Somebody should tell the rest of the SEC that Jadan Baugh is done sharing. Florida's junior running back doesn't just lead the SEC in rushing — he owns the category. Through three games, Baugh has 458 rushing yards, second in the FBS, and his eight rushing touchdowns lead the nation. Read that again. Nobody in the country has run for more touchdowns. The Auburn statement Baugh saved his best for the biggest stage so far. In last week's 44-39 win at Auburn, he ran for 162 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries — on the road, in a rivalry game, with the whole conference watching. It was his third straight game with at least 130 rushing yards and multiple rushing touchdowns. Baugh is scoring in bunches and ripping off chunk plays, and nobody has found an answer yet. What makes it work Baugh isn't doing this alone, and he'd be the first to say so. Quarterback Aaron Philo has kept defenses honest, and the offense has been putting Baugh in space. But make no mistake: when Florida needs yards, the ball goes to No. 13. And No. 13 delivers. The matchup today Ole Miss knows what's coming. The question is whether they can do anything about it. Auburn knew too. Auburn watched the tape, loaded the box, and still gave up 162 yards. This is what great backs do — they beat the game plan. Baugh's answer to every big week has been the same: keep getting better every Saturday. The bottom line Florida's ground game can shorten this game, keep Trinidad Chambliss on the sideline, and wear down a defense that has already been tested. The best running back in the SEC wears orange and blue. And today, in front of a packed Swamp, Jadan Baugh gets the biggest stage of his career. 🐊 Editor's note: This story has been updated to remove statistics and a quote that could not be verified. Correction: An earlier version of this story said Baugh was a 2025 Doak Walker Award finalist and had back-to-back three-touchdown games. He was on the award’s watch list, and the Auburn game was his second three-touchdown game of the season. Watch: Is Jadan Baugh the best back in the country? Graham Hall of 247Sports weighs in

The day Gator Nation has been waiting for is here. No. 21 Florida (3-0, 1-0 SEC) hosts No. 4 Ole Miss (3-0, 1-0 SEC) today at 3:30 p.m. ET at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, live on ABC. Both teams are unbeaten. Both are ranked. The loser takes its first blemish of the season. The winner banks a résumé win that will echo through the SEC race all fall. The biggest stage of the season This is the kind of afternoon The Swamp was built for. SEC Nation broadcast live from Gainesville from 9 a.m. to noon, and Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and Katie George have the call on ABC. Florida is a 3.5-point favorite — yes, the No. 21 team favored over the No. 4 team. Head coach Jon Sumrall had some fun with that one this week: "There's a lot of good drugs out there," he said. Strength on strength This one is simple to describe: the SEC's leading rusher against one of the country's most dangerous quarterbacks. Junior running back Jadan Baugh leads the SEC with 458 rushing yards, and his eight rushing touchdowns lead the nation. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss threw for 301 yards and a touchdown against Florida last season. Sumrall called Chambliss the best quarterback in college football. So the Gators know exactly what they're walking into. Watch the injury report Florida's biggest question is senior wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr., who has not played this season because of a sprained left ankle. He is a game-time decision, though Sumrall told ESPN he feels decent about his chances. Ole Miss, meanwhile, will be without star running back Kewan Lacy. The Doak Walker Award finalist has been ruled out with a left shoulder injury, one of 10 Rebels out. Lacy ran for 224 yards and three touchdowns against Florida in Oxford last season. Why it matters A win today gives Florida its first 4-0 start since 2019. The Gators are already 3-0 for the first time since 2019. The turnaround under Jon Sumrall is real, it's happening fast, and a packed Swamp gets to watch the next chapter in person. It's game day in The Swamp. Against a top-five team. With everything on the line. This is what Gator football is supposed to feel like. 🐊 Correction: An earlier version of this story said Ole Miss ran for 224 yards against Florida last season. Kewan Lacy ran for 224 yards; the Rebels ran for 237. The story has also been updated with Lacy's status and to remove details that could not be verified. Watch: 90 minutes to kickoff in The Swamp Watch: Lights out, phones up: The Swamp sings "Won't Back Down"

Florida has a No. 1 quarterback, as good a running back as you will find in all of college football, a wide receiver corps that might be as good as there is in the SEC, five offensive linemen who are finding a groove, some guys on the edge who can get after the quarterback, some studs at linebacker and a secondary that is long on potential but needing to grow up in a hurry. Jon Sumrall seems to have the Gators exactly where he wants them to be. There is an air of confidence about Sumrall and it is contagious because Florida fans are feeling this might be the guy who can lead the Gators out of their 15-year descent into life among the mediocre and back to consistent dwelling in the Southeastern Conference high rent district. Breathing fresh air into the Florida program was what Sumrall was hired to do and so far he has exceeded expectations. Best of all, he’s made most Florida fans forget that the coach they wanted most after Billy Napier was pink slipped is busy stirring up controversy in Baton Rouge. If Gator fans didn’t sour on Lane Kiffin the way he strung three schools along – Ole Miss, Florida and LSU – before signing a mega deal to coach LSU, then they certainly have concluded Florida dodged a bullet by coming in second in that hiring cycle. The record at two previous head coaching stops (Troy and Tulane, 43-12) tells us that Jon Sumrall is nobody’s consolation prize. He is a coach confident enough in his own skin that he surrounds himself with capable people, not a bunch of yes men. Everything about Sumrall creates a measure of faith that winning football will be back in vogue in Gainesville. Meanwhile, there is Lane Kiffin. He’s going to win in Baton Rouge. Bet the ranch on it, but with Lane and winning comes the baggage. They love him in Baton Rouge. He’s despised everywhere else, not that he really cares. If you have followed his career it is almost as if Lane needs to be the irritant that creates ill will. He means no harm by it, but that’s his nature. The more his mouth roars, the more he endears himself to his own fan base and people everywhere else hate him. Somehow, someway it emboldens him to embrace the very next controversy that comes his way. Right now he’s got Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey, the presidents and AD’s of the SEC and commissioners from the other power conferences in a dither all because he’s trying to bring in at least two players (tight end DaeQuan Wright and defensive lineman Zxavier Harris) off NFL rosters to play for the Tigers this year. Add to that Will Wade, LSU’s rogue of a basketball coach, signing RJ Luis, the former Big East Player of the Year who has spent the last two years playing in the G-League on an NBA two-way contract. With the backing of all 16 presidents and athletic directors in the SEC, including LSU president Wade Rousse, Sankey issued an edict Tuesday night that prohibits any school in the conference from bringing in players who have signed a contract with an NFL, NBA, G-League or WNBA team or who have been listed on their rosters. Sankey announced there will be harsh penalties for defiance that will be announced sooner rather than later. Some have suggested the penalties will involve suspending the coaches for up to half a season and fining the athletic department of the violating institution millions of dollars. We will find out quickly just how much power Rousse has over his football and basketball coaches. Will they submit to higher authorities or will they continue with their business as usual approaches? Will they lawyer up and fight the SEC and the NCAA in court? Because Lane Kiffin is involved this will be a bigger than life story that seems to fuel his competitive fires, but there are two sides to every story. If Kiffin chooses to die on this hill, the repercussions against LSU could linger for years into the future. Lane, of course, will milk the controversy for everything it’s worth but at what cost? Meanwhile, things are rather quiet on the Florida football front where Jon Sumrall is taking a day-by-day approach to rebuilding the Gators into a championship contender. A dodged bullet never looked so good. COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY: AUGUST 26, 2026 EDITION Extinct Species List None yet, but it’s early. Prediction: at least one coach will get the axe prior to October 15. On Life Support Mike Norvell, Florida State: Seminole fans wanted him gone last year but couldn’t afford the buyout money. To fire him this year would still cost more than $50 million but if FSU posts a third straight losing season they’ll hold bake sales and car washes to raise the funds necessary to fire him. To lift the Seminoles out of the doldrums, Norvell brought in former Stanford QB Ashton Daniels, who might have had an impressive moment in his career although no one can recall exactly when that was. Week two against SMU and week three at Alabama will say a lot about the direction the Seminoles are headed. Luke Fickell, Wisconsin: This was thought to be a no-brainer hire when Wisconsin lured Fickell from Cincinnati where he went 57-18. He’s 17-21 at Wisconsin and the Badgers are predicted to finish among Big Ten bottom feeders. It doesn’t help matters at all that the first game of the season is Notre Dame at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The buyout is somewhere in the neighborhood of $22-24 million. The faithful are asking