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USA Today
07-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
USA TODAY Sports ranked the top-25 teams' starting QBs. Where does DJ Lagway land?
The summer doldrums are here, and as we await the start of the 2025 college football season at the end of August, there are still plenty of predictions and rankings to churn out ahead of the nation's favorite gridiron game. Among those in the sports media taking advantage of the dog days leading up to the upcoming campaign are USA TODAY Sports writers Paul Myerberg, Blake Toppmeyer, Eddie Timanus, Jordan Mendoza and Erick Smith, who recently submitted their list of elite college football quarterbacks, ranking each preseason top-25 school's starting quarterbacks. Among them was Florida Gators sophomore gunslinger DJ Lagway, who ranks among the top 10 at No. 7 — behind fellow SEC signal-caller John Mateer (Oklahoma) and ahead of conference peer LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina). "The Gators ignited after Lagway became their starter midway through his true freshman season," the group offers. "We probably haven't seen the best of him yet. A hamstring injury hampered his dual-threat abilities in 2024. Durability is an issue with Lagway. He's spent the offseason recovering from a throwing shoulder injury. When healthy, he's a big play in waiting. He throws an excellent deep ball, connecting on more than 52% of his throws that traveled more than 20 yards." DJ Lagway's 2024 stats The 6-foot-3-inch, 239-pound signal-caller out of Willis, Texas, appeared in 12 of Florida's 13 games last season while logging seven starts. The Gators won six of those games he opened up under center, with the lone loss coming against the Georgia Bulldogs in Jacksonville — a game he was knocked out of with a lower-body injury after rallying his team in the first half. Lagway completed 59.9% of his passes for 1,915 yards and 12 touchdowns against nine interceptions last fall. He also amassed a multitude of accolades, including a spot on the FWAA Freshman All-American Team, as well as ESPN Freshman All-American, 247Sports True Freshman All-American, On3 True Freshman All-American, PFF True Freshman All-American, CFN Freshman Quarterback of the Year and All-American, plus the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl MVP award. USA TODAY Sports top-25 teams QB rankings Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
04-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
USC kicker Caden Chittenden named preseason second-team All-American by Walter Camp
The start of the 2025 college football season continues to draw closer and closer. We have officially reached preseason awards season. This week, Walter Camp released their preseason All-American teams. Making the second team was USC kicker Caden Chittenden. Chittenden is entering his first season with the Trojans after transferring in from UNLV. As a true freshman with the Rebels last year, Chittenden quickly established himself as one of the top kickers in the country, being named a freshman All-American. Now, he heads to Los Angeles, where he will look to replace Michael Lantz, who started at kicker for the Trojans in 2024. Per USC's press release, "Chittenden, who transferred to USC in the spring of 2025 from UNLV, was one of the nation's top kickers as a freshman in 2024. He won a plethora of awards including being named First Team True Freshman All-American by 247Sports, Second Team Freshman All-American by The Athletic, College Football Network Honorable Mention All-American, College Football Network Freshman Specialist of the Year, College Football Network Freshman Kicker of the Year and Mountain West Freshman of the Year. "Chittenden earned placement on the All-Mountain West First Team and was the first freshman from UNLV named to the All-Mountain West First Team since 2006. He was also a semifinalist for the 2024 Lou Groza Award and a three-time Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Week, as well as a three-time Mountain West Freshman of the Week. "Chittenden shattered the Mountain West and UNLV single-season record for field goals by a freshman (26). He led the nation in scoring among all kickers with 133, which tied for the most in UNLV history. He tied the UNLV record for field goals in a season by making 26-of-33 attempts on the year. He also tied a school record 55-of-56 extra points. He hit a season-long 52-yard field goal in a rainstorm win at San Jose State. "Chittenden also handled kickoff duties. He finished the season ranked No. 2 in the nation in field goals per game (1.86), No. 7 in the nation in total points scored among all positions (133) and No. 11 in the nation in scoring (9.5)." Chittenden will suit up for the Trojans for the first time on August 30, when USC hosts Missouri State at the Coliseum.
