shut out was on Oct. 29, 1988 vs. Auburn (L, 16-0).
GAME DETAILS
● Florida Game Captains: #1 DE Justus Boone, #17 WR Chimere Dike, #89 TE Hayden Hansen
● Coin Toss: Florida won the toss and deferred, Florida defended the north endzone.
● Attendance: 49,655
2024 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Billy Napier, Florida Head Coach
Florida 45, Mississippi State 28
September 21, 2024
Opening statement…
“It feels good to win a game. I think we did enough to win today. 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. We had some balance. Outside of the three-and-out early and then we fumbled, I thought we did a lot of good. We started both halves a little slow, but as we settled in I thought we really did well. Defensively, at times, we did a lot of good things. I thought we did a good job off getting off the field
on third down in the first half, but there’s just three or four or five possessions there where we disappear. We were a little more consistent across the board today, but we know that there’s going to be more consistency required. The rush and the coverage got to work together. Overall, the rush defense has got to get shored up. We have to eliminate some of these penalties that we had. We got away with a couple on offense. We overcame them. Defensively, we had a few that were costly. Another good day in the kicking game. Thought we did a lot of good there. The specialists were sharp. Gave up one kickoff return that I think maybe got out to the 35. Outside of that, had a punt
return that turned into points and then a big field goal there at the end to make it three scores.”
On what went into the revised quarterback rotation and their performances…
“Really, we just evaluate how the week went. In terms of Graham being back healthy, really was impressive this week in practice. I thought he had a great week, just really sharp. The ball was jumping out of his hand. And then DJ obviously got some great experience last week. We just kind of went with our gut there, what we thought was best for the team. We’re still committed to playing DJ. I think, today, he showed that he’ll get a little better the more experience that he gets. He’ll improve. So, I think we’re getting the best of both worlds there. Both guys make our team better. And we used
DJ’s legs a little bit today, not knowing that Graham was really healthy. Again, I think this is the best thing for our team and both guys played really well.”
On the number of different skill players who got involved today…
“In a perfect world, that’s who we are. The quarterback is making good decisions. We’re distributing the ball based off the defense. And I think that’s what we did well today. We took what the defense gave us, and we were spot on. The decision making was really good. Handful of incompletions, but outside of that, I thought we were on point.”
On Aidan Mizell’s performance despite having a couple big plays erased…
“I predicted, I told Aidan pregame I thought it was going to be a great day for him. And look, he still made that play. Still got a chance to see him. He did a lot of good things, run after catch today, his speed shows up, and he’s another young player that’s gaining confidence. With Tre Wilson out, he’s kind of the third guy that we’re pushing to the forefront there, and he made the most of his opportunities.”
On the importance of Grayson Howard’s fumble recovery with MSU in the red zone…
“Big, big momentum play, and really great to see our defense stand up there. Again, we know that there’s multiple opportunities to prevent even getting into that position, but a big stop. I thought we called it well right there. Not just fourth down, but first, second and third to get it to fourth. I thought Jack Pyburn was phenomenal today. I just thought he made a bunch of plays. Disruptive. Played more snaps today and deservingly so. I think he was right in the middle of that fourth-down stop.”
On what gives confidence that the defense can turn it around and not force the offense to win in shootout fashion…
“Look, we are what we are. I don’t have any other answer for you other than we’re capable of better and I think we can play better. I think we can coach better. And look, we’ve got an open date here. We need to take a good look in the mirror on both sides of the spectrum, players and coaches. And maybe we need to adjust who plays and who doesn’t play. I still think that we need to handle the tempo better. Ultimately, a lot of their success was built around the tempo. We know we’re going to play teams that do that in the future. We got to get ready for it. It’s good to win a game like that and go into the open date. I told them in the locker room, we’re going to rest and
recover and we’re going to take care of guys and all that, but you show up Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week, we’re working. We have work to do to improve. We got to put all of our heads together to try to get it shored up. I do think we played well around the quarterback. When we protect the quarterback, we’re capable of distributing the ball. We have skill. We played really efficiently today, we need to do that. And we called it aggressively, because I think that’s who we got to be. We need to use tempo. We need to be more aggressive. And certainly, we got a capable group.”
On the message to the defensive backs with some bang-bang calls against them…
“Secondary, I think is a position where confidence is key. Much like the offensive line, you’ve got five players that are working together and they got to be on the same page. It’s alignment. It’s leverage. It’s knowing where your help is at. It’s eye discipline. It’s fundamentals. Ultimately, we’ll be able to look at the tape and coach some of these guys relative to some of the things they can do better in those areas. But, we did play tighter coverage. I thought there were times out there where we played legal and were able to break up some passes and get off the field. And some of those are bang-bang. Without taking the aggression away, just coaching the technical part in terms of what
they can do better.”