what the hell were we thinking when we fired Paul Chryst, who was 67-26 during his tenure. Dave Aranda, Baylor: A year ago, DJ Lagway was charged with saving Billy Napier’s job at Florida. This year DJ is at Baylor, charged with saving Dave Aranda’s job. Things will cool off for awhile at least if DJ lights up Auburn week one in Atlanta. If Auburn torches Baylor, however, new AD Doug McNamee will be flooded with phone calls from folks asking if they need to punch an oil well in their back yard to help fund the buyout (approximately $10 million). Bill Belichick, North Carolina: This experiment has gone south in a hurry. The Tar Heel faithful are ready to pull the plug on one more dumb hire. There is a new sheriff in town, too, and that doesn’t bode well for Belichick, who doesn’t have Bubba Cunningham around to protect him anymore. New AD Steve Newmark has no ties to the Belichick hire. If the Tar Heels lose to TCU Saturday in Ireland, the wildfire devastating Reno is going to seem like a single candle compared to the wrath of the powder blue folks who still can’t believe Duke won the ACC last year. Mike Locksley, Maryland: He’s gone back-to-back 4-8, picked 14th in the Big Ten (Plus Eight) and all the good will of three straight bowl games (2021-23) has ridden off into the sunset. Circle September 19 on your calendar. If Maryland goes down in flames to Virginia Tech, coached by former Penn State HBC and one-time Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin, buzzards will be seen circling the Maryland football complex. He will have a chance to redeem himself, however, because the Terps only game against a big time opponent is at Ohio State. No Oregon and no Indiana on the schedule. The buyout is $10 million, not much but Maryland’s athletic department is deeply in debt. Bill O’Brien, Boston College: They’re not happy in Chestnut Hill after O’Brien piloted BC to a 2-10 last year. This year he’s trying to right a listing ship with Mason McKenzie, who was last seen quarterbacking Saginaw Valley State to a 7-4 record in 2025. They have champagne tastes at BC but only enough money for a six-pack of Mickey Malt and not much of football tradition in the 86 years since Frank Leahy was the HBC. O’Brien needs a minimum of seven wins to save his job. Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee State: He has never won and odds are he never will. He’s 6-18 in two seasons at MTSU without a win over a team that finished with a winning record. This isn’t rock bottom but there are signs in Murfreesboro that can get you there in 15 minutes. Dell McGee, Georgia State: There is enough talent in the Atlanta Metro area that no coach at Georgia State should ever post a losing record. McGee inherited a team that went 7-6 in 2024 and in two seasons has plunged the Panthers to the lower realms of the Sun Belt Conference. Endangered Species List Kalen DeBoer, Alabama: He’s not going to be fired even if he turns in another 4-loss season (two in a row so far). The reason is a $63 million buyout. Even a school with deep football pockets like Alabama gulps at the thought of spending that much to fire one coach and needing at least that much to hire someone new. By SEC standards, Bama has a cupcake schedule. The only contenders are Georgia, Texas A&M and LSU. The Tide faces Georgia and the Aggies in Tuscaloosa. Shane Beamer, South Carolina: There were high hopes when the Gamecocks went 9-4 in 2024, but last year’s 4-8 record hasn’t settled well with the faithful. Mike Shula was fired as the OC and Kendal Briles brought in to take advantage of the enormous talents of LaNorris Sellers. He has to face Alabama, Florida, Oklahoma and Clemson on the road. At home he gets Tennessee, Texas and Georgia. The schedule says 6-6 will be a near miracle. Lincoln Riley, Southern California: Let’s start with the obvious. The buyout is $60 million so unless the Trojans tank the entire season, Riley will be back to coach another year. Nobody is happy with him in LA-LA Land. They would be exceedingly joyful if someone offered Linc a job somewhere else and he took it. Hold onto that thought. It just might happen. Matt Rhule, Nebraska: Consecutive 7-6 seasons have the Husker faithful believing once again, but the schedule includes a gauntlet of Indiana, Oregon and Washington and a late season close out with Ohio State and Iowa. A 7-5 record might be an accomplishment, but Nebraska fans believe the right coach could bring back the glory days of Dr. Tom Osborne. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati: Luke Fickell went 57-18 before Satterfield arrived. Satterfield is 15-22. Nobody is happy in Cincinnati. Satterfield might need eight wins to survive but at least he has a schedule conducive to a winning season. Buyout money is in the $12 million neighborhood.

Jon Sumrall and the Gators head to hostile territory for a historic trip to Jordan-Hare. By Loren Meadows GatorBaitMedia.com, Football Analyst, Host of The Gator Lowdown with Loren Meadows While two schools could not be more closely linked, Florida and Auburn have only met four times since 2002. The rivalry conjures names like Spurrier, Sanders, Byrum, and most recently Perine for what it’s worth the 2026 edition looks to be set for another classic. Florida will find out what it’s made of as the mystique of Jordan-Hare after dark and a quarterback who has no reason to fear the Gators will be looking to put the Gators in their place for the second straight year. Sumrall comes with a get there, show up, play ball mentality that will need to resonate throughout his team for what is sure to be a savage get down on the plains. Auburn Offense Auburn Offensive Key Players #17 QB Byrum Brown (6-3, 235, Sr./USF), #5 WR Chaz Nimrod (6-2, 200, Sr./USF) , #11 WR Keyshaun Singleton (6-3, 220, Jr./USF), #4 WR Jeremiah Koger (6-3, 213, So.), #23 RB Jeremiah Cobb (5-11, 205, Sr.), #29 RB Omar Mabsen (5-9, 215, So.) Key Matchups: Byrum Brown v. Myles Graham, Florida Defensive Line v. Auburn Offensive Line Offensively tempo, tempo, and more tempo is the name of the game for Auburn. Alex Golesh has brought his physical brand of the Art Briles Baylor system to Auburn to recreate his success at USF. To do so, he brought his own lunch to work in the form of quarterback Byrum Brown and three of his top targets from Tampa. Brown has thrown for over 8000 yards and rushed for 2,000 in four years of college football. While his 2026 has begun a little slower than expected, his ability to extend plays, make off schedule throws, and finish runs like a tailback is a problem for opposing defenses. It was Brown’s legs that were the catalyst for an 80-yard final drive that helped Brown and USF knock of the Gators at home last season, and why Brad White and company will need to have their ducks in a row to corral Brown when he looks to get downhill on designed runs and scrambles. The trio of Chaz Nimrod, Keyshaun Singleton, and Jeremiah Koger also play a major role in the Auburn attack. All spent last year with Brown at USF and it seems that that familiarity has already paid dividends as they have 28 catches between them in the first two contests. Singleton scored the only USF touchdown in last year’s upset and looks to have picked up where he left off in 2026. Nimrod is the elder statesmen of the group and brings SEC pedigree with stop at Tennessee prior to his time at USF. Brown has also developed a rapport with transfer tight end Jake Johnson and is supported in the running game by Jeremiah Cobb, and Auburn native Omar Mabsen who play bigger than their stature and collectively average over 100 yards per game. Brad White’s defense has taken it on the chin from some pundits that feel the sky is falling on the defensive side of the ball despite the Gators giving up just 12 points per game this season. Despite the thoughts of those outside the program White was extremely confident when talking about where his defense is and what he believes their potential could be. Auburn presents a lot of challenges with the way they run tempo and spread you out to get the running game going. Look for Florida to be extremely diverse in coverage and pressures to not allow Brown easy outs to elude pressure and force Florida to chase. Whether Florida uses a spy on defense or not, getting Brown on the ground in space is the order of the day. The defensive backfield has been attacked in the first two weeks but have not broken. If the Gators can manage third downs and force punts it offers opportunities in the return game as well as managing field position that in turn feeds a running game that will need to be effective to control time of possession. The more Brown is on the sidelines the better. Auburn Defense Auburn Defensive Key Players: #17 LB Xavier Atkins (6-0, 210, Jr.) #9 LB Elijah Melendez (6-0, 240, So.), #5 Safety Eric Winters (6-0, 215, So.), #4 CB Rayshawn Pleasant (5-11, 200, Sr.), #8 Safety Kaleb Harris (6-1, 204, Jr.) Matchups to Watch: DJ Durkin v. Buster Faulkner, Jaden Baugh v. Xavier Atkins and Elijah Melendez Defensive coordinator DJ Durkin is in his third season as defensive coordinator at Auburn and has a unit that may be his best to date. Durkin’s unit is one of the best in the country and like Florida are surrendering just 12 points per game while holding opponents to 76.5 yards rushing per game. Where there may be cause for concern is in the passing game where Auburn ranks last in the SEC giving up 252 yards per game in their first two games including 333 yards to former Florida quarterback DJ Lagway and Baylor. The Florida offense should offer more of a challenge than Baylor did in week one with names like Baugh, Brown, and Wilson to name a few. To cool the Gators off Durkin will turn to a pair of linebackers that are two of the SEC’s best. Xavier Atkins and Elijah Melendez have been excellent to begin the season. Atkins, a preseason All-American candidate led the SEC in tackles for loss with 17 in 2025, and is on pace to increase that total this season. Melendez leads the team in total tackles and is an emerging star. The Orlando native was a member of the SEC All Freshman Team