A few thoughts to jump start your Saturday morning: Tired of waiting for the NCAA to grant a waiver, Denzel Aberdeen has filed for a temporary restraining order that will allow him a fifth year of eligibility as first reported by thefieldof68.com’s Jeff Goodman. Aberdeen, who played less than 40 minutes in 12 games his freshman season at Florida, filed for a waiver back in April so there has been more than adequate time for the NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, to act. But with the season approaching and no NCAA response, Aberdeen’s attorney Jesse Panuccio elected to take it to the courts where it is very likely a Florida-friendly judge will grant the TRO. In a statement to Goodman and thefieldof68.com, Panuccio said, “Denzel Aberdeen, a senior at Florida, should be allowed to compete as a student-athlete under the NCAA’s 5-in-5 rule. But the NCAA has announced an unwritten exception to its rule that strips Class of 2022 students from this policy, even though they competed for years against fifth-, sixth-, and sometimes seventh-year seniors who received Covid-era eligibility waivers. The NCAA’s decision violates its contractual commitment to fairness to all student-athletes, and we have sued to vindicate Aberdeen’s rights and get him back on the court as he finishes his degree at UF.” What makes Aberdeen’s necessity to go to the courts is the handling of Franck Kepnang, who has been granted a waiver to play a seventh season by the NCAA. Kepnang began his collegiate career at Oregon State during the COVID season (2020-21). After two years at Oregon State he transferred to Washington where he spent four years before electing in the spring to transfer to Kentucky. Kepnang, a 6-11, 255-pound native of Cameroon, has played in 111 college basketball games with career averages of 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Aberdeen, whose freshman season was 2022, spent three years with the Gators, evolving into a vital reserve off the bench who played a vital role in Florida’s run to the 2025 NCAA championship. Aberdeen transferred to Kentucky last year where he averaged 13.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Aberdeen entered the transfer portal immediately after the 2026 season ended, choosing to return to Florida with the full blessing of Todd Golden and the welcome of former teammates. During the summer, Golden said, “Denzel re-enrolled in the spring. Denzel is working towards his degree. Denzel, him coming to the team didn’t bump anybody off the team, so there’s a lot of things we did at the beginning to not have any of these issues that the NCAA is claiming that they’re worried about. So, when you piece it together I can’t see any way they won’t allow him to, or at least a state judge in Florida would look at it and be like, this kid’s getting his degree. He’s within the age framework they [NCAA] just passed, that rule is already passed in DII.” The NCAA didn’t act, so Aberdeen has taken it to the courts. Teammates love Aberdeen, a tough, hard-nosed defender who can play all three perimeter positions. At Kentucky he was set to start on the wing when the point guard went down, so he spent the season at the point. Back at Florida he will be a combo who will spend time at the point when Boogie Fland needs a rest. All-American Tommy Haugh was in California working out when he got a call from Aberdeen announcing his decision. “He was, like, sitting in, like, my couch in my house,” Haugh recalled. “I was like, bro, what are you doing here? And he was like, ‘I think I'm going to come back. Like, I'm trying to come back,’ and I was like, oh, dude, that's crazy!” Now, the case has to go before a Florida judge, but it’s a near certainty that a temporary restraining order will be filed. The NCAA will fight it in court where it is 99 percent likely it will lose. If it appeals it will have to go through Florida’s layered process that can mean several months before the appeal is heard. Taking all that into consideration, if you wager on such things, put your money on Denzel Aberdeen playing for the Florida Gators this season in the starting lineup with Haugh, Fland, Rueben Chinyelu and Alex Condon. Top to bottom of the roster, the Gators will be the deepest and most experienced team in the country. NICK SABAN ON THE BIG TEN Ever since Indiana won the national championship, the third straight won by a team from the Big Ten, the theme in the national media is the Big Ten has become college football’s dominant conference. Nick Saban isn’t buying into that narrative. Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, Saban defended the SEC, saying, “We’ve already got nine teams in the top 25. It’s not like the Big Ten where there’s three good teams at the top and then nothing.” Three of the top six teams in the most recent Associated Press top 25 poll are from the Big Ten – No. 1 Ohio State, No. 5 Indiana and No. 6 Oregon. The SEC has the No. 2 team in Georgia, No. 4 in Texas and starting with LSU (8) five more (9 Ole Miss, 10 Texas A&M, 11 Oklahoma, 12 Alabama) in the top 12. Also in the top 25 are No. 18 Tennessee and No. 23 Missouri, which beat Kansas of the Big 12 Friday night. In the Coaches poll, Florida is tied for 25th. The national media insists that because the Big Ten has won three national titles in a row and the SEC hasn’t had a team in the championship game since Georgia won its second straight national title in 2022, that the SEC has fallen on tough times. A season ago the SEC had five of the 12 teams in the College Football Playoff, more than any other conference. Since 2006 the SEC has had 13 national champions (Alabama 6, Florida 2, LSU 2, Georgia 2, Auburn 1) to four by the Big Ten (Ohio State 2, Michigan 1, Indiana 1). Three straight national championships doesn’t mean a better conference the way Saban sees it. “That doesn’t mean they’re better than us, and that doesn’t mean that just because you win the championship that you have a better conference,” Saban said. “It just means you have one better team.” ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: Earlier in the week LSU submitted its final 105-man roster to the Southeastern Conference. Notably missing were Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavier Harris, both of whom spent most of August in NFL training camps. LSU’s compliance with the rules eliminated the Southeastern Conference’s need to hold a vote on Thursday that could have expelled the Tigers from the SEC. The decision by LSU was coerced by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey going to US District Court in Birmingham Monday with an amendment to a previously-filed lawsuit against LSU, its president, athletic director and Lane Kiffin. It was a calculated response. Sankey and the entire world heard Kiffin remark at halftime of its season opener with Clemson that the Tigers were four touchdowns ahead without the pros. Sankey saw that as a threat and he is not the kind of leader who takes threats lightly. So he amended his lawsuit, therefore neutralizing a ruling by a Baton Rouge court that not only allowed Wright and Harris to play for LSU this season but prevented Sankey and the SEC from retaliating with sanctions. LSU blinked. Had LSU refused to back down, the SEC was prepared to vote LSU off the island. Of course, Louisiana politicians got into the act, claiming hell would have no fury like what they would unleash if LSU was kicked out of the SEC, but this was all rhetoric, exactly what you would expect from people whose jobs depend on votes from people whose loyalty exceeds their mental capabilities. Sankey and the SEC stood firm despite the political threats, a scene reminiscent of the movie “Homefront” where Jason Statham, in the role of Phil Broker, says, “Whatever you’re thinking, rethink it.” LSU thought. LSU crumbled. That worked for football, but basketball season begins in a few short weeks and LSU has gambled on numerous ex-pros such as former Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis to fill out its roster. Altogether, LSU coach Will Wade has five players with eligibility issues likely to be heard in the courts. Without these players, LSU will have to play the 2026-27 season with just six scholarship players. Will LSU try to push the envelope with these players? The football roster was loaded even before Wright and Harris tried to gain eligibility. With or without them LSU is a national championship contender. Basketball is a different story. No, LSU won’t be a national championship contender even with these players eligible but a respectable season is possible if they play. Without them LSU is doomed for life as a bottom feeder at least for the upcoming season. Would LSU risk getting voted out of the SEC for basketball? Logic says no way, but take into account this basic truth: When it comes to logic and LSU, they can be like two ships passing in the night … a thousand miles apart.

