It's LSU week for Florida Football, and the Gators are in a weird spot entering The Swamp. Florida is 4-5 on the season with little left to play for, but DJ Lagway has been cleared to play.
It's with that in mind that these are the three storylines we are going to be following the most on Saturday afternoon in Gainesville.
Just How Healthy Is DJ Lagway?
When Lagway went down against Georgia, it initially looked like he would be done for the season with a hamstring injury. Billy Napier said afterward the injury wasn't as bad as initially feared, and Lagway was a "Game Time Decision" last week against Texas before opting not to play.
Lagway was "Questionable" on the initial injury report this week, and Napier said on his radio show on Thursday that Lagway would, in fact, be playing against LSU.
But being cleared and being 100% are two different things, and the assumption is that Lagway is going to be restricted in his ability to scramble and run. Don't get it twisted; a 60% Lagway is still better than a 100% Aidan Warner, but there is a slight fear among Gator fans that he reinjures the hamstring and causes further damage.
Only Florida's medical staff can say for sure just how healthy Lagway is.
Can The Defense Return To Form?
One of the narratives for Florida since their first bye week was how much better the defense was playing. The Gators shut down Tennessee and had Georgia on lockdown for a half.
But in their last six quarters of play, Florida has given up 77 points, and average of 12.6 points per quarter.
Part of it is injuries, but part of it is also a regression to what most people thought might happen given Florida's "improvement" came against offenses like UCF and Kentucky, while Tennessee and Georgia had poor QB play Florida took advantage of.
Will The Recruits Be Impressed?
Saturday has set up to be a massive recruiting weekend for Florida as the Gators have multiple five-star prospects coming to town.
As we wrote earlier this week, Billy Napier hasn't struggled to get guys to come on a visit, but getting guys to commit off of those visits has been.
Florida had a ton of top-tier guys come to town for their opener against Miami, and by the end of the game, half the prospects were celebrating with the Hurricanes.
If Lagway can put on a show, it might just sway a guy or two. If LSU blows Florida out, Napier's sales pitch will continue to be an uphill battle.