and at 240 packs a punch when coming downhill. While there have been challenges on the back end safeties Eric Winters and Kaleb Harris have been stout in the box. Winters was the hero of the Baylor game with the game saving tackle on the final play and Harris brings experience to the unit. Corner Rayshawn Pleasant will most likely be charged with following Dallas Wilson to at least neutralize one of the Florida receivers that Buster Faulkner doesn’t move around as much as others. The collisions in this game are must see TV. Jaden Baugh meeting Melendez in the hole will be WWE, UFC, and good ole backyard football rolled into one. Then for the bonus round Atkins and Baugh meeting in the backfield will be physicality on steroids. The Gators will most certainly let it all hang out on Saturday and will look to stress the eye discipline of Winters and Harris who are looking to drop the hammer as opposed to chasing the talented plethora of Gator pass catchers. This will be the first SEC road start for quarterback Aaron Philo who will at least have the security blanket of Faulkner’s offense that has been ingrained into his mind for the last three years. Florida will need to establish a running game but not die trying, while allowing Philo the opportunity to throw but not at the expense of the defense that can ill afford short fields. I believe Aaron Philo at Florida to be better than DJ Lagway at Baylor. Maybe not on raw talent but the system is much more established and a potential Heisman candidate lines up next to him on almost every play. That could be the difference. The Skinny: There are many story lines that make this game far more interesting than just a rivalry that should exist every calendar year. Golesh was possibly Auburn’s second or even third choice. Sumrall was at the top of the wish list. Sumrall’s wife went to Auburn, although she knows exactly who pays the mortgage. Brown and Golesh possibly set in motion the coaching change at Florida 51 weeks ago with an upset of the Gators. The coaches are friends but not for four hours Saturday evening. This is a statement game for two programs that have a rich history of hoisting both team and individual trophies and fan bases that are chomping at the bit to get back to that very thing. Ultimately it will come down to the line of scrimmage with offensive and defensive lines that lack a lot of star power but hold the key to who walks away from the field victorious. Florida is getting two sacks per game, while Auburn is getting two and a half. Auburn gives up three sacks a game where no quarterback at Florida has been laid to the turf yet. There may be the rub, Philo stays clean and outplays Brown who throws it to the other team two more times. Baugh rushes for less than 100 but Wilson and Brown come up big with one TD catch each as Florida gets the win. Prediction: Florida Gators 27 Auburn 20

VB3 Looks like he's going to salute his teammates or do the chomp atJordan-Hare. (UAA Photo) The Gators won a track meet in shoulder pads — “the NBA in cleats,” if you will. By Buddy Martin GatorBaitMedia.com Before anybody books the parade route down University Avenue, it should be noted that the Florida Gators won a track meet in shoulder pads at Auburn — “the NBA in cleats,” if you will — against an Auburn team for whom Alex Golesh apparently found his offensive game plan in the Vatican’s most guarded drawer. Because the Tigers were throwing Hail Marys all night, except these were not prayers. They were completed passes, big chunks, bursts of chaos and the sort of explosive plays that make defensive coordinators start looking at real-estate listings in another state. Florida went into Jordan-Hare Stadium Saturday night and won a football game, 44-39, which is the sort of thing Gator fans have been demanding for so long that somebody ought to send them a commemorative coffee mug. They also committed 16 penalties, which is the sort of thing that gets you killed in the Southeastern Conference, or at least laughed at by the teams with enough offensive linemen to make it hurt. So, yes, Florida is 3-0. Yes, Jon Sumrall has his first SEC victory as the Gators’ coach. Yes, Aaron Philo survived his first road start in a place where noise is a regional crop. Yes, Jadan Baugh is running with the authority of a man who has discovered that defenders are merely speed bumps with scholarship offers. Florida made enough of its own big plays to survive. It ran. It passed. It got sacks from a wounded defensive lineman. It got a quarterback with a cowboy mentality. It got another 100-yard performance from Baugh. And it got penalized 16 times. That last detail is not a footnote. It is the giant yellow caution sign flashing over everything else the Gators accomplished at Pat Dye Field. Sumrall, to his credit, did not come into the postgame room with a smile painted on by the scoreboard. He sounded as though he wanted to take the entire officiating crew, his roster and possibly the goalposts into the locker room for a long talk involving a blackboard, a whistle and some old-fashioned public shame. Then came the part that mattered. “The penalties were out of control. I mean 16 penalties; we won’t win another game all year if we do that again, not one more game. I got to get it cleaned up, us as a staff have to get it cleaned up, we got to play with more discipline. I did not agree with all of them, but still I am not going to let our guys off the hook, that’s inexcusable.” That was not coach-speak. That was a man trying not to bite through a podium. Florida has now gone from a manageable number of penalties in Week One, to twice as many in Week Two, to a full-scale yellow-flag festival at Auburn. Sumrall said he was “no mathematician,” but even in the SEC, where arithmetic is occasionally treated as an elective at some lesser light schools, he knows the curve is pointed in the wrong direction. And he knows what is coming. “If we play like that, we will get just slaughtered,” Sumrall said. “It wouldn’t be close.” That is about as close as a football coach gets to saying the next upper-tier SEC opponent will turn his team into driveway gravel if Florida keeps behaving as though discipline is a rumor. The Gators were good enough Saturday to win while repeatedly tripping over their own shoelaces. Against better people, there may not be enough offensive fireworks, fourth-down conversions or heroic runs to compensate for it. Florida can celebrate this one. It should celebrate this one. Road wins in the SEC are not handed out in gift bags with the visiting team’s sideline towels. But Florida must also understand what it nearly squandered. The Gators had opportunities to make the game less dramatic, less messy and less dependent on everybody’s blood pressure medication. Emmanuel Oyebadejo, who did not even know Wednesday whether he would play or travel, said the players understood it. “We are not going to look back on this and be too high and think that everything is all sweet, because it wasn’t,” Oyebadejo said. “We had opportunities to really throw them out of the water, make the game not close. So we’re going to learn from them, need to learn from that because we got a good opponent coming up next week.” That is the right answer. Florida did not win because it was neat, controlled and polished. It won because, as Sumrall kept saying, it found a way. A quarterback with dust on his boots Philo did not look like a quarterback making his first road start in Jordan-Hare. That does not mean he was perfect. It means he had the most valuable trait a young quarterback can have: He did not appear to be frightened by the moment. Sumrall described him this way: “I thought he did really well. He has a little bit of a cowboy mentality. He is tough as nails. He will talk a whole lot just to talk, but he won’t back down from nothing. I can tell watching him, just how he carries himself. I got a lot of confidence in him; our team has a lot of confidence in him just because that is the way he is wired. He is a tough, blue-collar, chip-on-your-shoulder type of guy.” That is a fairly good scouting report for a quarterback, although “he will talk a whole lot just to talk” may eventually become something for the sports information department to embroider on a pillow. Philo was calmer about it all. “We talked about it all week,” he said. “All we need is us. We just need the people in that locker room, and that’s who came with us today and we got the job done.” He said the coaching staff has been transparent, asking him what he likes and does not like, and that three years in the system finally paid off. “I’ve been in the offense for three years now and I feel like I’ve been preparing for this moment for a long time and all those banked reps just came to fruition tonight,” Philo said. The kid also saw the obvious: Florida’s offense can be much better when it stops helping the other team. “I knew that we were extremely explosive offensively,” Philo said. “We stopped ourselves a lot tonight. When we go back and clean it up, I think we can be even better.” That sentence could be engraved above the Florida football complex this week. Baugh belongs in the conversation Baugh ran for another 100 yards, giving him four consecutive 100-yard rushing games. He is the first Florida running back to do that since Fred Taylor, which is a sentence that should cause the older Gator fans to stop, smile and begin describing Taylor runs from the mid-1990s to anyone within hearing range. Baugh’s touchdown on fourth-and-one had the proper simplicity of a good running play. “I saw daylight,” he said. “I feel like my offensive line came to play. They had the mentality that we were going to try and seal the game and that is what they needed me to do.” He also fumbled early and said Sumrall helped pull him out of his own head. “I just appreciate Coach Sumrall because I was really in my own head there,” Baugh said. “I know that the turnover is not me and I owed it to my team to play a lot better. Coach Sumrall came to me and said that we were going to make more plays. I understood that and we ended up doing so.” Baugh’s