AI Graphic ESPN 30 For 30 Features The Best of Times, the Worst of Times, and the 14 Days That Made Steve Spurrier By Buddy Martin GatorBaitMedia.com It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Charles Dickens wrote that line about London and Paris in the age of the guillotine, but he might as well have been writing about Gainesville, Florida, in the fall of 1990. It was the age of wisdom — a Heisman winner coming home to save his alma mater — and it was the age of insanity, a college town that had somehow let a monster walk its streets for four straight days without a name or a face to put to him. It was the epoch of belief, because Steve Spurrier believed he could turn a probation-scarred, back-to-back-fired-coach program into a champion. And it was the epoch of incredulity, because nobody could quite believe what had just happened to five young people who should have been worrying about syllabi, not survival. It was the season of Light — Fun And Gun lights, Saturday-night lights, the first real hope Florida football had felt in a decade. And it was the season of Darkness, the kind that made students reinforce their door locks, sleep with the television on, and drive home to Tampa and Jacksonville and Miami rather than risk one more night in an apartment near campus. It was the spring of hope arriving in the shank of summer. It was the winter of despair arriving before autumn had even started. Gainesville, in short, was living through both cities at once — Dickens’s two cities collapsed into one zip code — and nobody there had signed up to be a character in that kind of story. That is the premise, beautifully and uncomfortably rendered, of ESPN Films’ new 30 for 30 documentary, “14 Days in Gainesville,” which premieres Tuesday, September 15 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN and the ESPN App (ESPN Press Room). Directed by Daniel B. Levin and produced by MY Entertainment, the film draws firsthand accounts from Spurrier himself, Gators players and staff from that 1990 team, journalists who covered both stories, university leaders, law enforcement, and the Gainesville residents who lived through all of it. Executive producer Joe Townley described it as “the powerful story of a community confronting unimaginable tragedy and how, in the midst of fear and grief, a football team helped bring people together and helped a community begin to heal." Madame Defarge’s Ledger In “A Tale of Two Cities,” Madame Defarge sits and knits, secretly recording the names of the doomed into her registry, stitch by stitch, while the city around her pretends things are normal. Gainesville had its own grim ledger being written that August, except there was no revolutionary tribunal to eventually settle the score — only a killer nobody could yet name. Between August 24 and August 27, 1990, Danny Rolling murdered five college students in Gainesville: Sonja Larson, Christina Powell, Christa Hoyt, Tracy Paules, and Manuel Taboada, four of them University of Florida students and one from Santa Fe College. Rolling — later dubbed the “Gainesville Ripper” — mutilated and posed several of the bodies, and he would not be arrested for months, meaning that for the entirety of that fall, the person responsible for the town’s fear was still out there, still unnamed, a Madame Defarge with no face. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to death in 1994, and executed in 2006 — Gainesville’s own long walk to a scaffold, delivered sixteen years after the crime. Nearly 30,000 students emptied out of a city with a popolation of 85,000. Classes were disrupted. Door locks were reinforced across town. It is worth remembering, too, that this case would go on to partially inspire the 1996 slasher film “Scream” — proof that the terror of that August lodged itself deep enough in the culture to outlive the headlines by half a decade. Recalled to Life Dr. Manette, in Dickens’s novel, spends 18 years “buried alive” in the Bastille before he is finally “recalled to life” by his daughter’s love. Gainesville needed its own recalling to life that fall, and — this is the uncomfortable, honest, and ultimately unavoidable truth the documentary sits with — football turned out to be part of it. Not the cure. Not the healing itself. Just a routine. A Saturday that still looked like a Saturday, in a season that looked like nothing anyone had ever seen. Spurrier was hired away from Duke on New Year’s Eve 1989, brought home to resurrect a Florida program still climbing out of NCAA sanctions that had cost both Charley Pell and Galen Hall their jobs in consecutive scandals. He had won Florida’s first Heisman Trophy in 1966 as the Gators’ quarterback, then spent the years since building a reputation as an offensive revolutionary at Duke. His Fun And Gun offense debuted that September, days after the killings, in a town still deciding whether it was safe to go back to class, let alone back to the Swamp. Spurrier’s first team went 9-2, running the table in the SEC at 6-1. Because Florida remained on probation, the conference did not officially crown the Gators as champions that year — a technicality Spurrier, ever the unbothered iconoclast, never much respected when he counted his own titles later in life. Within six years, that same foundation produced Florida’s first national championship, in 1996, with Danny Wuerffel becoming the second Heisman winner — making Spurrier, to this day, the only Heisman winner ever to coach another Heisman winner. It Was the Spring of Hope, It Was the Winter of Despair It is tempting — too tempting, and the documentary reportedly wisely resists it — to draw a straight, redemptive line from the horror of that August to the championship banner that eventually hung six years later. That is not how grief works, and it is not how Gainesville actually experienced 1990. The fear and the football did not resolve into a tidy arc. They sat next to each other, uncomfortably, the way “it was the best of times” sits next to “it was the worst of times” in the very same sentence, refusing all season long to cancel each other out. That is the golden thread running through “14 Days in Gainesville” — not that football saved a town, because no game ever has, but that in a fall defined by locked doors and empty apartments and a killer without a name, 72,000 people found a reason to gather in the same place on a Saturday afternoon and, for three hours, believe in something other than fear. Every retrospective of Spurrier’s Florida tenure tends to open with the visor, the ego, the audacity of a Heisman winner coming home to remake his alma mater in his own swaggering image. Those chapters are earned, and Spurrier earned every one of them. But they have also flattened an original story that was never actually completly told. “14 Days in Gainesville” restores the texture. It insists on remembering that the Fun And Gun era began not in a vacuum of pure anticipation, but in a town that had just buried five of its own — a town, like Dickens’s London and Paris both, living simultaneously in its best of times and its very worst, with a football team standing, however imperfectly, in the space between the two.

