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Final: Gators Dominate LIU, 55-0, Win First Season Opener Since 2022

Florida opened the 2025 season in dominating fashion as DJ Lagway threw for three touchdowns and the Gators defense held Long Island to 86 yards of total offense.
Cam Parker|
Florida's 55-0 win over Long Island marked the first shutout in the Billy Napier era.
Florida's 55-0 win over Long Island marked the first shutout in the Billy Napier era. | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

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Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- For the first time since 2022, the Florida Gators begin the season 1-0.

No. 15 Florida on Saturday opened up the 2025 campaign with a dominating 55-0 win over Long Island. The win marked both the first shutout and the most points scored in the Billy Napier era.

"I think it was a good night, you know. I think much like most openers, there's lots of things you'd like to clean up," Napier said. "We played turnover-free football. We played penalty-free football. We got some takeaways. I thought we tackled well, and overall, the operation was pretty clean."

Florida's defense was utterly dominant, holding Long Island to 86 yards of total offense with two fumble recoveries. The Sharks were penalized 12 times for 100 yards.

Meanwhile quarterback DJ Lagway threw for 120 yards and three scores in only one half of play. Lagway moved to 2,000 career passing yards with his performance.

"I definitely think it got more comfortable for me as the game went on," Napier said. "I know I need to play better than that and I'm going to play better than that and I'm just thankful you always get another week. You get to start over and you get to prepare and that's what I'm excited for."

Replacing Lagway in the second half was freshman Tramell Jones Jr., who threw for 131 yards and two touchdowns in his debut.

Junior safety Bryce Thornton returned a fumble for a 37-yard touchdown on the game's third play to open the scoring, marking his first career touchdown and the first time since 2017 that Florida's first touchdown of the season came on defense.

"We've been preaching takeaways, take the ball over, get as many turnovers as we can to get the offense the ball back but to go home and score, that's even better," sophomore linebacker Myles Graham said. "So creating turnovers and touchdowns on defense, man, that's the brand of football we want to play."

Florida's offense added to it immediately behind the legs of Jadan Baugh, who capped off a six-play, 66-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown to extend Florida's lead to two touchdowns with 9:29 left in the first quarter.

Baugh had runs of 16 yards and 17 yards on his first two carries to put Florida in Long Island territory and finished the game with a game-high 104 yards on nine carries.

"Jadan is special," Napier said. "Obviously a lot of creativity. I thought he made something maybe wasn't there sometimes and he made some plays. I have been impressed with Jadan because he played as a rookie, experienced some success, but I haven't seen him -- there's been no complacency there and I think that's a tribute to his character."

Senior kicker Trey Smack, who missed a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter, nailed a 56-yard field goal to put Florida up 17-0 early in the second quarter. The kick, Smack's longest of his career, was also the second-longest kick in program history.

Florida's offense struggled to get going from there in the second quarter after Smack missed a 39-yard field goal a drive later, but after another LIU fumble recovered by Thornton, the Gators found the endzone through the air.

Lagway, making his eighth career start, hit Eugene Wilson III for a four-yard touchdown, the duo's first since Sept. 7, 2024 against Samford. Wilson III only played in four games in 2024 due to injury. Lagway recorded his second touchdown pass of the game a drive later with another four-yard toss, this time to Hayden Hansen.

The score marked Hansen's first career touchdown in The Swamp.

A drive later, freshman receiver Vernell Brown III sent The Swamp into a frenzy.

Already becoming the program's third true freshman receiver to start in a season opener, Brown III put himself on the map with a 41-yard, one-handed diving catch from Lagway to put the Gators on Long Island's 8-yard line.

The catch set a program record for receiving yards by a freshman making his first start, surpassing Josh Hammond's 72 yards in 2016. Brown III finished the night with four catches for 79 yards.

"I think he's a great competitor," Napier said of Brown III. "He's obviously skilled, but I think more importantly, he's got a certain maturity level and you could see tonight it's not too big for him. He's comfortable in that setting, right? So he's a play-maker. He's been doing that very consistent, very dependable, know what you're going to get and he's an even better person, teammate."

Lagway would find transfer receiver J. Michael Sturdivant for an eight-yard score to give Florida a 38-0 lead at the half. The 38 points marks the highest point-total in a first half for the Gators under Napier.

Jones Jr. took over for Lagway in the third quarter, leading Florida on an eight-play, 43 yard drive capped off by a 41-yard field goal from Smack. Jones Jr. a four-star signee in the 2025 recruiting class, battled Aidan Warner, last year's backup, and Harrison Bailey, a senior transfer, for the backup spot behind Lagway.

Jones Jr. threw his first career touchdown two drives later with a four-yard pass to Tony Livingston and added an 11-yard touchdown to Taylor Spierto late in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.

"I think Tramell has earned the job. He's really had a strong surge the last few weeks," Napier said. "I think we've seen him as he got healthy and we started to give him more reps with the first and second unit. We saw him, he just kept getting better and he's a pure passer, man. He can really throw it. He's got velocity on the ball. The spin rate is impressive and then he's a very accurate quarterback."

Florida (1-0, 0-0 SEC) returns home for a matchup against USF (1-0, 0-0 American) on Sept. 6. Kickoff between the Gators and the Bulls is set for 4:15 p.m. with television coverage on SEC Network.

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Cam Parker
CAM PARKER

Cam Parker is a reporter covering the Florida Gators, Auburn Tigers and Clemson Tigers with a degree in journalism from the University of Florida. He also covers and broadcasts Alachua County high school sports with The Prep Zone and Mainstreet Daily News. When he isn't writing, he enjoys listening to '70s music such as The Band or Lynyrd Skynyrd, binge-watching shows and playing with his cat, Chester, and dog, Rufus.

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