WATCH: Jalen Kitna, Caleb Douglas connect for first career touchdowns versus Eastern Washington
Up by a handful of scores, the Florida Gators swapped Anthony Richardson for redshirt freshman quarterback Jalen Kitna with time remaining in the third quarter. Kitna, the son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, found freshman wide receiver Caleb Douglas for a 62-yard touchdown pass to make it 45-3 Florida over Eastern Washington.
The score was the first career TD for both Kitna and Douglas who signed with Florida in the 2022 recruiting class.
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Kitna is playing in the place of Anthony Richardson’s main backup Jack Miller. Miller, who suffered an injury to a ligament in his thumb that required surgery during fall camp, hasn’t played so far this season.
Jalen Kitna almost had the opportunity to score in the first half when he entered the game for Richardson who was banged up briefly. However, the starter re-entered the game in the red zone.
Douglas, a former USC commit, officially visited Gainesville for the first time in January. He committed to Napier and the Gators less than a month later on National Signing Day on Feb. 2.
A product of Missouri City (Texas) Hightower, Douglas had additional offers from Notre Dame, Texas, Virginia Tech and Baylor, among others. He was the No. 50 wide receiver in the Class of 2022, per the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
Billy Napier praises staff after 35-3 first half
Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier was all smiles at halftime as his squad led the Eastern Washington Eagles 35-3 in Gainesville on Sunday. Anthony Richardson set the tone with a 75-yard touchdown completion on the first offensive play for Florida and didn’t let up despite briefly exiting the field.
The Eagles started the game with the ball and drove down the field before settling for a field goal for a 3-0 lead. Florida’s defense tightened up to hold EWU to zero points for the rest of the half while the offense scored on five drives.
“Really proud of the staff for having the players ready to play,” Napier said. “Feels good to execute. Obviously, we like the perform the same independent of the opponent but we’ve settled down on defense a bit, kinda bent but didn’t break early. It’s good to see the energy, good to see the excitement from the players.
“It’s our job as a staff. This group, they’re excited about getting better. That’s been the focus, so let’s go put another good half together.”
Florida lost their ranking last week after a 38-33 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers. A win over Eastern Washington will put the Gators back on track ahead of a stretch with Missouri, LSU and Georgia.