(Photo by Chris Spears) by Franz Beard www.gatorbaitmedia.com This is a get well week for the Florida defense, a chance to work out the kinks from week one while prepping for the nine-game gauntlet of SEC games. The Gators should dominate Campbell (2-0), which has a rather polished passing game and a legitimate dual threat quarterback in Kamden Sixkiller, but Jon Sumrall needs to see more focus than he saw last week against Florida Atlantic. Offensively, the Gators functioned at a very high level against FAU, but the defense gave up three touchdowns, too many yards and far too many third down conversions. “I don't think it was an intent issue, it wasn't an effort issue, it wasn't a desire issue,” Sumrall explained earlier in the week. “It was simply, man, we're young or either, in my opinion, untrained on certain spots at certain times and so we have to coach better. Our players they gotta prepare in a manner that they can go activate it on the grass on game day. It wasn't all bad, but it damn sure wasn't all good either. Okay? And so there's a ton of growth that needs to happen with our football team.” Growth is a priority this week. Better pass rush and pressure on the quarterback rank high on the priority list. In two games Sixkiller has thrown for 673 yards and three touchdowns while running for 114 yards and three more scores. He has a big arm and escapability so keeping him in the pocket is a must. Tackling must improve and the Gators can’t have the corners playing nine yards off the line of scrimmage on third and short situations. “I just think maybe we were a little too relaxed in our mindset to attention to detail at times,” Sumrall said. “Whether it was how to play a certain call, down-and-distance awareness, what the offensive split and spacing is telling me, you know, they got into condensed sets, we knew there was gonna be stick routes. Well, there's a couple times where they ran stick routes we’re like nowhere to be seen near the receiver. There's other times where you give some of that stuff up, there’s a give and take. You can't take everything away, but we do have to understand when to play more connected and more attached in coverage. And our guys are gonna improve. I promise you that. They're either going to improve or I'm going to lose my mind trying to help them.” ELSEWHERE IN THE SEC No. 12 Alabama (1-0): Starting right guard Michael Carroll is listed as doubtful for Saturday’s game at Kentucky where Alabama is a 10.5-point favorite. Saturday: at Kentucky (1-0), 3:30 p.m., ABC Arkansas (1-0): Utah’s powerful running game (364 yards in the season opener) is a big reason why the Razorbacks are 12.5-point road underdogs. Saturday: at Utah (1-0), 10:15 p.m., ESPN Auburn (1-0): Cleaning up the passing game is a priority this week. Against Baylor last week, Auburn gave up five sacks and QB Byrum Brown threw three interceptions. Auburn is a 32.5-point favorite over Southern Miss. Saturday: Southern Miss (1-0), 7:45 p.m., SEC Network No. 2 Georgia (1-0): Linebacker Chase Linton (lower leg injury) is out Saturday and probably won’t be available for two more weeks. The Bulldogs are 41.5-point favorites. Saturday: Western Kentucky (0-1), 12:45 p.m., SEC Network Kentucky (1-0): This is a hot ticket item in Lexington where the Big Blue Nation believes it has a chance to score an upset Saturday against Alabama. The Wildcats, who haven’t beaten Alabama since 1997, are a 10.5-point underdog. Saturday: No. 12 Alabama (1-0), 3:30 p.m., ABC No. 8 LSU (1-0): Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavier Harris are not on the permanent LSU roster for the rest of the season. Both are weighing legal options that would allow them to play. LSU is a 35.5-point favorite to beat Louisiana Tech. Saturday: Louisiana Tech (1-0), 7:30 p.m., SEC Network+ Mississippi State (1-0): Little known fact ahead of Saturday’s road trip to Minnesota. Murray Warmath, the Minnesota coach who won the 1960 national championship, was the head coach at Mississippi State prior to taking the Minnesota job in 1954. Mississippi State is a surprising 1.5-point favorite to take down Minnesota in Minneapolis. Saturday: at Minnesota (1-0), 3:30 p.m., CBS No. 23 Missouri (1-0): Missouri’s defense will have to find a way to bottle up Kansas quarterback Isaiah Taylor, who passed for 246 yards and ran for 49 in the Jayhawks season opener. The Tigers managed only one sack in their season opening win so Taylor’s mobility is a concern. Missouri is a 5.5-point favorite over Kansas. Friday: at Kansas (1-0), 8 p.m., Fox No. 11 Oklahoma (1-0): A healthy John Mateer is one big reason Oklahoma is a 5-point favorite to beat Michigan in the Big House. Mateer, who battled through a broken hand injury last year, threw for three touchdowns while averaging 13.2 yards per attempt in the Sooner’s season opening win. Saturday: at Michigan (1-0), 12 noon, Fox No. 9 Ole Miss (1-0): Saturday is nothing more than a tuneup for LSU on September 19. The goal is to make sure no one gets hurt against Charlotte, a game the Rebels are favored by 47.5 points. Saturday: Charlotte (0-1), 7:45 p.m., ESPN2 South Carolina (1-0): Left tackle Jaccarius Peak and EDGE Dylan Stewart, who missed the season opening win over Kent State, are listed as doubtful for Saturday against D1AA Towson. 2Saturday: Towson (0-2), 7 p.m., SEC Network+ No. 18 Tennessee (1-0): Look for the Vols to pound away on the ground against Georgia Tech. Tennessee ran for 329 yards in the season opener and will be going against a Georgia Tech defense that was very vulnerable against the run in its loss to Colorado. The Vols are solid 12.5-point favorites. Saturday: at Georgia Tech (0-1), 7 p.m., ESPN No. 4 Texas (1-0): The task for defensive coordinator Will Muschamp is to neutralize the Ohio State passing combo of quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. Last Saturday, Sayin completed 84 percent of his passes for three touchdowns while Smith caught eight passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Texas is a 1.5-point favorite to take down the No. 1 ranked Buckeyes. Saturday: No. 1 Ohio State (1-0), 7:30 p.m., ABC No. 10 Texas A&M (1-0): The Aggies, who gave up only 67 yards and four first downs in their season opener will have to contend with former Kentucky QB Cutter Boley, who last week lit up Morgan State for six touchdown passes. Texas A&M is a 14.5-point favorite to beat Arizona State. Saturday: Arizona State (1-0), 12 noon, ABC Vanderbilt (1-0): There are calls for Vanderbilt to start true freshman Jared Curtis at QB after he went 7-9 passing coming off the bench in game one. The Commodores are favored by 20.5 points over Delaware. Saturday: Delaware (1-0), 4:15 p.m., SEC Network COUNTDOWN TO FIRING DAY: SEPTEMBER 10 EDITION Extinct Species List None so far On Life Support Mike Norvell, Florida State: Not only did he lose to SMU in game one, but the electricity went out at Doak Campbell Stadium. Boosters think Norvell and the athletic director need to go but where will they get the money they need to pink slip them? Luke Fickell, Wisconsin: Losing 45-13 to Notre Dame on national television has the faithful ready to pull the plug. The next two games should be easy wins, then comes the Big Ten. The good news is no Ohio State, Indiana or Oregon. Seven wins or he’s a goner. Dave Aranda, Baylor: He’s got the defense, but he’s tied the offense to DJ Lagway and that could do him in. The next two games should be easy wins (Prairie View A&M and Louisiana Tech) but then comes the Big 12 slate. He’s got to win seven games to survive. Bill Belichick, North Carolina: The scandal involving GM Michael Lombardi has a lot of money people ready to pull the plug on Belichick. He gets an easy win this week but then gets Clemson, Notre Dame and Pitt on consecutive weekends. Mike Locksley, Maryland: After consecutive 4-8 seasons and with a Big Ten schedule looming, Locks can’t afford to lose to UConn. Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee: The Blue Raiders will be competitive this year, but can they get to six wins? If they can’t, Mason is a goner. Dell McGee, Georgia State: If the Panthers go an hour north on I-75 and lose to Kennesaw State this weekend the calls to fire McGee will be deafening. Kennesaw State is in only its third year of Division I football. Bill O’Brien, Boston College: If he loses to Rutgers he might not make it until Monday. Greg Schiano, Rutgers: The athletic department debt is huge. They can’t afford to fire Schiano but they may have to because no one is going to come to the Rutgers games after losing to UMass. Endangered Species List Kalen DeBoer, Alabama: Everybody is talking as if Bama has solved its problems and will win big going forward. Perhaps they’re right, but a third straight 4-loss season might convince them otherwise. Matt Rhule, Nebraska: The Huskers are going to start the season 3-0, but they better find at least five wins in the final nine or else his seat is going to be blowtorch hot. Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati: The Bearcats are 1-0 and likely win Saturday. Good start but Satterfield needs six more wins after that. Dabo Swinney, Clemson: It seems his sell-by date has expired. Because of what he’s done in the past he will get to pick the time and place of his departure, but he’s being urged to make it sooner, not later. Dave Doren, North Carolina State: He’s on very shaky ground after the Wolfpack was manhandled by Virginia. They’re tired of mediocrity in Raleigh so he needs eight or more wins to satisfy the masses.

