The Aftermath: The Bitter Taste Lingers

Jon Sumrall addresses reporters after Florida's game against Oklahoma on Nov. 7, 2026. Frame from Florida Gators/UAA video.

As Tony Bennett sang, I want to be around to pick up the pieces…

By Buddy Martin

GatorBait Media | gatorbaitmedia.com

“Hey look! Is that another black cloud hovering over Gainesville?”

Yes, and this one has a return address.

I get that Saturday was disappointing and regressive, and when you lose like that, the magnitude of the defeat looms larger than life over this yin-yang of a season. Go ahead with the harping and bitching. It’s understandable in a hot mess like this.

But here’s the scary part: it’s beginning to feel like things are spiraling out of control.

Even Jon Sumrall admits it — and when the coach says the word “spiral” out loud, you’re not imagining things.

Q. Just to keep this from spiraling the rest of the month.

JON SUMRALL: “Yeah, to some degree it feels like the spiral’s already started, right? We haven’t been on the longest stretch that I would like to see us on. To me, what really dictates whether it’s a spiral, though, for the long term is do we show up? Do the guys come in tomorrow and do wellness check and then get back to practice on Monday with a mindset of, like, let’s pick ourselves up and let’s go? Nobody is going to feel sorry for us.

“I think from an execution standpoint, there already is a spiral. We have to be more detailed in what we’re doing to make improvements and adjustments.”

Well. At least he’s not blaming the wind.

Some perspective, before we all jump: bad as it feels to be a Gator right now, it’s worse other places. How would you like to be an LSU fan after three losses? How’s it going down there in Miami? Or in Columbus?

Misery loves company, and the SEC is serving plenty of it.

But this one stings on its own merits: for the first time since 1946 — let that year roll around in your head, 1946 — Florida has lost consecutive home games by 14 or more points.

That doesn’t sound like the Florida Gators. That sounds like a program wearing a Florida Gators costume.

And the harshest line of the week, courtesy of one poster on X, whom I’ll spare the embarrassment of naming: “I want Billy Napier back!”

Careful what you nostalgia for, friend. That road runs both directions.

Now let me own up to some of my own stinging words:

“Florida joined LSU, Missouri, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Kentucky on a day being hailed as one of the greatest in college football history. Some people called it one of the greatest Saturdays in the history of the league.

“Not so much, in some places. Ask the guys holding the bag.”

Meanwhile, here’s some of the ugliest of what’s being written and said after Florida’s 23-7 loss to Oklahoma (now 5-4, losers of four of five):

The Fans Are Calling for Change

The angriest reactions are aimed squarely at first-year coach Jon Sumrall. Fans on X have declared him “in over his head and retaining him is only delaying the inevitable.” One wrote, simply, “I’m fully done with Jon Sumrall.” Others are hammering his in-game decisions — going for it on fourth down instead of taking the points, which backfired when Tramell Jones Jr. was picked off in the end zone trailing 13-7.

And Oklahoma’s 20-play, 12-minute-45-second fourth-quarter march — a drive so long it needed a rest stop — drew this review from one fan: “The most embarrassing defensive drive I’ve ever seen.” (College Football Network)

The Media’s Harshest Judgments

GatorCountry wrote that Florida was “outplayed and outcoached,” that the offense “never posed much of a threat” and produced virtually no momentum outside one punt return and two runs — and that Florida should have benched Jones for Aaron Philo in the third quarter.

OnlyGators called it a “listless loss” in which a Sooners offense ranked among the nation’s worst, running an interim coordinator 10 weeks into his coaching career, never trailed in The Swamp.

The AP/ESPN verdict: Oklahoma “throttled” the Gators, holding them to 203 yards and 47 plays. Forty-seven plays. Some teams run that many by halftime.

The Orlando Sentinel framed it as the “downward spiral” continuing after a 4-0 September — 203 yards, 11 first downs, one touchdown for a second straight game.

The Numbers Fueling the Anger

Tramell Jones finished 10-of-22 for 133 yards and two picks. Jadan Baugh managed 35 yards on eight carries. Florida went 2-of-9 on third down while letting Oklahoma convert 10-of-18.

The Gators forced zero turnovers from a Sooners team that had been giving it away twice a game — the football equivalent of declining a gift horse with a bow on it. And they’ve scored 15 total points in their last two games, after putting up 44 at Auburn and 52 on Ole Miss earlier this season. Same season, mind you.

Even Sumrall’s own postgame assessment feeds the criticism. He admitted “right now, we feel a little bit lost” and couldn’t pinpoint what the offense is good at.

Neither could anybody in Section 8, coach.

So go ahead, get it out of your system! What Gator Nation needs right now is a good purge. Scream into a pillow, fire off the angry post, question the play-calling at the dinner table.

But let’s keep the baby with the bathwater. This program has been here before and come out the other side. Pick up the pieces — and check the mirror while you’re at it.

Tony Bennett would want it that way.