Dallas Wilson Sparks Florida to Upset Win

Wilson's official debut has been a long-time coming after he missed the first four games of the season due to a lower body injury suffered in fall camp. Prior to his injury, he had been working with Florida's starting offense and garnered praise for his big-play abilities.

After he went down, the big plays were non-existing.

Entering Saturday's game, Florida was averaging 11 points per game against FBS opponents, had no completions on passes of at least 20 air yards against FBS opponents and had only two total touchdown passes against FBS opponents.

Wilson himself had 12 points, one reception of over 20 air yards and two scores.

"He's a great player to have on the field," Lagway said. "I told him, every time you play, expect the ball; it's coming your way. He's just a great player to have on the team, and it's good to see him out there balling up and doing his thing."

Lagway's trust in the true freshman was evident, too.

The sophomore, criticized for most of this season for struggles to push the ball down the field, consistently found Wilson past the sticks with four completions getting first downs.

An 18-yard, toe-tapping catch on the sideline set up a 13-yard score to put Florida up 17-7 in the second quarter, and Wilson's 55-yard touchdown in the third quarter came on Lagway's first read.

That trust also comes despite only two full weeks of practice together coming nearly a month into the season.

"Two weeks of full practice with Lag was great," Wilson said. "Just building that connection up and building that connection again was great to see my boy out there, and just playing as a team after that."

Those practices also reminded his teammates what Wilson was capable of. Senior corner Devin Moore described their one-on-one matchups as a "battle," saying the former five-star has been "the guy" since he first arrived on campus.

Napier praised Wilson for being a spark and bringing good energy over the last two weeks.

"In practice, he was just doing what he did out there today and really elevated the energy, went to a different level," Napier said. "He's got a great spirit about him. He's fun to be around. He's got a sense of humor, and he's a great competitor on game day, and that's his first game in a uniform here."

Wilson is also not letting his personal accolades get in the way of the team's goals. Being mobbed on the sideline after his first touchdown, Wilson kept his cool with the game still far from over.

"I know a lot of guys were asking me on the sideline, like how does it feel. I'm like, it feels regular," he said. "I'm like, I really don't know how I'm supposed to feel. I'm like, let's win the game first, guys. Let's win the game first. But yeah, it felt good."

That message can be carried over for the rest of the season.

Despite the win, Florida still finds itself with its back against the wall at 2-3 and a road trip against No. 5 Texas A&M up next. Florida also has games against No. 10 Georgia, No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 12 Tennessee and No. 25 Florida State still left on the schedule.

However, hopes for a turnaround grow more confident with Wilson on the field.

"These young guys, we got young guys like Dallas, who just step up," Sapp said. "Kid works hard, and he's just focused. He's like the brightness in the older guy's eyes. I just love to see it. I love to see a guy that works."