FINAL: Florida 55, Long Island 0

THE QUICK SLANT

No. 15 FLORIDA 55, LONG ISLAND 0

What Happened

Florida quarterback DJ Lagway passed for three first-half touchdowns, tailback Jadan Baugh rushed for 104 yards and a score and the nation’s 15th-ranked team did what a power-conference program with high expectations is supposed to do to an FCS opponent in running roughshod over Long Island in a 55-0 rout Saturday night in the season opener for both teams at sold-out Spurrier/Field Field. 

Lagway, the 6-foot-3, 247-pound sophomore from Willis, Texas, had to shake off some rust after being limited for the first month of fall practice with a sore calf. Nonetheless, the UF franchise QB completed 15 of his 18 throws (83.3%) for 120 yards, with short scoring tosses of four yards to wide receiver Eugene Wilson III and tight end Hayden Hansen, plus an 8-yarder to wideout J. Michael Sturdivant, the transfer from UCLA. All three came in the second quarter, as the Gators built a 38-0 halftime lead, then shut Lagway down for the night. UF churned out 236 yards, including 120 rushing, and 16 first downs with Lagway under center.

When the night was over, the Gators had out-gained the out-manned Sharks, by way of the Northeast Conference, 451 yards to 86, with a whopping 27-2 edge in first downs, an all-time low for a UF opponent. The Sharks’ first 12 possessions went just three plays or less. 

Florida’s 55 points marked a single-game high under Coach Billy Napier, now in his fourth season. The Gators went an entire game without a penalty for the first time since 2021 and did not turn the ball over.

LIU, in its seventh season of existence, was facing just its fourth power-conference program. The previous three were losses of 66-0 at West Virginia in 2021, 30-7 at Baylor in ’22 and 45-0 at Texas Christian in ’24. 

UF did not waste any time jumping in front, but did so on defense. The Gators won the coin toss, deferred to the second-half, but took the lead on safety Bryce Thornton’s 37-yard fumble return — the first fumble for a score by the Gators’ defense since 2020 — on the game’s third play from scrimmage. On Florida’s first offensive series, Baugh had runs of 17, 16 and seven yards before scoring on a 4-yard blast for a 14-0 lead. He got the second 100-yard game of his career on just nine carries. 

While LIU was cranking one three-and-out after another, Florida had three consecutive series ended in Trey Smack field-goal attempts. He missed from 40 and 39, but drilled a 56-yarder in between that tied the second-longest in school history and gave the home team a 17-0 lead. 

The Gators’ next three series ended in the Lagway TD passes and fat halftime advantage. 

True freshman Tramell Jones Jr., out of Jacksonville, replaced Lagway in the second half and led a scoring drive to Smack’s second field goal, a 41-yarder, and then a 64-yard march capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Livingston for a 48-0 lead. He threw an 11-yard scoring strike to former walk-on Taylor Spierto with 25 seconds remaining in the game. Jones finished 12 of 18 for 131 yards and the two TDs without a turnover.  

What it Means

Not much. LIU may have been one of the most over-matched opponents ever to play at Florida Field. For the Gators, the best thing about beating up on the Sharks was getting Lagway some much-needed reps (and getting out of the game healthy) before things start to get real. 

In the Spotlight

Legacy wideout Vernell Brown III made quite the splash in his collegiate debut. Brown, whose father played at UF from 2002-05 and whose grandfather played here from 1982-85, became the first true freshman to start for the Gators on offense since tackle Jawaan Taylor in 2016 and just the third receiver in program history to do so, joining Percy Harvin (2006) and Antonio Callaway (2015). Brown caught three passes for 79 yards, breaking the true freshman debut mark of 72 set by Josh Hammond against North Texas in 2016. Brown hauled a spectacular one-handed, 41-yard gem from Lagway in the second quarter to set up a score. He also returned three punts for 45 yards, with a long of 25.     

Staggering Statistic

LIU’s total offense of 86 yards marked the 10th-lowest total by an opponent in UF history. The Sharks did not run a play in Florida territory until quarterback Luca Stanzani, from the his 42, converted a third-and-7 with a 28-yard completion to Deion Richardson to the UF 28 with just over nine minutes to go in the game. The drive fizzled from there. As for their two first downs, the previous all-time low against the Gators was four against Western Carolina in 2006 and Miami in 1974.

Charting the Gators: All-time fewest yards allowed

* BCS national championship game 

Up Next

Florida (1-0) is back in “The Swamp” on Sept. 6 for a date against cross-state foe South Florida (1-0), which turned plenty of college football heads Thursday night in trouncing 25th-ranked Boise State, a College Football Playoff participant last season, 34-7 at Tampa. The Bulls are in their third season under Alex Golesh, who’s put together back-to-back 7-6 seasons capped by bowl wins. The upset of the Broncos, though, was one of the program’s biggest victories in years and should get the attention of the UF staff. Especially if USF, though unlikely, jumps into the Associated Press Top 25 this week. 

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu