Image source: UAA

A difficult season turned catastrophic for the Florida Gators on Saturday afternoon when freshman quarterback DJ Lagway, who burst onto the scene in his first season and moved into the starting lineup two weeks ago, was hit hard on a run late in the run Left hamstring injury hurt the second quarter against the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs. Lagway immediately grabbed his leg and had to be lifted off the ground before he could be carried off the field and into the tunnel.

Head coach Billy Napier confirmed the injury at half-time, describing it as “pretty significant”.

The former five-star prospect took over Florida's offense after redshirt senior Graham Mertz, the incumbent starter, suffered a torn ACL on Oct. 13 at Tennessee. That left the Gators relying on redshirt freshman Aidan Warner, a transfer from Yale who joined the program this spring, in Saturday's game.

Before his departure, Lagway completed two of six passes, one of which was a 43-yard touchdown to redshirt freshman wide receiver Aidan Mizell. He also had 18 yards rushing. In a touching moment, Mertz immediately hobbled off the sideline to support Lagway.

Warner completed two of three passes for 30 yards with a 9-yard rushing TD in two short appearances earlier this season. He is a UF heir, as both his parents were college graduates.

The circumstances of Lagway's injury caused the quarterback to slip on a goalie and fall forward. Florida players slipped several times on the field at EverBank Stadium early in the game – often with turf thrown up – leading to questions about both the surface itself and the cleats used by the Gators in the contest.

Junior linebacker Shemar James suffered a dislocated kneecap during warmups before the Florida-Georgia game last season.

According to the News-Press, EverBank Stadium installed new turf on Oct. 23, five days before an NFL game and 10 days before the Gators and Dawgs met in Jacksonville, Florida. It's normal practice for teams to replace waterlogged fields multiple times during an NFL season.

Only Gators will update this developing story.