Florida looks to fine tune all three phases as they look with a tune up against a clearly overmatched foe. By Loren Meadows, GatorBaitMedia.com Football Analyst, Host of The Gator Lowdown with Loren Meadows Florida should roll early and often Saturday evening (Chris Spears photo) Saturday evening will be the second installment of the Sumrall era at Florida and the days leading up to the game have been a breath of fresh air for those that believe football is and always be the most important thing. Jon Sumrall has taken this week to express concern about the lack of situational awareness and discipline of his defense while expressing that 66 points by the offense can at times be deceiving. While Sumrall was pleased by the play of his team as a whole, he is fully aware of what is ahead, and to belittle Campbell would be careless as it pertains to this team’s mandate to “be where your feet are”. On paper this is a beat down waiting to happen, but to play down to the level of the competition would not be close to acceptable for the demanding Sumrall. Campbell is 2-0 for the first time since 2018, and a tight game at the half would do wonders for a team that got its second Top 25 FCS win in school history against Florida alum Kerwin Bell and Western Carolina last week. Campbell Offense: Key Players #6 QB Kamden Sixkiller (6-3, 210, Sr.), #1 WR Spencer Jones (6-5, 210, Sr./Duke), #2 WR Evan Austin (6-1, 180, Jr./Charlotte), #5 RB JJ Cowan (5-11, 215, Jr.) #7 RB Ethan Lawrence (5-8, 195, Jr./Northeastern Oklahoma A&M) Matchups To Watch: Jones and Austin v. Florida Corners, Campbell O-Line v. Florida Defensive Line Campbell is playing well on offense behind the play of All-Name Team quarterback Kamden Sixkiller. The senior QB from Norman, Oklahoma has played well in two games leading Campbell in both passing and rushing yards and his top two targets have been receivers Spencer Jones and Evan Austin who have 19 catches between them. Jones has ACC experience after spending three seasons at Duke and has been a threat for Sixkiller in the redzone. Outside of Sixkiller in the run game backs JJ Cowan and Ethan Lawrence have played well with Cowan averaging close two six yards per carry in the first two games. As well as Campbell has played the first two weeks this is not even the same offense the Gators saw a week ago. There are probably no future pros, and they don’t necessarily dominate the line of scrimmage. However if Florida continues the up and down play particularly on the edges then the game which should be easily won by Florida could look a less glamorous and raise questions for a defense that is headed to hostile lands in eight days. Look for the Florida defense to be far more aggressive against Sixkiller who has already thrown three picks this season to put this offense under duress early and improve on last weeks performance. Campbell Defense: Key Players: #33 LB Charles Battaglia (6-0, 235, Sr./Stonehill), #7 LB AJ Benton (5-10, 220, So.), #8 CB Vance Sheppert (5-11, 185, 5th), #6 Safety Kareem Williams (6-4, 185, So./Coastal Carolina) Matchups to Watch: Battaglia and Benton v. Florida RB Room, Williams and Sheppert v. Wilson, Brown, Stockton, and Company Cambell has been good on defense but is still giving up over 28 points per game including 21 first downs. They have been stout against the run but of course Florida is a different animal and while they have held teams to less than four yards per rush it Battaglia and Benton will have trouble handling the speed and force of Jaden Baugh followed by the likes of Duke Clark, Landon Montgomery and the explosive Evan Pryor should he be able to go. Loof for Buster Faulkner to get the Florida receivers involved early again and for Dallas Wilson to play an expanded role particularly with the deep ball as Eric Singleton Jr. is questionable for this week. Honestly Florida can afford to sit him with the trip out west ahead. Florda gained 600 yards against an FAU defense that has struggled but is better than Campbell. Florida should dominate Campbell and the only think that could slow Florida down ironically would be water from the expected rain that Camels can live without. The Skinny: This is one of those “Paycheck Tech” games that my colleague and friend Franz Beard talks about and as a former small school athlete myself know is a necessity for schools to sustain intercollegiate athletics. Kudos to Campbell for gathering the troops and making the trip from Buies Creek, North Carolina (nearest big city Raleigh by the way) to arguably the most hostile environment in college football and take a beatdown so that volleyball, track, and softball can survive. For Florida it’s about improvement, you need to play well every week to be a championship level program, see what works in all three phases and get out of the game healthy. Sumrall will challenge his team to keep their edge, play with poise, and most of all discipline. Penalties were few and far between last week, maybe the most overlooked of the statistical barrage that was on display. Florida continues to play well because the system, the roster, and most of all the staff realizes where they are and unfortunately by the end of quarter one so will Campbell. Florida rolls. Prediction: Florida 63 Cambell 0

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 GatorBaitMedia.com 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.

DJ Coleman (33) intercepts an FAU pass (Photo by Chris Spears) Game one is in the books (Florida 66, Florida Atlantic 21), Campbell is on deck (Saturday, 5:30 p.m., SEC Network+) and the Gators are tied for No. 25 in the Coaches LBM top 25 poll. So, all is well on the Florida football front but down in Baton Rouge, LSU is starting to understand that hell hath no fury like a pissed off Greg Sankey. Here is a recap of Florida football, the polls, Sankey’s latest reaction to LSU and a final bonus on FSU. DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR BRAD WHITE (Tuesday) White’s defense gave up three touchdowns, 396 total yards and 276 passing yards in the Gators’ 66-21 win over Florida Atlantic. The Gators rank No. 14 in the SEC and No. 97 nationally in total defense. Against the pass, the Gators are No. 14 in the SEC (276 yards per game; No. 112 nationally ) while against the run they are No. 12 in the SEC (120 yards per game; No. 75 nationally). Here are excerpts from White speaking to the media Tuesday: Reaction to how the defense played: “In every game, there's going to be good and there's bad. In the moment, immediately after the game, the whole deal, you’ve got that that pit in your stomach because you know we could have played way better. That was not the standard and the bar that we want to set for to how to play defense around here. Again, a lot of it, when you watch the tape, it wasn't an effort thing; it was an awareness thing and understanding football and basic football IQ. And the No. 1 goal we talked about was embracing the tempo. We knew that was going to be high pace. We knew it was going to be different than expected, and I think at in a significant portion of the game, we did not do a good enough job. We let it get to us and dictate how we played as players. Again, there was a little bit of survival mode. We talked about what you can't do against that is get into that mode where, ‘Hey, I just got to survive this down. I got to survive.’ You got to have a killer instinct, empty it on every play, and so it's a really good learning experience. Are you happy with it? No, we're really glad that we won the game. Obviously the offense played really, really well and relieved some of that pressure for those guys on defense, but we need to take a significant step forward in terms of our mentality and how we play and then awareness on the football field.” Moving forward: “This is a time to challenge. We have to learn from that. We'll get better from that but by no means is it everybody's head down and this thing's over. This is a building process, and they've got to learn how I call a game. I've got to learn how they adjust on the sideline, how they take coaching, how literal. Sometimes when you talk and you give coaching points, can they can they read the tone or is everything like super literal? Every guy is a little bit different, and I'm still learning. There's some calls in there that, obviously, I would like back. There was a third down in the red zone that I was trying to take away one route, and then they ran the run play. Well, by taking away the route, I took the safety out of the run fit, so it was going to be late. I tried to muck it up, and we just missed the tackle inside, but that's a call I'd love to have back, especially as much as they were starting to run the ball on third down. I should have just said, ‘Hey, we could play the route in a one-on-one situation without safety help.’ But those are things again for all of us. You got to raise your hand. ‘Hey, how do I get better from week one to week two?’” OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BUSTER FAULKNER (Tuesday) Faulkner’s offense ranks No. 1 in the SEC in scoring (66 points), No. 4 in rushing (281), No. 6 in passing (343) and No. 6 in total offense (624 yards per game). Nationally, the Gators are No. 6 in scoring, No. 6 in average yards per play (9.31) and No. 14 in total offense. Here are excerpts from Faulkner on Tuesday: It was good but wasn’t perfect: “We got to make sure we're in sequence on our snap counts. You know, that showed up a couple times. Timing up our motions, making sure that we understand when we've got to slap the ball and being tied together with the center and when it comes to that. There's a few times I thought we got out-physicaled, you know, in some certain areas, and then there are other times I thought we played extremely, extremely hard. So there was a lot of good, a lot of bad.