response to the Fred Taylor comparison had the appropriate mixture of humility and ambition. “Honestly, I have to give him a call,” Baugh said. “Uncle Fred, he’s one of the greats. Everybody knows that. Being able to put my name up there with him and other guys, it is such an honor. Those guys have paved the way for me.” The Gators’ young runner also made clear that he has no illusions about the 44 points. “It’s just another day in the office,” Baugh said. “We have a lot more to work on. That’s how I feel. We had a lot of little penalties that we should not have. I think we put ourselves in a deeper hole than we should have been in. The game should have gone a lot better on our end. We got the job done, though.” And he gave offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner credit for Florida’s suddenly explosive rushing attack. “Honestly, it is all up to Coach Buster Faulkner,” Baugh said. “When he first came in, he said that we needed way more runs over 20 yards, and he tells me that all the time. So, the way that I practice is because of him. It just gives me more confidence each and every day.” As for another Heisman pose, Baugh is not apologizing. “Each and every day I feel like I put in so much work,” he said. “Me and my team, especially the offensive line. If I am doing what I am doing, that means those guys up front are doing what they need to do. What I do is all up to those guys. I started doing the pose in the first game. It’s really the defenses’ fault. Last week, when I did not do the pose, they were upset. But it is a statement.” There are worse statements a Florida running back can make than, “Stop me if you can.” Alabama roots and Auburn heat For Sumrall, the win came in a place tangled up in his Alabama upbringing and football memories. He was born in Texas but raised in Alabama, and he spoke with genuine sentiment about the old coaching names that still hang over football in that state like church steeples. “But man, I grew up in this state,” Sumrall said. “You know as a kid there were a couple of people I always watched and one of their names is on the field, Pat Dye. I got a ton of respect for Pat Dye; God rest his soul.” Then came the Alabama coaching royalty. “Then the other two across the state, Gene Stallings and Bear Bryant, like I watched those guys my whole life and Bear Bryant died basically when I was born, but I’ve idolized the great coaches who have coached in this state,” he said. For Sumrall, winning his first SEC game on Pat Dye Field had personal weight. “For our first SEC win and as a program, and me as a head coach to do it on Pat Dye Field, I can’t tell you what that means to me personally because I have a picture of Pat Dye and Bear Bryant in my office, in Moundville, Alabama hunting rabbits,” Sumrall said. “To do it on Pat Dye Field means something to me.” That is a good football story. Two Alabama legends hunting rabbits in Moundville, preserved in a photograph on the wall of a coach who just won an SEC game at Auburn. The sport still has room for a little mythmaking, particularly when it is not being interrupted by another flag. But Sumrall had one other point to settle. Somebody suggested he had once interviewed for the Auburn job and turned it down. “Who told you that?” Sumrall snapped. Then he clarified, with all the delicate diplomacy of a third-and-short play call. “I didn’t want them, and they didn’t want me!” That should be enough to end the discussion, though this is college football, where nothing ever dies if there is a message board, an old booster and a grainy photograph involved. Florida will take the win. It should. The Gators proved they can survive a road shootout, get a tough performance from Philo, lean on Baugh, make adjustments and get crucial defensive plays from a man who had barely practiced. But they also left Auburn carrying 16 yellow reminders that winning ugly is still winning — until you meet somebody better, deeper and less interested in letting you off the hook. As Sumrall put it, “They found a way.” Now Florida has to find some discipline before the next SEC opponent finds 16 ways to beat it. Or it suffocates to death the next time the sky rains with yellow flags.

The Gators have been wandering in the football wilderness long enough to know every cactus by name. They have cycled through coaches, quarterbacks, coordinators, athletic-department philosophies and enough hope to fill Lake Alice. Yet Meyer, who knows a little something about winning at Florida, placed the Gators among the programs most likely to sustain success in the coming years. By Buddy Martin GatorBaitMedia.com There was no shocker in Urban Meyer putting Ohio State at the top of his list of college football programs best built to keep winning for the next decade or two. Urban Meyer picking Ohio State No. 1 is a little like asking the late Colonel Sanders to rank fried chicken. He has a certain affection for the product. And there was no surprise in Georgia and Texas getting the bronze-medal penthouse, tied at No. 2. Both are currently loaded, located in recruiting-rich territory and backed by administrations willing to spend money with the enthusiasm of a lottery winner in a tackle shop. But Florida at No. 9? Now that got my attention, in a good way. The Gators have been wandering in the football wilderness long enough to know every cactus by name. They have cycled through coaches, quarterbacks, coordinators, athletic-department philosophies and enough hope to fill Lake Alice. Yet Meyer, who knows a little something about winning at Florida, placed the Gators among the programs most likely to sustain success in the coming years. That is not nostalgia talking. At least, not entirely. Urban’s list came during an episode of The Triple Option podcast, where he laid out his four pillars of football permanence: Recruiting infrastructure, administration, fan base and history. You need the players, the money and support, the people in the stands, and preferably a trophy case that has seen some traffic. By those standards, Florida still has the bones of a blueblood, even if the recent product sometimes resembled a beautiful old house with a few too many squirrels in the attic. Meyer was blunt about the Gators. Recruiting, he said, is elite. The fan base is elite. And when The Swamp is rocking, he called it “the best stadium in college football.” He also raised the obvious question about administration, awaiting the inauguration and leadership of new president Stuart Bell, calling that part “to be determined.” Fair enough. At Florida, the question has never been whether the program can win. The question has been why it occasionally behaves as though winning national championships requires a permission slip from Tuscaloosa or Tallahassee. “How do you not win there in football?” Meyer asked. Exactly. Florida has the population. Florida has the recruits. Florida has the brand, the facilities, the weather, the tradition, the stadium and the memories of Spurrier, Meyer, Tebow, Wuerffel, Emmitt and a long parade of men who made Saturdays in Gainesville feel like a state holiday with better barbecue. The missing ingredient lately has been alignment. But there is a positive spin emerging on that lately. Everybody pulling the rope in the same direction, preferably before the rope has been sold to a booster collective and renamed after a local car dealership. That is why Meyer’s ranking of the Gators is also something of an endorsement of Jon Sumrall. Urban sees Sumrall as a younger version of himself, which is a compliment carrying both horsepower and a warning label. Meyer was restless, demanding, obsessive and capable of turning a program into a machine. If Sumrall can bring even a portion of that edge to Gainesville, while surviving the modern complications of NIL, the transfer portal and social-media quarterback evaluations from people whose only coaching experience is Madden, Florida can climb fast. Meyer knows the job. He won two national championships there from 2005 through 2010. He knows what Florida looks like when it is operating at full voltage. It is terrifying to those who fear the sleeping giant is awakening to the rest of college football. His top 10 ranking was a reminder that sustained success is not always a reflection of last season’s record. USC, which Meyer put at No. 10, has spent years trying to remember where it left its swagger. Oregon, at No. 8, has built itself into a national operation through investment, innovation and Phil Knight’s checkbook, which may qualify as its own branch of government. Then come Michigan, Miami, LSU and Notre Dame, programs with enough history, resources and recruiting appeal to remain dangerous even when they stumble. Georgia and Texas at No. 2 make sense because both have become modern football factories. Kirby Smart has Georgia operating like a high-security facility for five-star prospects. Texas has the money, the recruiting base and now the kind of institutional focus that makes old Southwest Conference ghosts sit up straighter in their rocking chairs. And Ohio State at No. 1? Of course. Meyer credited the Buckeyes for adapting, for being ahead of the Big Ten curve in recruiting nationally and refusing to settle for merely being the best team north of the Mason-Dixon line. Ohio State has won three national championships this century and has built a standard of excellence that does not allow many rebuilding years, only temporary disappointments followed by a new fleet of wide receivers. But Florida being in this neighborhood is the real story for Gator fans. It means Meyer believes the program is not broken beyond repair. It means he sees the ingredients still sitting on the counter, waiting for the right chef to stop burning the soufflé. It means the Swamp can still become the place visiting teams dread, recruits dream about and old Gators remember with a grin. Urban Meyer is not saying Florida is back. He is saying Florida is built to come back. And for a fan base that has spent too many recent Saturdays staring at the scoreboard as if it were a foreclosure notice, that is a premise worth endorsing.

