Watch: Gators WR Vernell Brown III Wows the Swamp with One-Handed Catch

The catch, Brown III's third of the evening, set a program record for receiving yards by a true freshman making his first start with his 79 yards. It also set up an eight-yard touchdown pass from Lagway to transfer J. Michael Sturdivant.

The legacy player also had two punt returns for 41 yards.

Brown III's start came as Florida is without redshirt sophomore Aidan Mizell and true freshman Dallas Wilson due to injury. His play on the field is not a surprise, though, with head coach Billy Napier on Wednesday praising him for his game-readiness.

"I'd say he's a little ahead of schedule," Napier said. "Ithink he's pretty smart, pretty mature, obviously the pedigree with the dad, the environment, the competitive environment, if you do your homework on the family. And then he's just run a ton of routes in his life. I think he's 7 on 7, trainers, he’s watched and observed a lot of football.

"And then he has the work capacity. He's durable, he's available, and I think he's tough. He’s a good decision-maker and a good communicator as well. He's a good return player. So he probably could go out there and play corner or nickel if we wanted him to. He’s a good football player. He’s a rookie. There'll be some growing pains that come to that but got a ton of confidence in him.”

No. 15 Florida leads Long Island, 38-0, at halftime.