I was proud of the way they came out and competed, because at the end of the day, we challenge them: what's it going to look like on Sunday? You're going to make mistakes, just make them full speed. I thought we did that. So overall, you know, it was good, but there's still a lot we got to improve on.” Need more explosive plays on first down: “We want to be explosive, we want to be ahead of the chains. When we're not ahead of the chains, how do we get back on schedule or be explosive, you know, on second and 10? We weren't where I wanted to be on first downs. I wanted higher efficiency right there. You know, that always keeps you ahead of it. But we made up for it on some second downs. We were able to stay in, you know, third and manageable. We try to stay out of third and long the best we can. So that was good, it makes it easier on third down. And then, you know, Coach Sumrall, he's extremely aggressive, which helps the sequencing of plays and the communication there of knowing what we got to get to go for it on fourth down. All that was good. From that standpoint, Philo made the one scramble on third and 10 that got us to a fourth and short, big play in the game that, you know, you don't realize it at the time, but you look back, that's like extending the drive right there. So, we always tell them when the ball is in play, you got a chance. And so he kept it in play with his feet, and that was a good play for us." GATOR REACTIONS S DJ COLEMAN (Monday) on the play of the secondary: “It was pretty underwhelming. I feel like we haven't played our best ball. I feel like this week we're gonna find some things and we'll put a better product on the field this week.” WR BAILEY STOCKTON (Monday) on hearing “I Won’t Back Down” at the end of the third quarter: “It was awesome. It was funny because Buster (Faulkner) was addressing the offensive staff and me and Harp (tight end Luke Harpring) were like dancing. We were supposed to be in the huddle but we were out there dancing toward the hash.” RB DUKE CLARK (Tuesday) on the Faulkner offensive scheme: “His scheme is great. He spreads everybody around. I mean if you just watch it. It’s just very explosive. He can throw the ball over the top. He can hand the ball here. Even the running backs can go wide. It’s just very explosive.” PK PATRICK DURKIN (Tuesday) on Jadan Baugh’s 25-yard run: “I was on the net, and I saw it was third and 28, and I was assuming that we were gonna kick a field goal, and then I saw Baugh get the ball, and I'm like, all right.” STAR KANYE CLARK (Tuesday) on his first game as a Gator: “I think I played good. I think there’s a lot of areas where I can improve on and continue to learn and grow from. It was still a good performance overall.” Associated Press top 25 (SEC teams bold face): 1. Ohio State (1-0); 2. Georgia (1-0); 3. Notre Dame (1-0); 4. Texas (1-0); 5. Indiana (1-0); 6. Oregon (1-0); 7. Miami (1-0); 8. LSU (1-0); 9. Ole Miss (1-0); 10. Texas A&M (1-0); 11. Oklahoma (1-0); 12. Alabama (1-0); 13. Texas Tech (1-0); 14. Southern California (2-0); 15. BYU; 16. Penn State (1-0); 17. SMU (1-0); 18. Tennessee (1-0); 19. Washington (1-0); 20. Utah (1-0); 21. Iowa (1-0); 22. Houston (1-0); 23. Missouri (1-0); 24. Louisville (0-1); 25. Virginia (1-0) US LBM Coaches top 25 (SEC teams bold face): 1. Ohio State (1-0); 2. Georgia (1-0); 3. Texas (1-0); 4. Notre Dame 1-0; 5. Indiana (1-0); 6. Oregon (1-0); 7. Miami (1-0); 8. LSU (1-0); 9. Texas A&M (1-0); 10. Oklahoma (1-0); 11. Ole Miss (1-0); 12. Alabama (1-0); 13. Texas Tech 1-0); 14. Southern California (1-0); 15. BYU (1-0); 16. Penn State (1-0); 17. SMU (1-0); 18. Tennessee (1-0); 19. Washington (1-0); 20. Utah (1-0); 21. Iowa (1-0); 22. Houston (1-0); 23. Missouri (1-0); 24. Michigan (1-0); 25. (tie) FLORIDA (1-0); Virginia (1-0) SANKEY DOUBLES DOWN ON LSU Greg Sankey and the Southeastern Conference were back in US District Court in Birmingham Tuesday, this time filing an amendment to their lawsuit against LSU asking for a restraining order that will prevent “any action to block or interfere” with a Thursday vote by the league presidents on whether or not to oust LSU from the SEC. The amendment is in response to an implied threat by Lane Kiffin, who said at halftime of LSU’s beatdown of Clemson Saturday night, “Imagine if we had pro players.” The amendment filed in Birmingham Tuesday stated Kiffin’s statements "stand in sharp contrast to the silence by the President and Athletic Director of LSU" confirming “the lack of institutional control over the athletics program at LSU that is required by Article 6 of the SEC Constitution and by the remaining provisions of the Constitution and Bylaws." This ongoing soap opera is the result of a local Baton Rouge judge issuing a temporary restraining order that would allow players in NFL training camps to return to play a fifth year of college football. The SEC responded to the TRO with a Federal lawsuit that did not challenge the Baton Rouge decision which is based on the fairness of the NCAA’s newly implemented 5-for-5 rule but instead on the league’s ability to enforce rules that prevent professional players from returning to play collegiate sports. The SEC action in Federal Court seemingly stopped LSU in its tracks from playing tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive lineman Zxavier Harris, former Ole Miss players who signed with LSU after spending time in NFL training camps (Wright with Cleveland, Harris with New Orleans). Neither player was listed on the roster LSU submitted to the SEC on Friday prior to the game with Clemson. The sideshow prior to the game obviously had zero in the way of negative effect on LSU, which handed Clemson a 51-10 thrashing, the worst defeat of Dabo Swinney’s coaching career. In the three days since that game one win LSU has given no indication that it will abide by SEC rules or add Wright and Harris to the roster for any future games. The amendment filed in Birmingham court is a pre-emptive strike to keep LSU from getting a court order that would prevent the SEC from moving ahead with debate and a vote that would terminate membership in the league. It would take a 10-5 vote by the league presidents (LSU obviously would not be voting) to vote LSU off this exclusive island. Do they have the stomach for it? We do know there are a number of calls in the ranks for harsh sanctions in the form of draconian fines and suspensions. BONUS: FSU AND MURPHY’S LAW Just when you think the Florida State Seminoles have hit rock bottom, Murphy’s Law kicks in once again. You know how that goes: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” Some folks have amended it to read “and at the worst possible moment.” The Seminoles are nearly a half billion dollars in debt and without some sugar daddies to bail them out, they may issue a call to alums and booster to hold a few thousand bake sales and car washes to ease the financial load. So, the last thing FSU needed was what happened at Doak Campbell Stadium last night where the Seminoles and SMU were supposed to be the exclamation point of the first full weekend of college football. Labor Day! Football! Chief Osceola and Renegade. The flaming spear. What could possibly go wrong? By the time the clock struck midnight folks were probably asking did anything go right? Fans showed up with bring back Jimbo Fisher signs, awkward because Jimbo was on the ACC Network set in the end zone at Doak Campbell. Doubly awkward because Mike Norvell is the coach and a win over a ranked SMU team could have cooled off some of the intense heat to fire him. Then the electricity went out causing a nearly two hour delay to start the game. By the time foot met football there was not enough electricity to run the scoreboard, the stadium clock or other electronics. Compounding matters, FSU lost a game it should have won. Reports are that somewhere up in heaven Murphy was smiling.

Offensive linemen congratulate Jadan Baugh after a TD (Photo by Chris Spears) It was Florida Atlantic, so let’s not get carried away here. After Saturday’s game with Campbell (5:30 p.m., SEC Network+), the schedule becomes infinitely more difficult, but that first game win did answer a sufficient number of questions to raise the levels of optimism significantly for the Florida Gators. Start with the fact the Gators went an entire game without having to punt. The Gators scored on 10 of their 11 possessions in their 66-21 win over FAU, nine touchdowns and a field goal. In all probability, it would have been 11 for 11 except a catchable ball became a deflection and an interception for an FAU defensive back who was delightfully surprised at his good fortune. The Gators didn’t have to punt, a fact that wasn’t lost on Jon Sumrall, who quipped, “I would love to never punt. I love [punter] Alec Clark … Yeah, I don’t care if I ever see him play.” Said with a grin and not intended to be a dig at the snail pace offense of the past four seasons, it served as a tongue in cheek reminder that there is a Grand Canyonesque gap between the offensive philosophy of Sumrall and his predecessor. A year ago, the Gators averaged an SEC-low 21.6 points and a plodding 341.3 yards per game. By halftime against FAU, the Gators had already scored 38 points and were within 20 yards of what constituted a typical full game of offense a year ago. It was impressive even if it was Florida Atlantic. And, considering Campbell is a D1AA team from something called the Coastal Athletic Association, we shouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the final numbers Saturday night dwarf those of game one. Then comes 10 straight games – nine against Southeastern Conference brethren and one against Florida