Florida football was dealt what felt like a death blow during Week 10 against the Georgia Bulldogs. It was a game of attrition, with both teams seeing significant injuries but the Gators got the worst of it.
Among the casualties from Saturday’s rivalry game was true freshman and recently anointed starting quarterback DJ Lagway, who went down with a leg injury that Billy Napier later called a “pretty significant” hamstring issue. The Orange and Blue looked like it might pull off the upset as the halftime horn approached, but after losing Lagway, things got pretty grim.
While third-string walk-on QB Aidan Warner — and Florida’s defense, in particular — managed to keep the team in the game until late in the fourth quarter, the prognosis moving forward is not looking good. Especially with the opponents lined up over the next three weeks.
The good news is that the loss did not have too much of an effect on where the Gators landed in the computer models as well as the human rankings this time around, including USA TODAY Sports‘ latest re-rank.
Florida’s re-rank after Week 10
Paul Myerberg docked Florida just one spot in his Week 10 update, dropping them from No. 44 to No. 45 — exactly where it was before the Week 9 bye. That puts the Gators between the No. 44 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and No. 46 Virginia Tech Hokies.
Billy Napier’s squad is ahead of four other SEC programs in the rankings, with the Arkansas Razorbacks (No. 50), Kentucky Wildcats (No. 77), Auburn Tigers (No. 89) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (No. 109) lagging behind Florida in the rankings.
USA TODAY Sports Week 9 re-rank top 10
The Oregon Ducks remained in the top perch this week followed by the Ohio State Buckeyes, who took over the second spot from Georgia, which comes in at third. The Miami Hurricanes and Penn State Nittany Lions wrap up the top five, respectively.
Coming in sixth are the Texas Longhorns, followed by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Tennessee Volunteers, Indiana Hoosiers and BYU Cougars, respectively, to close out the top 10.
What’s next for the Gators?
Florida will go on the road and face the Texas Longhorns in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, Nov. 9. Kickoff is set for noon ET and will be broadcast on ABC.
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