A Texas Barbecue: Gators Flip The Script — And Jones Changes The Conversation

Tramell Jones had a spectacular first start (Photo Courtesy UAA and Hannah White)

It’s just not safe out there for Top Ten Teams. Alabama found out in an upset by Tennessee (26-10). And Texas found out against Florida (27-24).

I’m not sure which was the most shocking.

Nobody saw the Texas loss coming. Not the oddsmakers, not the Longhorn faithful, and not many Gator fans who’d spent two weekends watching their team get pushed around.

Florida went into Austin with a backup quarterback making his first career start and the worst defense in the Southeastern Conference. The Gators left with a 27-24 win over No. 7 Texas, upside-down “Hook ’em Horns” fingers in the air, and a season that had looked like it was over by Halloween.

Jon Sumrall didn’t sugarcoat how they got there.

“We kept fighting. We didn’t do that the past couple of weeks, to be honest with you,” he said. “When things got tough, we flinched the last couple weeks.”

Flinched. That’s a coach admitting what everybody had watched. After a 4-0 start pushed Florida to No. 8, the Gators lost two straight blowouts and looked soft, confused and done. Saturday was the first time in 2026 that this team got punched in the mouth on the road and punched back.

The Kid Who Waited

Remember the preseason quarterback battle? Sumrall picked Aaron Philo because he ran the offense and handled things at the line of scrimmage better. Tramell Jones Jr. was told to stay in the competition, stay ready and stay patient.

He stayed ready. Philo got hurt, and Jones got the keys in one of the toughest road environments in the country.

The start was rough. Texas went up 17-3 in the second quarter after Ryan Niblett’s 63-yard punt return for a touchdown, and the crowd smelled another Florida collapse. Two weeks ago, that’s where this game ends.

This time Jones hit Lacota Dippre for a touchdown with 18 seconds left in the half. Then he came out in the third quarter and led a 15-play drive that took eight minutes off the clock, finishing it with another touchdown to Dippre.

That wasn’t a gunslinger show. It was a grown-up drive, the kind that wears out a defense and quiets 100,000 people a little at a time.

“I didn’t take it any bigger than it was,” Jones said. “It feels great, but this is just the start. It’s not over.”

Spoken like a kid who knows a quarterback job can change week to week. Philo will heal, and Sumrall will have a decision to make. That’s a better problem than the one he had Friday night.

Same Defense, Different Team

Now the part that doesn’t add up on paper.

The defense that couldn’t stop anybody for two weeks held Texas under 300 yards. It sacked Arch Manning five times. After the first two Texas drives, it took away the Longhorns’ big-play receivers and gave up one first down on Texas’ first three possessions of the second half while Florida took the lead.

And when the game was on the line, Myles Graham got to Manning one more time and knocked the ball loose on Texas’ final drive. Ballgame.

I’m not going to tell you one Saturday fixes a defense that ranked last in the league. It doesn’t. But it tells you the problem may have been heart, not talent, and Sumrall can coach heart.

This one belongs among the biggest road wins in Florida football history. And rarely have the Gators flipped a script quite like this.

My friend Randy called with a question that pretty much summed up the early proceedings:

“How do you fix stupid?”

For a while, it looked like Florida was trying to give the game away.

But let’s get something straight: Texas didn’t hand this one to the Gators.

Florida took it.

And while the conversation in Texas will revolve around Arch Manning, the conversation in Florida ought to begin with Tramell Jones Jr.

Not what their quarterback did wrong.

What Florida’s quarterback did right.

Making his first college start, filling in for the injured Aaron Philo, Jones walked into Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium and helped pull a wobbling team back onto its feet. He threw two touchdown passes to Lacota Dippre, and Jadan Baugh supplied the fourth-quarter touchdown that helped finish the comeback.

Spectacular? Not in the video-game sense.

Something better under these circumstances: tough, composed and good enough to win when the afternoon seemed headed in the opposite direction.

Jones finished with 155 passing yards, two touchdowns and another 41 yards rushing. Those numbers won’t require anyone to rewrite the Florida record book. The circumstances, however, deserve a prominent place in the memory bank.

So does the response from Jon Sumrall.

Some of us probably owe the man an apology. Or, at minimum, a little acknowledgment that we were ready to pronounce judgment before he was finished making his case.

After the homecoming loss to South Carolina, it was fair to wonder where this team was headed. Another ugly start at Texas made that question louder. Instead, Sumrall’s Gators answered with their first road victory over a top-10 opponent since beating Florida State in 2012.

Whatever else you want to say about this coach, his team showed toughness and resilience Saturday.

True grit isn’t something you put on a motivational poster. It’s something you show when you’re down 17-3 on the road and everybody watching thinks they know how the story ends.

Credit the defense, too. This wasn’t simply a young quarterback riding to the rescue. Florida had to get the ball back, and with Texas threatening late, Myles Graham strip-sacked Manning. Kanye Clark recovered, and the Gators finished the job.

That will bring another round of uncomfortable questions for Manning and Steve Sarkisian.

Those are Texas’ problems.

Florida has a much more interesting one.

What do you do at quarterback now?

Philo’s injury opened the door. Jones walked through it and helped deliver a victory that changed the mood of a season. That doesn’t automatically settle the starting job. It certainly changes the discussion.

Do we officially have a quarterback controversy?

Call it a competition. Call it a decision. Call it whatever keeps everybody comfortable.

But how do you watch what Jones did in Austin and not give him serious consideration for the next start?

In two weeks, Florida faces Georgia. Suddenly, that game looks less like a date to dread and more like an opportunity.

I nearly turned off the television.

Good thing the Gators weren’t ready to turn out the lights.

Baugh Pays It Back

Patrick Durkin’s 28-yard field goal gave Florida its first lead. Then Jadan Baugh broke outside for an 11-yard touchdown, and for a few minutes that felt like the game.

That’s the same Jadan Baugh who had schools lining up to take him in the transfer portal. The same Baugh whose grandmother got a visit from Sumrall on Christmas Eve. Coaches make house calls for moments like this one: fourth quarter, top-10 team, their building, ball in the hands of the guy you fought to keep.

Texas answered right away. Manning slipped a fourth-down sack, found Emmett Mosley V for 62 yards and hit Cam Coleman for a 9-yard touchdown. But the Gators had the last word.

Texas Has Bigger Problems

Steve Sarkisian looked like a man reading his own autopsy report.

“We didn’t play good football today. Kind of bled out,” he said.

He’s right, and it’s getting worse. Texas has lost two straight. Manning has struggled for four games in a row. One of the best defenses in the country gave up second-half scoring drives of 15 and 14 plays, and star edge rusher Colin Simmons left in the fourth quarter with what looked like an ankle injury.

“It’s not great right now,” Manning said. “Coming off two losses in a row, it stings.”

The Verdict

This was Florida’s first road win over a top-10 opponent since 2012. Fourteen years. Think about how many coaches, quarterbacks and fresh starts have come and gone in that time.

Is Florida back? Let’s not get silly. The Gators are 5-2 and play Georgia on Oct. 31. Plenty of teams feeling good about themselves have been humbled in that series.

But two weeks ago, people were asking whether Sumrall’s team had a spine. On Saturday in Austin, it showed one.

The Gators quit flinching. Let’s see if they can keep it up.

Photo courtesy UAA (University Athletic Association, FloridaGators.com) and Hannah White. See more of her work on Instagram, and the official Florida Gators photo galleries at FloridaGators.com.