State, providing of course the fine folks in Tallahassee figure out how to keep the lights on – in which the Gators will face defenses loaded up with NFL-caliber talent and coordinators who know a thing or two about forcing punts after three-and-outs. Finding an offensive identity that is adaptable to the level of competition has to be at or close to the top of Sumrall’s priority list, but for now, he sees measurable progress from what he saw in the spring. From the very beginning, Sumrall knew he had an abundance of talented skill people to match the creative mind of offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner. What he wasn’t so sure of was his offensive line and in particular his tackles. What Sumrall saw of his offensive line against Florida Atlantic was encouraging, particularly in terms of discipline by five guys who were playing together as a unit for the first time. There was only one false start. There wasn’t a single holding call nor were there any hands to the face personal fouls. No late hits. No ineligible receiver penalties because an offensive lineman drifted a few yards past the line of scrimmage before the pass was delivered. The O-line didn’t give up a sack. All but one or two of quarterback Aaron Philo’s carries were designed runs, not scrambles. That’s not to say there weren’t a few mistakes, the most glaring of which were some high snaps from center Harrison Moore, but overall, it was a very good first game performance. Moore was flanked by Knijeah Harris, last year’s starter at left guard, and Penn State transfer TJ Shanahan on the right side. Bryce Lovett, a part-time starter at guard last year, got the start at left tackle, and the right tackle was Stanford transfer Emeka Ugorjie. “Yeah, we had a false start,” Sumrall said. “Snaps weren't great at times. Those five snaps that we talked about. I thought for the most part we looked organized, prepared, targeted things well. There wasn't a whole lot of just like, hey, why is that guy going the wrong way? Or anything like that. It was pretty clean. There were a couple where it's like, 'Hey, you have to protect inside leverage here on this play, and you got beat inside. You got to do a better job of that.' Maybe hand placement. But for the most part, I thought we functioned like a competent football team on the O-line. It wasn't by any stretch of the imagination elite. It was just competent football. We got to continue to get better.” Of the five high snaps from Moore, four came when his focus was divided because the play called for executing a certain block. Steps have already been taken to correct the issue. “Four of his five [bad snaps] were on back blocks in the run game,” Sumrall explained. “So I said, ‘Hey, you probably need to start taking extra steps working on back blocks, not pass sets. Trust me, we’re very aware of that. I was pissed off. So was Buster. So was Phil (offensive line coach Trautwein). Multiple times. We'll get it cleaned up. Harrison will take a lot of pride in his craft and get that corrected.” The interior blocking by Moore, Harris and Shanahan was consistent, which was to be expected. Those three were targeted as starters all the way back in the spring and they should only get better. They’re smart, powerful and mobile enough to get second level blocks. Throughout the entire spring and most of August, Trautwein was shuffling personnel to find tackles that could get the job done. Lovett found a home at left tackle which enabled Ugorjie to move back to the right side, his natural position where he started 10 times last season at Stanford. They played well against FAU, assisted by how Faulkner schemed things. “What we did helps them,” Sumrall said. “We're going to run the football. We're going to put the ball on the perimeter. We're going to play-action. We're not going to put them in like just 50 dropback passes a game, where the guys [on the EDGE] tee off. So I thought Buster called the game in a way that managed what they have to do well for them. But they're getting better. They're all getting better.” Scoring on 10 of 11 possessions is elite. Seven touchdown drives of 75 or more yards is also elite. Scoring 66 points even against an overmatched opponent is rare. None of this happens if the offensive line fails to get the job done. The O-line was quite effective against Florida Atlantic, but again, let’s not fool ourselves. It was FAU and this week Campbell is several steps below the level of FAU, but disregard the opponent. What is important is getting the reps and building the cohesion it takes for five guys to function in synch. So it wasn’t perfect, but it didn’t have to be. The idea is week-to-week improvement. “I thought our offensive line played solid,” Sumrall said. “I wouldn't say that they've arrived yet or were elite, but I thought that it looked like a well-coached, cohesive unit that played trained.” INJURY UPDATE: Wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr., injured on Philo’s touchdown pass to Vernell Brown III on Florida’s opening drive, is questionable for Campbell, as is defensive end Emmanuel Obebadejo. Both suffered ankle injuries. “They're not out today, but they're just, they're out at practice some, but not able to participate,” Sumrall said. “And so we won't really know until probably the middle to later in the week what their real availability is, but they're definitely not probable as of right now.” Tight end Evan Chieca continues to improve but when he is available has yet to be determined. Wide receiver Davian Groce (back) is probably out one more week. Offensive tackle Eagan Boyer is scheduled to be back at practice this week.”

Baugh struck his Heisman pose to call attention to his offensive line, he said. (Chris Spears Photo) Jon Sumrall knew Jadan Baugh was good. Saturday night, Florida’s new coach discovered just how good. I knew he was good, too, and began singing praises for Baugh the moment he set foot on Steve Spurrier Florida Field in the spring game. He has paid it forward. And here we go. Fourteen carries. 160 yards. Three touchdowns. One spectacular 61-yard burst. And most of it accomplished before Baugh’s evening ended following Florida’s first possession of the third quarter in a 66-21 demolition of Florida Atlantic. This wasn’t just a football game. It was Baugh’s thank-you note to Sumrall and Florida. Or perhaps it was the other way around. Call it a mutual admiration society. “Man, he is a powerful, sudden, violent runner who can stick his foot in the ground,” said Sumrall. “On his long run, the most impressive part to me was the end, when he stops on a dime and makes two guys miss — and then the downfield blocking, too.” Before kickoff, Sumrall sought out his star running back and delivered a message that was considerably more important than any last-minute coaching point. “I said before the game, ‘I’m glad you’re still here. Thanks for staying,’” Sumrall said. “Very glad he’s a Florida Gator. Loved his play style and loved his demeanor. Florida fans ought to thank him, too. When Sumrall took the job, keeping Baugh in Gainesville wasn’t merely an item on a checklist. It was Job One. Baugh was coming off a 1,170-yard season and a 266-yard farewell to Florida State, and the transfer-portal vultures were circling. So Sumrall went recruiting. Again. He traveled to Baugh’s grandmother’s house in Atlanta on Christmas Eve, bringing members of his family and making the case that No. 13 should remain a Florida Gator. Baugh stayed. Saturday, he paid the first installment on that decision. “Yeah, he’s a really good football player,” Sumrall said, producing the early leader for Understatement of the Year. “I tell Buster (Faulkner) all the time, ‘You don’t know what to do, just hand it to 13. It’ll work usually.’ He’s phenomenal. He’s a great kid. Every bit as good as I thought he would be.” That’s a pretty good offensive philosophy. When in doubt, dial 13. Baugh showed power, speed and enough open-field electricity to strike a Heisman pose. His 61-yard run was the longest of his Florida career, and it carried him past 2,000 career rushing yards on his 367th attempt, making him the 10th-fastest Gator to reach that milestone. What did he see on the long run? “Grass. Green grass. That’s it,” Baugh said. “I saw my receivers blocking, and I was like, ‘It’s ready to go.’” And from now on, I think Baugh will see a lot of green grass, blue skies – and green lights! Sumrall saw something more. He saw Baugh plant his foot near the end of the run and fight for additional yardage instead of assuming the play was over. “Great to see him stick his foot in the ground at the end of that run and get more and not just think the journey was over,” Sumrall said. “We’ve challenged him with that.” The coach also credited Florida’s receivers for turning ordinary gains into explosive plays with their perimeter blocking. “Our receivers blocked their ass off,” Sumrall said, praising their edge and competitiveness.” But Sumrall’s favorite Baugh moment may have come after the running back was finished. With younger backs receiving late-game opportunities, Baugh stood on the sideline celebrating their success. Sumrall noticed. “Seeing his excitement for his teammates says a lot about him, too,” the coach said. There’s the real story. The rushing yards will get Baugh on the highlight shows. The touchdowns will fuel an early Heisman conversation. But the combination of talent, loyalty and leadership is what could take Florida somewhere it hasn’t been lately. Baugh explained his decision more simply. “I love being a Gator,” he said. “That’s all it is.” Sumrall thanked him for staying. After Saturday night, Gator Nation should form a line.