Jadan Baugh (13) congratulated after a TD (Photo by Chris Spears) Five observations about Florida’s 66-21 season opening win over Florida Atlantic: 1. Jadan Baugh is a legitimate Heisman candidate: Ahmad Hardy hasn’t played a game. Keiwan Lacy was hurt against Louisville and is running behind an O-line that doesn’t look nearly as good as the one Ole Miss put on the field last year. Those two are on everybody’s Heisman list but are they as good as JB who had 14 carries for 160 yards and three TDs against FAU? 2. The O-line is much improved and better than we thought: The only issues Saturday were a couple of high snaps by Harrison Moore, who otherwise had an outstanding game at center. There was only one false start, not a single holding call and the one sack allowed could have been avoided. Moore and guards Knjeah Harris and TJ Shanahan are formidable in the middle. Bryce Lovett is solid at LT. Right tackle wasn’t bad, but seems the weak link at the moment. 3. Buster Faulkner will be a short timer in Gainesville: He has head coach written all over him. The Gators scored on 10 of their 11 possessions against Florida Atlantic. The Gators didn’t punt one time and the only drive that ended without a score came when a receiver deflected the ball into the hands of an FAU defensive back. Faulkner’s offense is balanced, explosive and unpredictable. What a concept after the previous four years. 4. Tackling must improve: Can’t wait for Jon Sumrall to give a number for missed tackles. A conservative over/under number is 20. It wouldn’t be surprising to find out if it’s closer to 30. If the Gators can’t tackle better they’ll have o win shootout games. 5. Pass defense will go only as far as the pass rush will take it: The pass rush wasn’t effective but that’s more on the Florida Atlantic scheme than anything else. The Owls run a hurry-up offense that is mostly dink and dunk so the pass rush is neutralized. Once in SEC play the Gators will see a lot more of a vertical passing game which will require a strong pass rush to make the pass defense effective. ELSEWHERE IN THE SEC No. 13 Alabama (1-0, 0-0 SEC): Redshirt freshman QB Keelon Russell threw for 256 yards and ran for 86 yards and a touchdown to lead the Crimson Tide past East Carolina, 48-10. ECU was held to two rushing yards on 22 carries by the Alabama defense. Saturday: at Kentucky (1-0, 0-0 SEC) Arkansas (1-0, 0-0 SEC): Ryan Silverfield got a 31-14 win over North Alabama in his Arkansas debut. The Arkansas defense, led by former Florida defensive coordinator Ron Roberts, held North Alabama to 153 total yards, just 40 on the ground. Saturday: at No. 21 Utah (1-0) Auburn (1-0, 0-0 SEC): Auburn got a 17-16 win over Baylor in the head coaching debut of Alex Golesh despite quarterback Byrum Brown throwing three interceptions and the offensive line allowing five sacks. Saturday: Southern Miss (1-0) No. 3 Georgia (1-0, 0-0 SEC): In beating D1AA Tennessee State 63-3, Georgia’s defense gave up only 109 total yards and 10 first downs. Offensively, the Bulldogs racked up 660 yards with Gunner Stockton completing 15-16 passes for 202 yards and three TDs. Fifteen different Bulldogs caught a pass. Saturday: Western Kentucky (0-1) Kentucky (1-0, 0-0 SEC): Rookie head coach Will Stein got a 45-13 win over Youngstown State in his Kentucky debut. Notre Dame transfer QB Kenny Minchey threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns. Saturday: No. 13 Alabama (1-0, 0-0 SEC) No. 11 LSU (1-0, 0-0 SEC): Quarterback Sam Leavitt and running back Dilin Jones both ran for 113 yards and two touchdowns as LSU handed Dabo Swinney the worst defeat of his coaching career, 51-10. LSU threw for 309 yards and ran for 335 while holding Clemson to 145 yards. Saturday: Louisiana Tech (1-0) Mississippi State (1-0, 0-0 SEC): Led by sophomore QB Kamario Taylor, the Bulldogs put up an astounding 762 yards in their 62-13 win over Louisiana-Monroe. Taylor threw for 354 yards and four TDs while running for 59 and another TD. The Bulldogs had 33 plays of 10 or more yards. Saturday: at Minnesota (1-0) No. 25 Missouri (1-0, 0-0 SEC): Ole Miss transfer Austin Simmons completed 17-19 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns leading Mizzou past Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 54-14. Mizzou outgained the visiting Lions, 562-198. Friday: at Kansas (1-0) No. 10 Oklahoma (1-0, 0-0 SEC): The Sooners warmed up for Saturday’s visit to Michigan with a 51-0 win over UTEP. John Mateer threw for 225 yards and three touchdowns. Saturday: at No. 16 Michigan (1-0) No. 9 Ole Miss (1-0): Ole Miss got a win over Louisville on the final play of the game when Lucas Carneiro nailed a 48-yard field goal as time ran out. Ole Miss endured a sloppy first half in which Trinidad Chambliss threw a pick and fumbled, but the Rebels scored 31 in the second half for a 41-38 win. Keiwan Lacy was injured and unable to play in the fourth quarter, which is a concern with LSU and Florida looming after cupcake Charlotte. Chambliss threw for 336 yards and three TDs, plus ran for 60 yards and another TD. The Ole Miss defense was quite shaky. Saturday: Charlotte (0-1) South Carolina (1-0, 0-0 SEC): New offensive coordinator Kendal Briles had a nice debut as the Gamecocks racked up 645 yards in a 57-0 skunking of Kent State. QB LaNorris Sellers completed 19-23 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns. The Gamecock defense got a shutout while holding Kent State to 179 yards and 10 first downs. Saturday: Towson (0-2) No. 20 Tennessee (1-0, 0-0 SEC): Freshman QB Faizon Brandon had a spectacular first game with 13-17 passing for 226 yards and three touchdowns to go with two rushing TDs and 68 yards. Mike Matthews caught four passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Saturday: at Georgia Tech No. 5 Texas (1-0, 0-0 SEC): Arch Manning threw for 305 yards and four touchdowns in the Longhorns 59-7 win over Texas State. Wide receivers Ryan Wingo (7-121, 1 TD) and Cam Coleman (3-70, 2 TDs) had big days and Will Muschamp’s defense forced three turnovers. Next Saturday: No. 1 Ohio State (1-0) No. 8 Texas A&M (1-0, 0-0 SEC): Mike Elko’s defense was the story of the Aggies 50-0 win over Missouri State. The Aggies gave up 67 total yards and just four first downs while forcing three turnovers. The A&M offense threw for 269 yards and ran for 236. Saturday: Arizona State (1-0) Vanderbilt (1-0, 0-0 SEC): The Vandy defense had five sacks while allowing Austin Peay 178 yards. Quarterback Blaze Berlowitz completed 11-16 passes for 149 yards in his first collegiate start. Saturday: Delaware (1-0) LIFE IN THE SLOW LANE Since becoming a full-fledged member of Division I in 2022, winning and scoring lots of points have become a trademark for James Madison. Curt Cignetti (2022-23) and Bob Chesney (2024-25) led the Dukes to 40 wins in 51 games, averaging 35.3 points per game while never averaging less than 407 yards. That was then. This is now and now means hello Billy Napier and welcome to the slow lane. Picking up where he left off at Florida, Napier’s first game at James Madison saw the Dukes put 20 points on the board while gaining all of 291 yards. Yes, James Madison won the game, beating Liberty, 20-13, but by all accounts it was boring football, kind of what Florida fans got used to from 2022-25. A year ago, the Gators averaged 341.6 yards and 21.6 points per game as Napier called his own plays. Saturday night with Buster Faulkner calling the plays for new Florida coach Jon Sumrall, the Gators had 38 points and 321 yards at the half. LAGWAY IS STILL LAGWAY Trailing Auburn, 17-16, after a 5-yard DJ Lagway touchdown pass with nine seconds remaining in the game, Baylor coach Dave Aranda elected to try to win the game outright rather than kick an extra point that would have most likely forced overtime. That put the game in the hands of former Florida quarterback DJ Lagway. On the two-point try, Lagway threw behind tight end Max Klopfenstein, who made the catch but was stopped inches from the