Tennessee embraces QB battle as Florida, Mississippi State seek new heights

ATLANTA (AP) — The Southeastern Conference's evolving quarterback situations continued to be a focal point of SEC media days on Wednesday.

Florida quarterback DJ Lagway went 6-1 after taking over as the starter midway through 2024, creating some buzz around the Gators heading into year four of the Billy Napier era.

Mississippi State quarterback Blake Shapen is back after a shoulder injury ended his 2024 season in September, and the Bulldogs are looking to respond from a winless league campaign in year two under Jeff Lebby.

Meanwhile, Tennessee has an ongoing quarterback battle with three participants, headlined by Appalachian State transfer Joey Aguilar.

Tennessee underwent one of the highest profile quarterback changes. Former five-star recruit Nico Iamaleava started all 13 games for the Volunteers last season as they reached the College Football Playoff, but departed the week of the spring game before eventually transferring to UCLA.

Coach Josh Heupel — a former National Championship winning quarterback himself — confirmed three quarterbacks are still in the mix to earn the job heading into preseason camp.

“We’ve found a way to win with a lot of different quarterbacks throughout my career,” Heupel said. “And we’re going to find a way to win with the guy that earns a starting spot as we go through training camp here in August.”

Aguilar initially transferred from Appalachian State to UCLA in December, but re-entered the portal and enrolled at Tennessee following Iamaleava’s exit. He started 11 games for the Mountaineers in 2024, throwing for 3,002 yards and 23 touchdowns with 14 interceptions. Jake Merklinger appeared in two games last season while redshirting, and George MacIntyre is an incoming true freshman.

“Now it’s about getting to training camp and going and competing,” Heupel said. “Somebody is going to earn the opportunity to be our starting quarterback through that process.”

As Napier enters his fourth season, only one player on his roster has appeared in every single game of his tenure. Center Jake Slaughter brings a streak of 38 consecutive games played and 21 consecutive starts into 2025, and was the only 2024 AP All-America selection in attendance at SEC media days.

“He was voted team captain by his teammates last year, and he very much lives it out,” Napier said about Slaughter. “He’s a guy that sets the tone every day.”

The battery between Slaughter and Lagway sparked a late charge last fall, helping Florida rebound from a 4-5 start to win its final four games including upsets of then No. 22 LSU and No. 9 Ole Miss. Lagway's 6-1 mark as a starter tied Chris Leak for the most wins by a true freshman quarterback in program history.

“He treats everything like it’s the last thing he’s ever going to do,” Slaughter said on Lagway. “But then on game day, he’s got a different type of swag to him. He’s getting everybody fired up. You don’t see that from Sunday through Friday, just Saturday.”

Lebby has nowhere to go but up after a winless conference season and a 2-10 overall record in 2024. Part of Mississippi State’s struggles last season spiraled from Shapen’s injury. The Baylor transfer fractured his right scapula in week four and the Bulldogs went 1-7 in his absence.

“I am 100% healthy,” Shapen said. “Obviously it was tough not playing last year, but I’m back now and I feel better than ever.”

Shapen threw eight touchdowns and only one interception with 974 passing yards in his limited sample size, creating some belief his return combined with an extra year of experience in Lebby’s offense can help the Bulldogs in 2025.

“Inside our walls right now we have great belief,” Lebby said. “Our guys are incredibly intent on getting better and changing the outcome this fall.”

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