Is a star born yet? Good start for Aaron Philo (Photo by Chris Spears) Good News! Aaron Philo looked like a battle-ready SEC quarterback. The entire experience even exceeded the expectations of the head coach. By Eddie Gilley GatorBaitMedia.com GAINESVILLE — It was a night to remember. The inaugural game of the Jon Sumrall era certainly didn’t disappoint Gator fans. From the press box, we were treated to a spectacular performance by a football team playing with renewed spirit under a new coach. There was a flashy drone light show in the late-summer sky, a rousing rendition of a Tom Petty song and even the surprise revival of that once-legendary yell, “GatorBait,” resurrected by Florida’s new president. Images of Tebow, Spurrier and Wuerffel danced across the humid darkness. And down on Steve Spurrier Field, Aaron Philo looked like a battle-ready SEC quarterback. The entire experience even exceeded the expectations of the head coach. He said so in his postgame press conference. It was a night filled with fireworks, flashes and an incredible aerial display. Oh, and there was also a football game. There were several impressive achievements on the gridiron, not the least of which came from star running back Jadan Baugh. He reached a new plateau that even surprised him. Two grand in yardage. Here was the exchange with the media during the postgame press conference: Q. Last season you were the third Florida underclassman to reach 1,000 yards. Now you’ve reached 2,000. How does that feel? JADAN BAUGH: I did what? Q. Now you’ve reached 2,000 rushing yards. JADAN BAUGH: I didn’t even know that. Q. You didn’t know? JADAN BAUGH: No. Q. Well, congratulations. JADAN BAUGH: Thank you, thank you. Q. How does that feel? JADAN BAUGH: Feels good. Honestly, I just want to keep going, though. Q. You had 14 carries. You made a lot out of those. You had as many as Florida State, 500 yards tonight. JADAN BAUGH: Oh, man, you’re not lying. That’s the kind of guy Jadan Baugh is. He would rather keep running than stop to count the yards. There were also some things that need to be worked out before the Gators travel to the “Loveliest Village on the Plains” in Week 3, for sure. Philo completed 16 of 21 passes for 275 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception. The interception hit the receiver’s hands and, according to the head coach, “should have been caught.” Philo also ran for a score. It was a very good debut, for sure. Baugh provided the fireworks on the ground during the game. Then, at the start of the fourth quarter, there were literal fireworks at field level during the traditional singing of “I Won’t Back Down.” Baugh even struck the Heisman pose during a touchdown celebration. When asked about it after the game, he said he did it to draw attention to the effort his offensive line and teammates had put in to get him into that position. And, yeah, he also wanted to make a statement about his expectations for the year. Message received. Baugh appeared genuinely surprised when informed that he had surpassed 2,000 rushing yards in his Florida career. That’s the kind of guy he is. It was also clear from his answer about leadership that he feels he is one of the leaders, if not the leader, of this offense. Baugh said he has been more vocal this year, and that has been the biggest difference for him. His long run of 61 yards was impressive, but his most important run to me followed a near disaster. With a first down at the Owls’ 8-yard line, the Gators tried a direct snap to Baugh. The ball sailed over his head, and he recovered the fumble for a 20-yard loss. That could have killed the drive. Instead, on third down, Baugh rushed for 25 yards. That set up Philo’s 3-yard touchdown run on fourth down, putting the Gators ahead 24-7. Bad play. No panic. Next play. Go make something happen. Baugh’s jump cuts on two of his touchdown runs were incredible. He looked like a Heisman hopeful, even if we are only one game into the season. He had plenty of help. Vernell Brown III led the receivers with six catches for 117 yards and scored his first touchdown as a Gator. It was also Philo’s first touchdown pass as a Gator, getting the good guys on the board. Brown caught a short pass in the right flat, made an Owls defender miss and raced 49 yards after the catch for the touchdown. Coach Sumrall said he had spoken to VB3 about the fact that he was a valuable player last year, but the Gators needed him to start scoring touchdowns. One game. One touchdown. T.J. Abrams also hauled in a beautiful bomb from Philo for a 63-yard gain. That play set up the Baugh fumble and recovery, followed by his terrific 25-yard run. Bailey Stockton caught three passes, including a touchdown on a perfectly placed throw to his left shoulder. The placement allowed him to outrun the defender to the pylon. I must admit, I didn’t see this offensive explosion coming. After the last regime, I wasn’t sure the scoreboard could count past 30. I was happy to be wrong. The defense remains a work in progress, and I think I’ll hold that discussion for another column. There will be plenty of time for film study, criticism and concern. For a few days, let’s join the coach in enjoying being 1-0. Time will tell whether these Gators are good enough to win the hard games in the SEC. We don’t know whether Saturday night represented a true rebirth or simply one memorable opening act. But it felt different. The energy was different. The attitude was different. The offense was certainly different. It was a night to remember. It was the first victory of the Jon Sumrall era. It was the beginning of a new day for Florida football. Maybe it was even the awakening of the beast that Florida football has been before and, hopefully, will become again. Whatever happens next, nobody can take away that first night. A night to remember in September. And something tells me there are going to be a few more soon.

It’s finally here! Game week! Opening Game Weekend! The first home game of the season is upon us. I’ve always been a fan of college football, heck, who am I kidding? I’ve been a fan of any kind of football for as long as I can remember. But in 1987 I moved to Gainesville. I was fortunate to be able to establish friendships with some of the players and coaches and it didn’t take long to become a true Florida Gators fan. I think the first home game in 1987 was the first key part of my Gator transformation. The Gators beat Tulsa that day 52-0. I learned the traditions. I joined in with 2-Bits, The Gator Chomp, and stood and swayed without knowing the words to "We Are The Boys." I was there for both losses on opening day since then in 1989 against Ole Miss and in 2024 against Miami. The Gators have only lost 7 times when they opened the season at home against 69 wins. Overall, they are 89-25-1 over their 115-year history of playing football. So, the odds are in our favor for this weekend at home! I was there when Florida Atlantic was the opening day opponent in 2011, which was also the debut game for Will Muschamp. The Gators won that one 41-3 as John Brantley threw for 229 yards, Jeff Demps rushed for 105 yards and Chris Rainey led the receivers with 67 yards. The Gators led 24-3 at the half and pulled away in the second half for a comfortable win. How in the world did that team end up 7-6? Maybe Brantley’s two interceptions were a sign of the struggles to come. I was there when the Owls came back to the Swamp in 2021 and lost 35-14. That team was led by Coach Mullen and went 6-7. Let’s hope there is not a trend here! That game featured Emory Jones as the starting QB, who went 17-27 passing for 113 yards with one touchdown and one interception. It also saw the introduction of Anthony Richardson who went 3-8 for 40 yards but ran for 160 yards to lead the team! Malik Davis also ran for more than 100 yards and the Gators put up 400 yards on the ground alone. I was there when the Gators first played the Owls in 2007 but that wasn’t an opening game. Urban was the coach and Tim Tebow was the QB as the Gators put a 59-20 beatdown on the upstarts from Boca Raton. Tebow threw for 346 yards, 3 TDs and 1 Interception in the win. The Gators gave up 20 points in the second quarter. Whatever the coaches said at halftime must have worked because the Owls would not score again. I was also there in 2015 when the Gators needed overtime to defeat the Owls 20-14 in another November contest the week before playing FSU. The score was 0-0 at the half! Florida pushed out to a 14-point lead in the third quarter only to watch FAU tie the game with 8:03 left in the fourth. An overtime pass from Treon Harris to Jake McGee was the winning play. That was under Coach Jim McElwain. Somehow that team with 10-4! It seems playing them early gives the Gators the advantage as opposed to playing them as a trap game later in the season. Opening days come with jitters and nervous anticipation. In Florida, it also comes with the potential for weather delays and even cancellations! I have been there through the monsoons, the oppressive heat, the sweltering humidity, and even the cancellation of the game against Idaho. There is nothing quite like the experience you get by being in the Swamp with 90,000 of your closest friends on opening day! This weekend at least we get a night game! The fans will have to get rowdy at tailgates and fraternity houses all over campus all day. The start of the Jon Sumrall Era will be launched with a crowd in a frenzy and at full volume. Does the opponent matter? You bet your orange and blue socks on it. Napier went 3-1 but will be remembered as the coach when the 34-year home opener streak ended with the beating applied by Miami in 2024. I for one do not like openers against quality opponents. I like games where there will be a little challenge, but where the success of the guys in Orange and Blue is almost guaranteed. We have enough challenging games in the SEC schedule. A cupcake or two to start the regular season gives the guys a chance to learn, make a few mistakes, and get coached up without it ending the season dreams before they even get to SEC play. What will this season hold? Well, that’s anyone's guess right now, but in a week, we will either be 1-0 or 0-1. Time will tell but we don’t have to wait much longer now!