goal line. Had Lagway either led Klopfenstein or waited a split second for Klopfenstein to take one more step, it would have been two points and a Baylor win. That Baylor scored only 16 points has a lot to do with Lagway. He completed 27 of his 54 passes for 333 yards (6.2 per pass attempt), and two touchdowns, but he fumbled to kill a potential scoring drive on Baylor’s first possession, then threw an interception on the second possession, killing another promising drive. Throughout the game there was no shortage of open receivers but Lagway missed as many as he completed. He still throws off his back foot which is why his midrange throws tend to sail on him. He still ignores open receivers on underneath routes while trying to force the ball into coverage farther down the field. He still can’t read a defense spelled cat if you spot him the C and the A. In other words, the rejuvenated DJ Lagway that we’ve been hearing about for months is still the same DJ Lagway who threw 28 touchdown passes and 23 interceptions during his two-year stint at Florida. HORRIBLE CALL IN ANN ARBOR I’ll make this simple. The Big Ten should be embarrassed that its replay officials added an extra second on the clock that allowed Michigan a Hail Mary touchdown pass to beat Western Michigan 13-12 Saturday night. Even more embarrassing is the Big Ten’s statement defending the call. On what should have been the last play of the game, the ball was still in the air when the clock flatlined at zero. The replay crew ignored the visual evidence, concocted an excuse and gave Michigan one more second which turned into the game-winning play. RANDOM OBSERVATIONS: Miami (1-0) had a statement win over Stanford on the road Friday night, clocking the Cardinal 45-6 behind five touchdown passes from Darian Mensah, who threw for 401 yards in his debut with The U. Sophomore wide receiver Malachi Toney caught 12 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns. The only difficult game remaining on the Miami schedule is a November 7 visit to Notre Dame. Buzzards will be circling the football complex at Wisconsin after the Badgers were whomped 41-13 by Notre Dame at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Luke Fickell needs at least eight wins to save his job. Notre Dame (1-0) only has two difficult games remaining on the schedule – at BYU October 17 and Miami in South Bend November 7. Ohio State (1-0) will put its No. 1 ranking on the line at Texas Saturday in a battle that might go a long way toward determining the Heisman Trophy winner. Arch Manning of Texas is the betting favorite, but Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith (8-151, 2 TDs against Ball State) might be the nation’s best and most dangerous player. Ohio State QB Julian Sayin went 21-25 for 320 yards and three touchdowns in the season opener. Josh Hoover, formerly of TCU, was 13-16 for 231 yards and four TDs in his Indiana debut. Indiana has now won 17 consecutive games, top streak in the country. Florida State hosts SMU tonight in what is a must win game for Mike Norvell. With road games at Alabama, Louisville and Miami still on the schedule, Norvell can’t afford any losses, much less one at home. SMU is favored by three but probably will win by at least two touchdowns. Dabo Swinney was a big winner when he had great assistant coaches. Since losing Tony Elliot, Brent Venables and Jeff Scott all to head coaching jobs elsewhere Clemson has been trending downward, largely because Dabo hasn’t chosen quality assistants. He will leave Clemson on his own terms but a lot of Tiger fans hope he decides it’s time to move on soon.

Graphic by AI Well, this shouldn’t happen but one never knows... The SEC has just reminded LSU, Lane Kiffin and everybody else in college football who owns the biggest hammer in the room. In an amended federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, the conference is seeking legal authority to expel LSU from the league. Nobody expects the SEC presidents and chancellors to drop that nuclear bomb when they meet Thursday, but don’t miss the message: The SEC isn’t bluffing. At stake is the conference’s right to enforce its own rules without a member school thumbing its nose, lawyering up and daring Commissioner Greg Sankey to do something about it. Now Sankey and the league have done something about it. The filing cites Section 3.1.5 of the SEC Constitution and Bylaws, which grants the presidents and chancellors sweeping authority over conference affairs, including the power to terminate a member institution. LSU has declined comment. Probably wise. This isn’t just another courtroom squabble. It’s a public warning shot from Birmingham: You may have trophies, tradition and Tiger Stadium rocking on Saturday night, but nobody is bigger than the SEC. Not even LSU. In other SEC business: CFP leaders were meeting Tuesday and could decide to trigger a 30-day negotiation window with ESPN, signaling their greatest interest yet in a 24-team field that could begin as soon as the 2027 season, sources said. If the CFP opens the window, it doesn’t guarantee a 24-team field next season, but it begins a discussion with the sole rights holder to determine what the value of it would be. Later Tuesday Heather Dinich reported that the CFP issued the following statement; "The CFP has decided to move forward in its evaluation of potential Playoff expansion to 24 teams by beginning a media rights discussion with ESPN. This does not represent a decision or commitment to expand, but rather an opportunity to engage with ESPN and gather additional information to help determine a path forward.” Whatever that means. Philo Looks Like Bell. Can He Ring Like One? His smart decisions with the football remind me of an old No. 9 who once played quarterback for Florida. Jon Sumrall liked what he saw from Aaron Philo, and he wasn’t alone. UAA Photo Aaron Philo Off to a Fast Start The redshirt sophomore transfer from Georgia Tech was about as impressive as any Florida quarterback making his debut as a starter since Shane Matthews in 1990. “I thought he made really good decisions with the football,” Sumrall said. “He operated at a high level, communicated with confidence and led. It wasn’t perfect, but he played clean football.” That pretty much covers it. And don’t hang the interception on Philo. The ball was catchable and should have been a completion. Philo showed poise, command and just enough wheels to keep the defense honest. He knew when to throw it, when to tuck it and when to take what the defense gave him. The deep ball to TJ Abrams was a beauty. So was the comeback throw to Dallas Wilson. So what’s not to like? Well, maybe that cheesy little mustache, which looks like it came out of a dime-store disguise kit. “Looks like Kerwin Bell,” Shane Matthews said. Philo wears Kerwin’s old No. 12 but there’s more than that familiar about him. Maybe it’s the mustache. Maybe it’s the swagger. Maybe it’s the way he handles the football without treating it like a live hand grenade. He looks a little like Kerwin. He carries himself a little like Kerwin. Now comes the million-dollar question: Can he play like Kerwin Bell? If the answer is yes, Florida may have found itself a quarterback. UAA Photo Former Gator quarterback Kerwin Bell, now the head coach at Western Carolina. Which Alabama Win Was Bigger? I also had a conversation with Shane Matthews about Florida’s victories at Alabama in 1963 and 1990. Which one mattered more? We didn’t agree. After that I did the prudent, modern-day thing. I asked artificial intelligence. Here’s what the machine spit out: Florida’s Bigger Win: 1963 or 1990? The 1963 victory was the greater upset, but the 1990 victory was more important to the future of Florida football. Ray Graves’ 1963 Gators marched into Tuscaloosa as 17-point underdogs and stunned third-ranked Alabama, 10-6. The Crimson Tide had Joe Namath at quarterback. Paul “Bear” Bryant had never lost at Denny Stadium. Alabama was celebrating homecoming. And Florida walked