Quarterback DJ Lagway spent the first two seasons of his collegiate career playing for Billy Napier and the Florida Gators. In December, he announced his decision to enter the transfer portal before signing with the Baylor Bears in January.
On Saturday, Lagway made his debut for Baylor in the season opener against the Auburn Tigers. Despite suffering an ankle injury, he nearly led his team to victory.
After the game, ex-NFL tackle Breiden Fehoko shared his thoughts on DJ Lagway's performance. He questioned Billy Napier's coaching, saying the quarterback played differently than he did in Florida.
"Billy Napier should be arrested," Fehoko tweeted. "DJ Lagway looked like a totally different quarterback today."
During his two-season stint with Florida, Lagway played in 24 games and threw for 4,179 yards and 28 TDs. Last season, the team finished 4-8 (2-6 SEC), with Napier being fired in October after a 3-4 start. In December, he was hired as the coach of James Madison, replacing Bob Chesney, who left to join UCLA.
On Saturday, against the Auburn Tigers, Lagway hobbled off the field in the first half after a failed conversion. He was carried to the locker room by his teammates at the end of the half.
The quarterback returned in the second half after taping his ankle. In the final seconds of the fourth quarter, he connected with wide receiver Gavin Freeman for a five-yard TD to reduce the deficit to 17-16. However, they failed to convert the two-point attempt. Lagway completed 27 of 54 passes for 333 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
In the postgame presser, Baylor coach Dave Aranda discussed the injury that DJ Lagway suffered in the first half.
He also praised the quarterback for showing resilience and fighting through the pain.
"It's an ankle sprain, as far as I know right now," Aranda said. "We have both packages of, kind of, DJ runs, and then really a lot of running in the game. Prior to hurting himself, there were two called runs. And there was a fair amount of runs in this game that were called.
"So him going out, or him being hurt really cut that down. We had to go another package for the third-and-short and fourth-and-short calls. … I thought that DJ being able to play through pain and fighting through and pushing off and doing all those things, I thought was tremendous and inspiring."
The Baylor Bears next face the Prairie View A&M Panthers on Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. ET.
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