You can cruise along arms folded like Sumrall (center) when it goes well (Chris Spears Photo) Baugh was something to behold with three rushing touchdowns and it made you wonder just how good he is going to be. By BUDDY MARTIN GatorBaitMedia.com GAINESVILLE — We said hello to a new coach, goodbye to four years of a football famine and welcome back to an old friend called GatorBait. Life is good again in The Swamp. Very, very good. It feels like we’re among the living again. As my colleague, Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel wrote:“Florida blew out FAU in Jon Sumrall’s debut, but this didn’t feel like another season opener against an overmatched opponent. After four years of Billy Napier, it felt like an exorcism.” As for the glorious return of our beloved Gator Bait cheer, thank you, thank you, thank you! In some ways, I’m sorry it had to come to this, because I’ve got good friends on both sides of this aisle. But when something is wrong and it was taken from you because there’s injustice involved, then we must stand our ground and, as the song says, don’t back down! Joy is a great thing! And The Swamp was lit with it Saturday night because this one felt so right in so many ways – not the least of which was the way Jon Sumrall‘s team performed. Yes there were glitches, but it was a display of some awesome offensive fire power and it felt like the beginning of something special. And you know what? We deserve this! It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out, but mark this down anyway: Number 13 is going to be a lucky one for the Florida Gators and after the 160 yards rushing by Jadan Baugh and his spectacular return for a third and likely final season, we will begin to see a lot more number 13 jerseys. And by the way number 12 ain’t bad either, because Aaron Philo can, indeed, rip it. And spin it. It was also good to see backup Tramell Jones Jr. get in for a cameo roll that included a touchdown pass. And by the way, thanks to Sumrall for not embracing that stupid game of “let’s be nice and not score“ because Florida Atlantic was doing everything in its power to stone Tramell and his offense. As is the culture around here, run your offense and see if they can stop it. They literally get paid to do that now. The 66 points were the most scored in an opener since 1994 when they racked up 70. Baugh was something to behold with three rushing touchdowns and it made you wonder just how good he is going to be. Maybe not Emmitt Smith great, but depending on whether his team keeps winning, he’s got to be in a conversation for the Heisman. Baugh passed 2,000 career rushing yards on his 367th-career carry, which is the 10th-quickest in program history – one carry faster than Earnest Graham (368), who surpassed 2,000 career yards in the 2002 opener. Baugh said he felt empowered by the fans. “It felt great to me. Just being in The Swamp, seeing the fans, hearing how loud they get,” said Baugh. “I think early in the game got very loud. I looked back at the stands like, ‘wow, that's crazy.’” Offense has officially returned to The Swamp and the 90,025 patrons (5th largest season-opener crowd) were downright giddy. And what can we say about the legacy star Vernell Brown III? Every bit as good as advertised, and maybe even better! Not to hand out a bunch of bouquets here because it’s early and there is much work to be done, but as the cliche goes, you only have one chance to make a good first impression. And the Florida Gators certainly did that on Saturday night. I was particularly impressed with how the offense performed so smoothly, without a rash of illegal motions or stupid pre-snap flinches and — dare we say it – penalties for wrong substitution! Nobody was more grateful than the new head coach, but he was also quick to admonish them that there is work to be done yet. “I thought our guys came into the came with the right mindset, right approach,” said Sumrall. “They were prepared. They didn't take the opportunity for granted. They were emotionally charged and ready to go.” As for what’s next? “A lot to clean up. By no means a perfect performance. Long list of things we have to get a lot better at if we have high goals here.” He was also grateful for the fans. “Unbelievable turnout. Energy was electric. You know, got asked just a little bit ago about running out of the tunnel. It surpassed my expectations. I had pretty high expectations what it was going to be look. “What an unbelievable crowd. Great support. They had a huge impact on the game and that was -- we need that.” Finally, those of us on the front line of the fight for GatorBait all these years felt vindicated by hearing the Florida band playing the cheer on several occasions. And the band played on! (Buddy Martin Photo) Here was how ESPN and AP wrote it: By ESPN GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The University of Florida revived its "Gator Bait" cheer Saturday night during its season opener, bringing it back more than six years after the school banned it because of "horrific historic racist imagery" associated with the phrase. New school president Stuart Bell said in June that "traditions matter" and hinted that the cheer could return because "it's meaningful to the Gator family." It returned to the Swamp early in the first quarter against Florida Atlantic and was welcomed with a raucous reception. ”Congratulations Buddy!” one of my colleagues shouted at me in the press box. Many other people texted or wrote me on X which I greatly appreciated, yet it really was never so much about my company or me. But at times it felt exhausting. I’m sorry for those who remain offended, but this feels to us like things are slowly returning to their rightful place in this universe. I’m not going to shy away for the fact that our company, gatormedia.com has been at this business for a half century and when we bought it, another colleague was about to leave at the curb for trash pickup. I’m happy we did now. Let us have some peace and enjoy it, and by the way, if you’d like to join in on the parade, I’ll give the shameless plug for the new GatorBait gear, which is now available. If you order now, you could have it on time for the Ole Miss game (my bosses made me say that!) It’s the company Shane Matthews represents so you know it’s quality stuff. And it may help us keep the lights on here a little longer! Here’s the link. Cut and paste. New GatorBait Gear https://gatorbait2026r .itemorder.com/shop/home/

The Sumrall Era begins with a record offensive performance as well as hard truths. By Loren Meadows, GatoBaitMedia.com, Host of the Gator Lowdown with Loren Meadows Philo was in command Saturday night (Chris Spears photo) What We Expected: The Florida Gators were in a remodeling phase this offseason. Not to be confused with rebuild Jon Sumrall has been equipped with a consensus Top 15 roster based on talent and he has made it very clear that his expectation is to be competitive and win as many as he can at all cost. Saturday night was going to be an opportunity for the Florida Gators to show what all this hard work was about and look to control a quality football team looking to improve on its own disappointing 2025. Florida Atlantic would come in and throw it all over the yard with breakneck speed and efficiency. Equipped with one of the best QB-WR combinations in the American Conference this offense would put constant pressure on a retooled secondary under new defensive coordinator Brad White. Defensively Florida Atlantic struggled last season so the new look offense of Buster Faulkner would ease into 2026 and lean on the legs of Jaden Baugh allowing new starting quarterback Aaron Philo to ease into his first start as a Gator. What We Got: As expected, the Gators “ran the Baugh”, and ran it well. The junior running back was sensational as usual to the tune of 160 yards on just 14 carries with three touchdowns. While the offensive line was inconsistent at times in the run game, plays that weren’t blocked as well still became solid gains because of the quick feet, and vision of Baugh. What is not mentioned enough is the ability of Baugh to be as effective as a blocker on passing downs which aided in a great night by Quarterback Aaron Philo. Philo got put the gate strong showing great field awareness and efficiency completing passes to four different receivers with touchdown passes on the first two drives. Philo’s leadership and command of Faulkner’s offense was good and with Baugh, Vernell Brown III, Dallas Wilson, and Bailey Stockon he had a bevy of weapons to choose from despite the absence of top target Eric Singleton who left the game early with ankle injury. The defense flashed at times but was deemed as “atrocious” by the brutally honest Sumrall. Give FAU credit, Zach Whittey’s offense knows exactly who they are and quarterback Caden Veltkamp is a future pro that was smooth in the pocket against limited pressure from the Gators. What drew the growls from Sumrall was an inability by the Gators to get off third down early and run defense that at times lacked the aggressiveness. FAU was 50 percent on third down conversions and had 25 first downs. Veltkamp completed 65 percent of his passes for 276 yards and touchdown and while the Gators only gave up 3.2 yards per carry, there were several short yardage opportunities where the defense did little to stop FAU. What Sumrall and White will find solace in is the fact that a Gator defense that spent 2025 forcing very few turnovers picked off two last night and generated two sacks against an offensive line that gave up just 1.5 per game last season. The Skinny:For a debut this was what you would like. It wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty good. If you don’t have anything to work on after Week 1, you need to be concerned. The defense will most likely spend the week working on run fits and cleaning up breaks on pass plays. The offense will look to find continuity on the run game as Faulkner gives Philo more tools in the tool bag to run the offense. The bounce was definitely back in this team and the special teams were far more organized and efficient as Patrick Durkin booted a 53 yard field goal and touchbacks on all but one kickoff. The Gators are improved, but the defense has to find its footing as a trip to the plains looms large in just 13 days. Campbell allows the Gators one more opportunity to fine tune and correct issues before conference play, but they are improved as well. What fits this team best is they will be challenged by a coach that knows what he wants and what it should look like. Most importantly if its ugly, he’s going to tell you, a welcome change at Florida.