ATLANTA — Florida sophomore quarterback DJ Lagway went 6-1 as a starter for the Gators, including a four-game winning streak to end the season.

That finish included wins over No. 21 LSU and No. 9 Ole Miss and transformed the narrative around the Gators.

Lagway’s return as the clear-cut starter has changed the trajectory and expectations for Florida football in 2025. Lagway was the No. 1-rated dual-threat quarterback for the 2024 recruiting class and lived up to his billing with a freshman All-American season.

“It’s his team,” Florida coach Billy Napier told ESPN on Wednesday. “I think he’s growing as a leader, his voice as a leader, how he can affect the other players. Last year at this time, he had no clue what he was in for. I think that he obviously knows the system. He knows how to prepare. He can get better. I mean, this guy’s got a lot of ceiling here.”

Lagway said he’s fully healed after not throwing in spring practice because of a shoulder injury. He also missed part of the Georgia game and the entire Texas game last season because of a hamstring injury.

Lagway said he’s ready to maximize that ceiling, with a focus on details. That includes improved nutrition, which meant cutting out Insomnia cookies (chocolate chip were his favorite). He also had a sauna installed at his home near campus and set up an intricate film projector similar to the ones he saw in the homes of NFL quarterbacks Jared Goff and Kirk Cousins on the “Quarterback” series on Netflix.

“I just love the game,” he said. “Eat, sleep and breathe. That’s all I do. Anything I could find that helped me get better at the game, that’s what I do.”

Lagway is 6-foot-3, 240 pounds and brings a dangerous element in the quarterback run game. After the hamstring injury last year, Florida was conservative in using him in designed run plays. That could change, as Napier pointed out Lagway ran the ball nine times for 42 yards against Kentucky before the injury.

For the season, he finished with just 101 rushing yards and no rushing touchdowns.

“He’s hard to tackle,” Napier said. “I think in the pocket, he’s tough to get down. I think that’s one of the things that’s unique about him.”

Florida returns four starters on the offensive line and a bruising and productive tailback in Jadan Baugh, who averaged 5.1 yards per carry and scored seven touchdowns last year. The Gators also return seven starters on what Napier calls the best roster of his four seasons in Gainesville.

Florida is coming off an 8-5 season and faces another tough schedule, but Napier said he’s confident the Gators can beat anyone they play.

“The best thing about it is when I look around the team meeting right now, I know every kid in the room,” he said. “I know their parents. I know I’ve been to their school or their home. They’ve been in our program for multiple years. We don’t have a lot of riffraff. We don’t have a lot of distractions.”

How much the Gators improve will be tied to the trajectory of Lagway, and Napier is bullish on his long-term potential. There’s a strong case that Lagway develops into a top prospect in the 2027 NFL draft, as he has the physical tangibles and has flashed arm talent and anticipation in the pass game.

“He’s got talent, and then all these areas that are unlimited in terms of improvement,” Napier said. “There’s room for him to go to work and get better. And that’s the thing that I think about him — he is consumed with getting better.”

Auburn wide receiver Malcolm Simmons, an expected starter this season, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of domestic assault with strangulation or suffocation, according to Lee County (Alabama) Sheriff’s Office records.

Simmons was booked into Lee County Jail at 7:20 p.m. ET. His bond was set at $20,000.

An Auburn spokesperson said in a statement, “We are aware of the situation, are gathering the facts, and will address the situation.”

As a freshman last season, Simmons was second on the team with 40 receptions, including three going for touchdowns. He also returned a punt for a score.

He is one of the players Hugh Freeze mentioned at SEC media days earlier this week, when the Auburn coach said he thinks this can be his best receiving corps since he was at Ole Miss.

Simmons is the second Auburn player to be arrested this month. Linebacker D.J. Barber was dismissed from the team last week while facing multiple drug charges, including trafficking marijuana.

MADISON, Wis. — The status of Wisconsin cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean for this season is now unclear after a federal appeals court overturned a preliminary injunction that had granted him another year of NCAA eligibility.

In a 2-1 decision rendered Wednesday, Seventh Circuit judges reversed the ruling by a lower court, after the NCAA appealed.

Fourqurean, a fifth-year senior, had argued that his first two college seasons at Division II Grand Valley State should not count toward his eligibility.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is expected to play again after winning his court case last year on the grounds that his two seasons at a junior college do not count. The NCAA is appealing that decision but granted a blanket waiver that will allow Pavia and other athletes who played at non-NCAA Division I schools prior to enrollment an extra year of eligibility if they were going to exhaust their eligibility this year.

The path forward for Fourqurean, a projected starter, is less clear with Wisconsin’s season opener against Miami (Ohio) on Aug. 28 just over six weeks away. Messages sent to attorneys listed as his representatives in court documents, as well as spokespeople for Wisconsin football, were not immediately returned.

The NCAA released a statement after Wednesday’s ruling, noting it “will continue to work together to provide unparalleled opportunities for student-athletes and future generations.”

“The member-approved rules, including years of eligibility, are designed to help ensure competition is safe and fair — aligning collegiate academic and athletic careers to provide high-level opportunities and benefits to hundreds of thousands of student-athletes,” the NCAA said. “We are thankful the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals today reversed the district court’s decision.”

Fourqurean testified during a U.S. District Court hearing in February that he would make “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in name, image and likeness compensation if he were to play this season. After judge William Conley granted him the preliminary injunction, Fourqurean pulled out of NFL draft consideration and took part in spring practices.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.