in, kicked over the punch bowl and ruined the party. That victory announced that the Gators could stand toe-to-toe with the SEC’s established powers, even though Florida eventually finished 6-3-1. But Steve Spurrier’s 17-13 victory at Alabama in 1990 changed the direction of the entire program. It came in Spurrier’s first SEC game as Florida’s head coach and gave his players proof that his passing offense, aggressive style and championship expectations could work against the league’s traditional royalty. Florida finished 9-2 with the SEC’s best conference record, although NCAA probation kept the Gators from officially claiming the championship. Spurrier later called it the most important victory his Florida staff achieved because “it was the start of all the championships.” That says it all. The 1963 game showed Florida could beat the big boys. The 1990 game convinced Florida it was about to become one of them. Naturally, as a card-carrying old stick in the mud, I’ve got to stand up for the 1963 victory. Spurrier was only a freshman and wasn’t eligible to play. The next year, Florida should have beaten Alabama again, only to lose on a last-minute field goal. I was there for both games. Saw them with my own eyes. So my heart still leans toward 1963. But I understand why the 1990 victory gets the nod. It didn’t just win a football game. It changed the way Florida saw itself and the way the rest of the SEC saw Florida. This is one of those rare cases where two things can be true at the same time. And I take nothing away from Shane Matthews, who brilliantly quarterbacked that 1990 victory. I just want to make sure we don’t lose those glorious moments of the past under a pile of dusty record books. Us old guys have to stick up for old things once in a while. Otherwise, the youngsters might try to rewrite them. New Coach And New President:Thank You, Thank You! I sincerely appreciate all the kind words about the resurrection of the Gator Bait cheer. And thank you again to President Stuart Bell. As for the haters, anytime somebody changes something and then gets forced to change it back, there’s going to be some grumbling. Let them grumble. We’ll smile, wave and take the W. What’s next? Will the politically correct crowd decide it’s improper to use the word “Boys” in “We Are the Boys”? Don’t laugh. Somebody is probably already drafting the complaint. Meanwhile, check out the link below and place your order. Hopefully, you’ll have your Gator Bait gear in time for Ole Miss: Check the link below. I just ordered mine at the full rate. Order now and hopefully you’ll have it in time for Ole Miss https://gatorbait2026.itemorder.com/shop/home/ As my late friend Jack Hairston used to say, “it comes as no surprise to this reporter that…” “Florida is NOT ranked in the Week 2 AP Poll. "The Gators, with 83 votes, are the second team out of the poll behind Boise State (86). No. 25 Virginia received 89 votes.” Don’t hold your breath, but do hang on. Matter of fact, as my cohort Franz Beard points out, Florida was tied for 25th in the coaches poll.

Vernell Brown III celebrates after his second punt-return touchdown against Campbell on Sept. 12. Photo: Ethan Caruso/UAA Communications. “What can Brown do for you?” was a clever marketing campaign a few years ago. Saturday at the Swamp, it became the story that kept Gator fans from a week of real angst. Florida beat Campbell 52-3, but the run game featuring Jadan Baugh initially looked pedestrian. On the Gators’ first drive, he had four carries for 11 yards. Not bad, but not what most people expected against an overmatched Campbell defense. On the second drive, Baugh broke off runs of 16 and 11 yards on consecutive plays. Later, he gained 5 yards, but his third-down carry produced only 1, and Florida settled for a field goal. Not many people expected the score to be 10-3 after the first quarter. Brown changes the game Then Vernell Brown III put on a display Florida had not seen in 30 years. Brown electrified the crowd of 88,863 by fielding a Campbell punt at his own 36-yard line. After shaking off the first defender, he burst through the coverage and crossed the end zone for his first college punt-return touchdown. Campbell picked up a first down on its next possession, then punted to Brown again. This time, he fielded the ball at the 30. The coverage team could not catch him, and he went 70 yards for his second touchdown on consecutive returns. “Anytime I get the ball in my hands, I think go score,” Brown said in his postgame press conference. He nearly gave the crowd another long return to celebrate. Brown took a later punt 58 yards, but an illegal block in the back by Jordy Lowery brought Florida back to its own 15. Late in the quarter, Brown fielded another punt on a bounce and weaved through the coverage for 37 yards. The official gamebook credited him with four returns for 173 yards, a Florida single-game record. He also took a pop pass from Aaron Philo for a 14-yard receiving touchdown. After scoring once in the opener, Brown delivered three touchdowns in the second quarter alone half of Florida’s six first-half touchdowns. His return scores also helped keep the offense off the field for much of that quarter. I don’t think anyone was upset about that! Baugh’s numbers tell another story Baugh closed the half with a 2-yard touchdown run and finished the scoring in the third quarter with a beautiful 75-yard burst. That run made his final line look a lot better: 136 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns. Many were expecting more from No. 13, but Campbell was clearly concentrating on stopping the Gators’ run game. The fact that we can fret over a 9.7-yard average says a lot about the expectations Baugh has established. He also became the seventh Gator to put together three consecutive 100-yard rushing games, a streak dating to last season’s finale. Even without the 75-yarder, he gained 61 yards on 13 carries, an average of 4.69 yards. Add the 42-yard run erased by a holding penalty, and perhaps our perception of the rushing game was harsher than the performance deserved. It looked frustrated for much of the night. The numbers suggested something less alarming. The next test comes at Auburn Philo was solid again, completing 16 of 21 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns while running for another score. Those numbers could have been better. Two Florida receivers ended up in the same area on his first deep attempt, and neither came away with the ball. He also missed Brown on a deep crossing route. Still, he looked comfortable. He could scramble and find receivers downfield or in the flats when he needed to. His throw to Dallas Wilson on a broken play gave Wilson room to break a tackle and finish a 40-yard touchdown. The Gators won easily. It did not always look as easy as many expected or wanted. The “Philo-led” offense scored on only one of its first three second-half possessions. Penalties disrupted the first two, and the backups did not add a score. “That was concerning”. Coach Jon Sumrall made clear afterward that opportunities alone do not justify more playing time, saying that “some guys proved us right why they’re not playing right now.” With a trip to Auburn next, Florida needs to carry more of its first-game sharpness into conference play. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern on Sept. 19. In the end, Brown showed what he could do for the Gators. He brought back memories of Percy Harvin carving up defenses and running away from defenders. Since he joined Jacquez Green in returning consecutive punts for touchdowns, maybe Green is the better comparison. Time will tell whether Brown’s career can match those Gator greats. For one electric quarter, he gave everyone at the Swamp a reason to remember them. Postgame quotations: UAA Communications transcripts prepared by ASAP Sports — Vernell Brown III and Jon Sumrall, Sept. 12, 2026. Statistics checked against Florida’s official gamebook. Tune in to The Buddy Martin Show.

