Jadan Baugh is the first RB in 2024 to be named Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Week

Florida Freshman running back Jadan Baugh has been named Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Week, the organization announced Tuesday. The weekly award recognizes the excellence of a first-year student at FBS.

In his first career start, he managed a 48-20 victory on Saturday KentuckyBaugh had a historic performance with five rushing touchdowns, which set a program record Tim Tebow (2007, vs. South Carolina) And Trey Burton (2010, vs. Kentucky).

The first-year running back finished with 106 yards on 22 carries and became the first true freshman running back for the Gators with multiple rushing TDs in a game since Malik Davis on Sept. 30, 2017 against… Vanderbilt (two). He is the first running back to win the Shaun Alexander Award Freshman of the Week this season and only the third SEC player to be selected. Baugh's latest accolade follows being named SEC Freshman of the Week and 247Sports Freshman of the Week.

Baugh filled in for injured senior running back Montrell Johnson Jr., who was ruled out of Saturday's contest after suffering an injury midway through UF's 23-17 loss to Tennessee.

Before his first start at UF, Baugh praised Johnson for helping him prepare for his start, which saw Baugh average 20 kickoff yards on two attempts against the Wildcats.

“Hats off to Montrell because he brought me in and put his arms around me and told me I was a good player, but I had to keep working,” Baugh said Saturday. “So him being the leader in this room just makes me better, and the rest of the guys around me better too.”

According to head coach, it wasn't just the preparation for the competition that allowed Baugh, along with freshman quarterback DJ Lagway, to be successful against the Wildcats Billy Napier. With both players arriving as early adopters in January, the veterans in Johnson and the injured signal-caller were added to the roster Graham Mertz helped pave the way for success for every player on Saturday.

“For Jadan Baugh to watch Montreal Johnson “DJ Lagway watching Graham Mertz since January influenced tonight more than anything else,” Napier said. “They're obviously talented and we have a lot of other young players who are capable of the same things. “They've made a lot of progress.”

For a UF rushing attack that has largely been subpar through the first five games of the regular season, Saturday's performance was an indication of progress, and Napier praised the contingent of players in the Gators' backfield for their improvements in the final weeks leading up to the Gators have enabled an increase in local production.

His team's success on the ground was a sign of their progress after failing to establish a running game in recent weeks.

“We’ve settled in,” Napier said. “We did well last week, you know. I think the key here for a few weeks in a row is to have a good plan, have a hat for the hat and then get a lot of guys to contribute.” The running game doesn't just include the tight ends; but of course also the quarterbacks in the middle. If we want to be at the front, we have to be really good. I think we have to see that, especially in the last two games against good personnel and strong competition. We must achieve this. We brought the body types here. Hopefully they can continue to play well.