2024 Florida Football Postgame Quotes
Florida Student-Athletes
Florida 45, Mississippi State 28
September 21, 2024
15 Graham Mertz, Senior Quarterback
On the two QB system doing pretty well today…
“Yeah, yeah it did. I was talking to DJ, I thought we were just really efficient. I was proud of him. We had a great plan going into the game. I thought we did a good job of seeing the field today. Kind of a lot of plays for RPO answers and stuff like that, so when you get in that mode where you can move fast and have answers to what they’re doing, it’s always on attack mode, so I thought we did a good job.”
On skill players stepping up in the absence of Tre Wilson…
“I think that’s the biggest thing, to me, is the amount of guys we had out there. Think about it, you had Marcus Burke, Aidan Mizell, [Chimere Dike], [Tank Hawkins], you had all these guys out there…
Hayden Hansen. Guys just stepped. They did their job and that’s what we’ve been harping on the whole time, is if you just go out there and do your job, it’s going to work.”
On starting 14-for-15 and if it reminded him of his five TD game vs. Illinois in 2020…
“Ugh… not really. I mean, honestly, I thought our scout team during the week did a great job of giving us a mixed bag of looks, so I felt extremely prepared. And I go out there every game and it’s my job to see the defense, read the defense and put the ball where it’s supposed to go… They were flying around this week and I think if you want to have a successful team, your offensive, defensive scouts and special teams scouts are a big part of that.”
On how big it was for the offense to string together consecutive TD drives today…
“Yeah, I think it was big. I think football is a game of momentum and momentum shifts the entire time. So, I think for us, there were a few drives we could have done a better job of just getting a first down and getting the thing rolling. When you go three-and-out it puts the defense in a tough spot and it just makes the score a little bit different. I think for us, we look back at the game there’s opportunities we had that we didn’t take advantage of that we’re going to need to take advantage of, for sure.”
On Napier putting in Lagway after Mertz led two-consecutive TD drives…
“I think he did a great job. Like I said earlier, we have… our coaches, the way that they prep us through the week, if you just trust the plan and you execute it, good things happen. I just told DJ, I was like, you went out there and you executed, you did a great job. What was he, 7-for-7? That’s good football. That’s what it leads to, so it’s our job to move the sticks. I was proud of him… The communication was great, we were talking to each other about what we saw out there, different looks, stuff like that. So, it was really good.”
58 Austin Barber, Redshirt Junior Offensive Lineman
On the last time he scored a touchdown…
“Probably Pop Warner when I was nine years old… just a little overdue.”
On how important it was to be heads up on a touchdown play like that…
“My coach always told us to chase the ball. You see the ball, get on the ball. We rep it a lot. I saw it on the ground and did my best to just get on it as fast as I can.”
On what the fight was like in the pile to grab the ball for touchdown…
“I had it the whole time… the whole entire time.”
On what it is like to block for both Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway…
“They bring two elements to the game and we definitely saw it today. 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.”
10 Grayson Howard, Sophomore Inside Linebacker
On the defensive performance…
“We did good. We did better. We have a lot of things to fix and that is what practice is for. We have a bye week next week, so that will be good for us. We can watch everything and break it down.”
On Jack Pyburn’s road back and performance in today’s game…
“Me and Jack’s relationship goes way back. He’s from Jacksonville as well, so me and Jack were close in high school. I have always known how hard he’s worked. Coming to Florida, he was big influence on why I came here as well. To see how hard he worked in high school, to see how hard he worked to get back, his process was just perfect. He was in there every day, in the training room every day, running every day just make sure he could get back with his brothers. Hard work pays off and he showed it. He’s a great player and he’s a great teammate.”
On the defense’s emphasis on starting fast and getting off the field early in the game…
“That’s what you want a defense to do. The offense came out and balled. When they give you that comfortable feeling, when they’re scoring, scoring, scoring, they gave us 28 in the first half, you can’t ask for better than that. Just having their back and making sure that we keep feeding them the ball,
that’s what we’re going for.”
On managing tempo being a struggle at the end of second quarter…
“Tempo is tempo. They go really fast and they’re not the only team that we will play this year that is going to go really fast, so we will practice throughout the week with tempo and everything like that. The drive got the best of us but I feel like we handled tempo really well throughout the game.”
