Ole Miss prepares to face florida’s rising star DJ Lagway

It wasn’t long ago that fans and media speculated Lane Kiffin could leave Ole Miss for Florida whenever the Gators decided to fire Billy Napier.

That decision never came and, in fact, Florida announced two weeks ago that Napier will remain as the team’s head coach after this season. A big reason why has been the improved play of freshman quarterback DJ Lagway.

Lagway made his fourth start of the season Saturday and led the Gators to a 27-16 upset victory over No. 22 LSU. Against the Tigers, Lagway completed 13-of-26 passes for 226 yards one touchdown and no interceptions. In nine games this season, he’s thrown for nearly 1,300 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions. He also has 114 rushing yards this season.

DJ Lagway

pic.twitter.com/Bnq4gSZVZS

— Steve Palazzolo (@StevePalazzolo_) November 16, 2024

Freshman quarterbacks appear to be what’s in fashion this season in the SEC. Lagway is one of six freshmen to start multiple games under center for an SEC team, joining Michael Van Buren (Mississippi State), Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee), Michael Hawkins Jr. (Oklahoma), Marcel Reed (Texas A&M) and LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina). And all of them except for Iamaleava are true freshmen.

Of the six, Lagway may have the brightest college football-future. He’s a former five-star recruit who has shown an incredible talent throwing the ball playing for an offensive-minded head coach and for a program that brings in highly talented players (what happens once those players come to Gainesville is a different story, but college football fans know what I mean).

Iamaleava’s short-term future (i.e., this season) may be brighter, but Lagway has more playing time left in his collegiate career and the Volunteers’ quarterback isn’t in contention for any major awards. As for the other freshmen, Hawkins and Reed aren’t starting anymore and Van Buren’s only win came against UMass.

Sellers, however, presents an interesting argument. The South Carolina-native has the Gamecocks ranked No. 21 with seven wins. He lost to then-No. 16 LSU and then-No. 7 Alabama by a combined five points, upset then-No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 and, most recently, won a shootout against No. 23 Missouri 34-30. He’s thrown for more than 1,800 yards, 14 touchdowns and has 436 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

It’s a tight race between Lagway, Iamaleava and Sellers for who has the brightest future and Ole Miss will be a good spot to help answer the question. The Rebels already faced Sellers (a 27-3 win for Ole Miss) and will face Lagway this weekend.