City of Jacksonville is why Florida Football can't have nice things, part two

Last year, the season for Florida Football went down the drain in part because of Shemar James getting injured prior to the Florida-Georgia game. James dislocated his kneecap, and the field turf that looked like it had been purchased on Temu didn't help the frustration of Gator fans.

Well, once again, the Gators lost a key player during the Florida-Georgia game. And once again, the turf in Jacksonville didn't help matters.

Florida Football: Deja Vu

DJ Lagway went down in the second quarter with a hamstring injury, and his status for the rest of the year is unclear. On replay, his left leg appears to slip out from underneath him as he looked to make a cut upfield.

Last year, the turf in Jacksonville came into focus after James went down in pregame. It was revealed that brand new turf had just been laid, and the optics of what looked like creases in the turf drew vitriol from fans and us here at Hail Florida Hail.

In an article last week from the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union in the lead-up to the game, the company that manages the turf, ASM Global, defended the field conditions from last year and said the issue was overblown and had no concerns ahead of Saturday's contest:

"Field conditions are very good. The Jaguars had no issues during their game [against Green Bay] and I can't imagine there will be any on Saturday. If anything it will be better because we've had one more week to work on it and the weather has cooperated."

But if you don't want to take our word that the field conditions in Jacksonville looked suspect at best, as Lagway was far from the only player to have slipping problems on Saturday, take it from former Gator Princely Umanmielen.

So, injury to Lagway or not, it's just another notch in why it seems foolish that the city of Jacksonville keeps throwing all this money at Florida and Georgia to keep hosting the game, but all fans notice is how questionable the field conditions continue to be.