AUBURN, Ala. — Florida got what it came for at Jordan-Hare Stadium: an SEC road win. But Jon Sumrall's first postgame sentence made clear that the celebration would not become an excuse to ignore what he saw. No bad wins. Always good to win. Sumrall immediately turned from the result to the work still in front of Florida. The biggest problem was discipline. The Gators were flagged 16 times, and their head coach did not soften his assessment even while acknowledging that he disagreed with some of the calls. The penalties were out of control. I mean, 16 penalties. We won't win another game all year if we do that again. Not one more game. He called the total inexcusable and put responsibility on himself and the staff to get it corrected. The message was not that Florida failed to respond to adversity. It was that a team trying to win consistently in the SEC cannot keep creating so much adversity for itself. WATCH GATORBAIT CLIP — Jon Sumrall: No Bad Wins, 16 penalties and Pat Dye Field A personal win on Pat Dye Field The setting carried an added layer for Jon Sumrall. He grew up in Alabama and spoke about the coaches he watched and admired, including Pat Dye, Gene Stallings and Bear Bryant. His first SEC win as Florida's head coach came on a field carrying Dye's name. Sumrall said he keeps a photograph in his office of Dye and Bryant in Moundville, Alabama, before a rabbit hunt. To do it on Pat Dye Field means something to me personally. Sumrall quickly redirected the moment toward his players. Florida had gone on the road into one of the league's most demanding environments, absorbed Auburn's answers and kept responding. Philo, Baugh and Florida's response mentality Sumrall was confident in Florida's offensive matchup. Quarterback Aaron Philo was making his first road start, while running back Jadan Baugh gave Florida another physical answer in the run game. When an early mistake produced a turnover, Sumrall described the response in terms that have become part of his team's mindset. When something bad happens, we say good. And when something good happens, we say good. That did not mean pretending mistakes did not matter. It meant moving immediately to the next opportunity. Asked about Aaron Philo in his first road start, Sumrall described the quarterback as having a cowboy mentality and being tough as nails. Resilient yes. Poised not yet. One of the most revealing answers came when Sumrall was asked about Florida's poise. He pushed back on the premise. The Gators showed mental toughness and resilience, he said, but the penalties were evidence that they did not consistently play with the poise he expects. Just do your job. Work the cut The phrase that best explained Florida's approach Saturday night was three words: work the cut. Sumrall traced the idea to a visit from UFC star Justin Gaethje during training camp. The lesson was that fights are rarely won by spending the entire night hunting one dramatic knockout punch. Work the cut. Work the cut. Work the cut. Sumrall said that message kept going over the headset throughout the game. Auburn landed punches of its own. Florida did not play a clean game. But the Gators kept answering. We were the last man standing. WATCH GATORBAIT CLIP — Jon Sumrall explains the Work the Cut mentality The warning after the win The strongest theme of Sumrall's postgame remarks was that winning did not erase the flaws. He pointed to the progression in penalties — four in the opener, eight the next week and 16 at Auburn — and said the trend has to reverse immediately. If we play like that, we will get just slaughtered. It wouldn't be close. That is the tension Florida carries out of Jordan-Hare. The Gators proved they could go on the road, take punches and win an SEC game. Their head coach also spent much of the postgame press conference explaining why the same performance cannot become the standard. There are no bad wins. Sumrall's point was that there can still be bad habits inside one. GatorBait Staff

GAINESVILLE — Florida won twice Saturday: on the recruiting trail before kickoff, then 52-28 over No. 4 Ole Miss in front of Cyion Smith and a Swamp full of prospects. Smith, a four-star safety from Blountstown High in the Florida Panhandle, committed to the Gators hours before kickoff, Florida Gators On SI reported. He is the second commitment in Florida’s 2028 class, joining Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna four-star receiver Armani Strong. Smith (6-foot-2, 175 pounds) is the No. 279 overall prospect and No. 30 safety in the 2028 class in the Rivals Industry Ranking, which weights all the major recruiting services. Why Florida “Home. The coaches. Player development,” Smith told Rivals. “It was really a pretty easy decision. I have been feeling this way about Florida for a while.” Smith told Rivals he has been to Gainesville about four times since Jon Sumrall’s staff arrived, and that a summer 7-on-7 trip is when “Florida made a big move.” Safeties coach Chris Collins led the recruitment; Gators Online reported that Smith has talked with Collins almost every day since Florida offered in May, with Sumrall, defensive coordinator Brad White and Dae’one Wilkins also involved. “They really show they really want me, so they give me all they got,” Smith told Rivals. “I’m ready to give them all I got.” What he saw in The Swamp Smith plays safety, and the biggest defensive play of the night came from one. With Ole Miss at the Florida 22 late in the fourth quarter, Gators safety DJ Coleman intercepted Trinidad Chambliss at the 5. Florida forced two turnovers, a Jayden Woods sack-fumble that Myles Graham recovered and Coleman’s pick, and gave the ball away zero times. The offense did the rest. Jadan Baugh ran for 142 yards and three touchdowns, Duke Clark added 126 yards and a 45-yard touchdown, and Florida scored touchdowns on its first five possessions of the second half on the way to 302 rushing yards. Read the full game story. The final scoreboard in The Swamp: Florida 52, Ole Miss 28. (Photo by Chris Spears/GatorBait Media) A big weekend for Sumrall’s staff Florida hosted more than 70 prospects from the 2027, 2028 and 2029 classes for the Ole Miss game, according to Florida Gators On SI. Smith also held offers from Auburn, Miami, South Carolina and USF, according to his Rivals profile, and USA Today’s Vols Wire reported earlier this week that Tennessee had offered the former Mississippi State commitment. Florida’s 2028 class now has two pledges, and the Gators have a 4-0 start, a 2-0 SEC record and a win over a top-five team to sell. Next up: Florida at Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 3:30 p.m. ET.

No. 4 Ole Miss will be without its most dangerous runner in The Swamp. Star running back Kewan Lacy has been ruled out against No. 21 Florida because of a left shoulder injury. He was downgraded to out on the SEC’s final availability report Saturday. Earlier Saturday, Rebels coach Pete Golding had told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that Lacy wasn’t expected to play, adding, “We still have another chapel session, so I’m not giving up yet.” Lacy was hurt in last week’s 32-24 win over then-No. 7 LSU. He ran for 43 yards and a touchdown on nine carries before leaving in the third quarter, then had X-rays after the game and an MRI on Sunday, according to ESPN. He went from questionable to doubtful on Friday’s SEC availability report and was ruled out Saturday. Lacy is one of 10 Rebels ruled out on the final report, according to On3. Five are defensive backs: cornerbacks Cedrick Beavers, Dorian Barney and Victor Lincoln Jr. and safeties MJ Preston and Craig Tutt. Linebackers Ant Davis Jr. and JaMichael Garrett and offensive linemen Jalan Chapman and Emanuel Faulkner are also out. Why it matters Lacy is the engine of the Rebels’ ground game. The junior was an All-American and a Doak Walker Award finalist in 2025, when he set Ole Miss single-season records for carries (306), rushing yards (1,567) and rushing touchdowns (24) in 15 games. His 2026 season has already been interrupted once. A thigh bruise knocked him out of the opener against Louisville before he returned the next week to score twice against Charlotte. He has 191 yards and four touchdowns on 39 carries this season. Who replaces him JT Lindsey and Makhi Frazier are expected to split the carries, ESPN reported. Lindsey (No. 26), a sophomore who transferred from LSU, has 48 yards on 12 attempts this season. Frazier (No. 25), a junior transfer from Michigan State, has 38 yards on nine carries. Together they have 86 yards on 21 carries, about 4.1 yards per attempt. Lacy is averaging 4.9. What it means for Florida Without Lacy, Ole Miss loses the back who averaged just over 20 carries a game a year ago, and more of the load figures to shift to quarterback Trinidad Chambliss. Franz Beard has argued that Florida’s best way to win is to keep the ball away from Chambliss. Florida knows what Lacy can do. Last Nov. 15, he ran for 224 yards and three touchdowns in Ole Miss’ 34-24 win over the Gators in Oxford, breaking the school’s single-season rushing touchdown record that day, according to Ole Miss Athletics. Ole Miss is thin on the back end, too. Five of its 10 players out are defensive backs, a secondary that Aaron Philo and Florida’s receivers figure to test. Florida has an availability question of its own. Wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr., who has not played this season because of a sprained left ankle, is a game-time decision, though coach Jon Sumrall told ESPN he feels decent about Singleton’s chances. Singleton caught 58 passes for 534 yards and three touchdowns at Auburn in 2025. If Singleton can’t go, sophomore Vernell Brown III starts at Z with senior Bailey Stockton in the slot, according to On3. Both teams are 3-0 and 1-0 in SEC play. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Editor’s note: GatorBait’s Buddy Martin, Franz Beard and Loren Meadows are at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with photographer Chris Spears. Follow along on our homepage through the final whistle. This story was updated Saturday afternoon after Ole Miss ruled Lacy out on the SEC’s final availability report. Information from ESPN, On3, Field Level Media and Ole Miss Athletics was used in this report.