‘It Ain’t Fully Awake Yet’: Sumrall Says Gators Haven’t Arrived After Routing No. 4 Ole Miss
GAINESVILLE — Jon Sumrall said he barely had a voice left after Florida’s 52-28 win over No. 4 Ole Miss on Saturday night. He used what was left to deliver the message he has repeated all season.
“We have not arrived,” Sumrall said. “We have so much room to grow and get better, and we still have to do that or we’re not going to be pleased with outcomes that we have coming up.”
Asked whether the beast he has talked about waking is at least stirring, Sumrall drew a laugh. “It’s not asleep, but it ain’t fully awake yet,” he said. “I promise you, I didn’t come here for us to be average.”
Watch: Florida’s full postgame press conference (Florida Gators Football on YouTube).
“I would never bet against him”
Sumrall said during the week that Ole Miss had proven more than his team. Asked after the game what he made of the oddsmakers now, he didn’t back off.
“I think they’re still pretty smart. We just played better today,” Sumrall said. He pointed to Ole Miss’ 16-2 record over the past year and to quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. “I don’t bet, but if I did, I would never bet against him.”
Florida still rattled Chambliss. Sumrall said Florida kept him off balance, adding that Chambliss has “kicked my butt as a head coach twice last year.” Chambliss threw for 298 yards and ran for two touchdowns, but he was sacked and stripped late in the third quarter and intercepted in the fourth.
“Our confidence is high”
Jadan Baugh ran for 142 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries, and he still thinks the Gators left points on the field. He said he missed a hole on an early drive that could have been a touchdown.
“Our confidence is high,” Baugh said. “We feel that we can put a bunch of points on the board. We feel we left points on the board, honestly.”
“I feel that no defense in the country could stop us from putting up points,” he said. “I tell the guys, I’m trying to put up 70, trying to put up 60.”
Duke Clark and a broken headset
Duke Clark ran for 126 yards on 12 carries, including the 45-yard touchdown that put Florida back up 10 in the third quarter. “I thought Duke played out of his mind,” Sumrall said. “He’s got all the ability in the world. He can be as good as he chooses to be.”
Sumrall said he was livid about the play before Clark’s run and broke his headset. The replacement clicked on just in time for him to hear the call. “It’s worth losing a headset over,” he said.
Baugh, who calls Clark his little brother, said he stood on the sideline with his hands up for the whole run. “I was just so proud of him,” Baugh said.
Injury update
Receiver Bailey Stockton took “a pretty significant shot to his back” on the play that drew a targeting flag, Sumrall said, but it “doesn’t look like anything that should keep him out long term.” Stockton came back to return a punt but played little in the second half.
Vernell Brown III tweaked a knee late in the second quarter. “Nothing’s substantial, nothing’s torn,” Sumrall said. “Feel pretty good about him being available, but it’s too early to know moving forward.”
Eric Singleton Jr., a true game-time decision, played and caught a 38-yard pass. Sumrall said Singleton barely practiced this week. “He’s a tough dude, and a guy I’m really proud of,” he said.
The strip-sack
Jayden Woods’ sack and forced fumble late in the third quarter set up the touchdown that put Florida up 38-21. Woods said he still needed time to process it. “I kind of blacked out after I came off the edge free,” he said. “His eyes were downfield, and first instinct is to go for the ball.”
“Defensively, I thought we rose up, and we battled better than we’ve battled all year to be honest with you,” Sumrall said.
Quarterback Aaron Philo was asked how 302 rushing yards help a quarterback. “Makes my job pretty easy,” he said. “I didn’t have to do a whole lot tonight, to be honest.”
A recruiting pitch
Florida hosted a big group of recruits for the game, and Sumrall tied them to his theme. “[If] we get a lot of those guys to say yes, we’re going to wake the beast up real fast,” he said. Four-star safety Cyion Smith committed to the Gators hours before kickoff.
Florida plays at Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 3:30 p.m. ET.
More: the game story and Carlton Reese’s column, Contenders, Not Hopefuls.
Quotes are from Florida’s postgame press conference, embedded above. Jon Sumrall’s quotes are checked against UF’s official ASAP Sports transcript.
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