Bring On Those Fighting Campbell Soup Cans! But No Resting By The Defense!
Created by AI
“It wasn't all bad, but it damn sure wasn't all good either. And our guys are going to improve. I promise you that. They're either going to improve, or I'm going to lose my mind trying to help them." — Jon Sumrall
By Buddy Martin
GAINESVILLE - Before we call the authorities, organize a search party for Florida’s pass rush and declare the Gators’ defense missing in action, let us acknowledge the obvious:
Saturday night was fun.
The Swamp looked like The Swamp again. More than 90,000 people showed up, making it the fifth-largest home-opening crowd in Florida history. The Gators scored 66 points, rolled up 624 yards, introduced quarterback Aaron Philo with considerable fanfare and never required punter Alec Clark (yes, I looked up his name to be sure) to remove the bubble wrap.
Florida beat Florida Atlantic by 45 points.
In most neighborhoods, that’s called a good night.
Only in college football can a team win 66-21 and have everybody inspecting the undercarriage on Monday morning. But that is the nature of the beast, particularly around here, where the scars are still fresh and the patience is roughly the thickness of gas-station toilet paper.
So nobody should rain on the parade — the one that is apt to come up later after the season. (But not yet! )
The Gators won big. The crowd was electric. And there was also working electricity. The offense hummed like a new Cadillac, but not a Lamborghini — yet.
The defense, however, occasionally drove like somebody’s uncle after three Bloody Marys.
FAU gained 396 yards, including 276 through the air. Quarterback Caden Veltkamp threw 52 passes, escaped pressure and directed touchdown drives of 75 and 78 yards in the first half. The Owls converted 11 of 22 third downs and 4 of 7 fourth downs.
That isn’t a defensive stat sheet. It’s a timeshare presentation. The Owls kept refusing to leave.
Fortunately, Florida’s new coach is not pretending otherwise.
“It wasn’t all bad, but it damn sure wasn’t all good either,” Jon Sumrall said. “And our guys are going to improve. I promise you that. They’re either going to improve, or I’m going to lose my mind trying to help them.”
Now there’s a man who has already discovered the central requirement of coaching Florida football: Keep one hand on the playbook and the other on your sanity.
Sumrall is a former Division I linebacker. Defense isn’t merely something he coaches. It is part of his central nervous system. Watching cornerbacks play eight or nine yards off receivers on third-and-short probably affects him the way a crooked picture frame affects a man with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Defensive coordinator Brad White was no happier.
“There’s going to be good, and there’s bad,” White said. “Immediately after the game, you’ve got that pit in your stomach because you know we could have played better.”
Granted, there was plenty of good. But more bad than you’d like to see.
DJ Coleman intercepted a pass on FAU’s opening drive, then tipped another ball that Dijon Johnson intercepted. Brendan Bett forced a second-half fumble. The defense played hard and produced three takeaways.
Nobody quit. Nobody loafed. Nobody needed to have his scholarship retrieved from the lost-and-found.
But Florida’s defense struggled with FAU’s tempo and sometimes operated in what White described as “survival mode.” Communication became scrambled. Down-and-distance awareness disappeared. The pass rush arrived late, when it arrived at all.
The problem wasn’t desire. It was diagnosis.
Sumrall said the Gators looked young or “untrained” in certain situations. He mentioned the disconcerting lack of a high Football.That is coachspeak for: We told them what to do, but when the band started playing and the other team snapped the ball, several important pieces of information left the premises.
This is where restraint is required.
It was one game. The Gators won by 45. FAU’s offense was built to play fast and throw enough footballs to require FAA clearance. Veltkamp attempted 57 passes against Sumrall’s Tulane team last season, so his 52 attempts Saturday were hardly a surprise.
The Gators also didn’t punt. They scored nine touchdowns. Jadan Baugh ran effectively, and Philo looked comfortable in his first start.
If you can’t enjoy that for at least 24 hours, college football may not be your healthiest hobby.
Still, the defense needs fixing. Not demolition. Not federal intervention. Just fixing.
The convenient news is that Campbell arrives Saturday.
Campbell calls itself the Fighting Camels, although for this occasion the school should consider rebranding as the Campbell Fighting Soup Cans. Florida is expected to open the lid, pour out the contents and serve the whole thing with saltine crackers.
Did I mention that the Fighting Soup Cans are a 49.5 point underdog?
No disrespect intended, of course.
The Soup Cans are 2-0 and will make their first trip to an SEC stadium. Their quarterback, Kamden Sixkiller, passed for 330 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-19 victory over Western Carolina. He also threw three interceptions, which ought to get Coleman and Johnson interested.
Campbell endured a lightning strike that knocked out power at its stadium last weekend, forcing the game to Sunday morning.
(And you Noles thought you drew a bad hand!)
Evidently, even the heavens wanted a longer look at the Fighting Camels.
Their coach, Braxton Harris, says his players are coming to Gainesville to win. Good for him. A coach can’t exactly announce, “We’re hoping to keep it respectable, get the check and visit the bookstore.”
Sumrall won’t take Campbell lightly. He once faced the Camels as San Diego’s defensive coordinator and lost 48-24.
“They ran the option up and down the field on me,” he said. “So yeah, I’ve been to Buies Creek and got my butt kicked.”
That memory should help keep everybody “ridiculously dialed in,” as Sumrall likes to say.
Saturday presents Florida’s defense with an opportunity to communicate better, tackle better, rush the passer and perhaps get off the field before the concession stands run out of ice.
But let’s maintain perspective.
Florida is 1-0. Philo looks promising. Jadan Baugh looks like a Heisman hunter and Aaron Philo has the offense looking dangerous. The Swamp was packed and loud, and the Gators gave their fans 66 reasons to smile.
It just wasn’t a great night for the defense, to put it mildly.
And if that doesn’t change soon, Sumrall might need Campbell to bring something stronger than soup.
Ran into a Campbell couple at lunch today at our “First Watch”. They were excited, happy about the game. It’s the largest venue the Camels have ever been scheduled to enter. Any of them who are in on a tackle of Jaden Baugh will be talking about the moment forever. Realistically we know that we’ll have to see the Auburn game to tell us much about this Gator team. This weekend’s game should be a Gator fun romp and become Camel chrrished memories. About 77-0.
We can chuckle at the soup can, but DONT take them for granted 🐊