"That’s not a very good question": Billy Napier shuts down calls for QB change and doubles down on DJ Lagway as starter

Florida coach Billy Napier remained loyal to his starting quarterback DJ Lagway despite producing his worst performance of his career in a 20-10 loss at LSU on Saturday.

Napier snuffed out calls for a quarterback change in a team press conference on Monday. He insisted that DJ Lagway is the starting QB and Tramell Jones is his backup, while Aidan Warner and Harrison Bailey will still be third- and fourth-string quarterbacks.

Napier, who is in his fourth season as the Gators coach, stressed that he won't give Warner and Bailey reps yet.

"So, give the third and the fourth guy reps?" Napier said (Timestamp 8:14). “Aidan has more experience than DJ? No, he doesn’t. I think you’d probably be hard-pressed to add up Harrison’s reps. They’d probably be less than DJ. So, that’s not a very good question. Tramell Jones is the backup quarterback. Alright?”

Napier noted the question should be in which specific areas they should focus on helping Lagway find his spots and avoid crucial mistakes moving forward.

Yale transfer Warner signed up for Florida in 2024 and started against Texas. He struggled with consistency while on center, completing only 42% of his passes for 228 yards and committing three interceptions (per On3).

Bailey, on the other hand, had stints with Tennessee, UNLV and Louisville before transferring to Florida. He has completed 63.2% of his passes for 1,190 yards with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions as a backup QB.

Jones is a four-star recruit from the Class of 2023, but lacks the experience of Warner and Bailey. This season, he completed 66.7% of his passes for 131 yards with two touchdowns as Lagway's backup.

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Florida faces a tough task to revive its 2025 season chances as it squares off against unbeaten Miami

The Florida Gators are 1-2 heading into their Week 4 showdown against No. 4 Miami (3-0). The Hurricanes put up an excellent display of offensive firepower on Saturday, dispatching Florida conquerors South Florida 49-12.

Lagway, who has completed 71 percent of his passes for 629 yards and five touchdowns to six interceptions, will be up against Carson Beck in their next game.

Beck has been excellent so far as the signal-caller for the Hurricanes, completing 78.3% of his passes for 812, with seven touchdowns and two interceptions.

Aside from Beck, Miami boasts of its three-headed monster in running back Mark Fletcher Jr. and wide receivers Malachi Toney and CJ Daniels. Fletcher has run for 272 yards with four touchdowns. He has also received 45 yards at an average of 11.3 yards per reception.

On the other hand, Toney has received 18 passes for 228 yards with one touchdown. Daniels has a total of 175 yards with three touchdowns, giving Beck top-tier weapons downfield.

Florida's defense, which has been inconsistent all season long, needs to be solid in controlling Miami's formidable offensive line to stand a chance of forcing an upset and reviving its hopes for the season.