LIU @ Florida preview
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
With a daunting Southeastern Conference road to travel awaiting him, Florida Gators coach Billy Napier knows his team's success this season in the powerhouse conference hinges on the development of quarterback DJ Lagway.
Napier will lead the No. 15 Gators into their season opener Saturday night, beginning a schedule lined with major hurdles with a home game against FCS foe Long Island.
Napier was under fire last year after his squad dropped five of its first nine games, including the embarrassment of being routed at home against Miami and manhandled in the Swamp by Texas A&M within its first three contests.
However, the Gators ended the campaign with four straight wins, which included big ones at home over No. 21 LSU and a week later against No. 9 Ole Miss.
Lagway holds the keys that drive Florida's offense, and Napier had good news to announce earlier this week. Battling shoulder issues in the spring and a calf sprain in the fall, the 6-foot-3-, 247-pound Lagway is good to start on Saturday.
"A lot of times things happen to you that you can't control, so there's opportunities to get better as a result of what he's going through," Napier said. "He's learned a lot about himself. This won't be the first time he's gone through something like this.
"You play the game, you're going to get injured, so how you manage that not only physically but mentally. ... For him that's been a bit of a challenge, but I think it's been healthy for him."
As a freshman, Lagway won six out of seven starts, passing for 1,915 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions, along with 101 yards rushing.
Following home games against LIU and South Florida, the Gators hit the road against No. 9 LSU and No. 10 Miami, face No. 1 Texas at home and go to No. 19 Texas A&M in a span of four consecutive games over five weeks.
LIU starting quarterback Ethan Greenwood is not shying away from the giant task ahead of him and his teammates.
"You definitely have to go into this game with a chip on your shoulder," said Greenwood, a local Long Island product who transferred from The Citadel, according to the New York Post.. "We need a lot of grit, a lot of heart. Everyone needs to be on the same page and executing their plays and assignments."
Although it's hard to imagine much of a football connection between a school like Long Island and the SEC, it exists.
Sharks head coach Ron Cooper was a former analyst for Alabama's Nick Saban and coached secondaries for Texas A&M and LSU.
He has spent the contest's lead-up time by thundering crowd noise into the LIU gym at 6:30 AM, trying to imitate the Swamp.
The Sharks are receiving $525,000 to make the trip south for the muggy matchup, and Cooper understands the reality of it.
"What's crazy is (the Gators) probably have one kid on (NIL worth) more than our entire budget," said Cooper, according to the New York Post.
--Field Level Media