5 winners and 2 losers from Florida Gators massive win in Jon Sumrall’s SEC debut vs. Auburn Tigers
Jon Sumrall kicked off his Florida Gators SEC debut with an explosive win, but there is still a lot of work to do.
The Florida Gators were ready for a litmus test against the Auburn Tigers on Saturday night, and they proved they aren’t the same team. They built multiple 17-point leads on the way to beating them 44-39.
Head coach Jon Sumrall was ready to go in his home state of Alabama. It took just six plays for the Gators to take a 7-0 lead with Jadan Baugh scoring on a two-yard rush. Within the game, there were a few different angles to talk about, including a couple that are of growing concern.
Winner: RB Jadan Baugh
There isn’t a better running back in the country, and I don’t think it’s close at this point. Heck, you can make an argument that he might be the best player in all of college football. The only other player who comes close to him would be Jeremiah Smith, but it’s at least a discussion.
Baugh didn’t hold back, either. He was firing on all cylinders from the start of the game, and it got stronger as the game went on. Baugh ran for 162 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries, and looks like the best running back not just in the nation, but also in the Gators’ program this century. He looks like the Heisman Trophy front runner right now, and that’s going to continue.
Winner: QB Aaron Philo
During the offseason, there were serious questions about the Gators’ approach at the quarterback position. After losing DJ Lagway to the transfer portal, many thought the Gators would go big game hunting. That didn’t happen, and they landed Philo, who came over with offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner.
That ended up being a great decision, and it’s resonated in a 3-0 start. Philo threw an interception that wasn’t his fault, but he was very efficient on the day, throwing for 204 yards and a touchdown, while also getting 22 yards on the ground. He’s not the player with the best tools, but Philo is a great point guard of the offense.
Loser: Referee luck
The first half was not in the Gators’ favor when it came to close calls. They were doing a great job moving the football in the first half, but the biggest two calls went against the Gators. One of those was costly on the scoreboard.
Vernell Brown III caught a tipped ball from Lacota Dippre, who was wide open on a seam route, but hte ball was just off-target. He had the ball in his hands, but it touched the ground. Ultimately, the refs determined that the ball moved, which was controversial in itself. That wasn’t even too bad, even though the evidence was not there to overturn it.
The second one was the worst of the two. Tigers quarterback Byrum Brown was scrambling on third down, and was running down the sidelines. He was spun around, but still in bounds when Cormani McClain, who got an interception on the first drive, hit him hard. It was called a late hit out of bounds, but it wasn’t; it was just close to the sidelines.
The vibes were not great for the Gators when it comes to penalties overall, as they had 16 for 138 yards, while the Tigers had six for 65 yards. Did they have some bad luck? Yeah, but they also need to be more disciplined.
Winner: WR Dallas Wilson
We’ve seen Wilson pop during his first two years with the Gators, but things looked pretty good on Saturday night. He got a great profile for the Gators to build upon over the course of the season. Faulkner didn’t take long getting Wilson involved, starting with an impressive screen pass.
Wilson was used across the line of scrimmage by Faulkner for a multitude of different ways, including an impressive design, motioning Vernell Brown III into a trips set, launching Wilson into open space for an easy score.
Winner: Gators pass rush
This was a major concern of mine going into SEC play. They weren’t getting pressure across the board, both when blitzing and rushing four. Things changed going into Jordan-Hare.
Jayden Woods and Emmanuel Oyebadejo each had 2.5 sacks on Byrum Brown, and the Gators ended up with seven total sacks and nine tackles for loss. They still need to clean up some things, but it’s a great sign that the combination of the pass rush and secondary was performing at a high level.
Loser: Clock management
We talked about it after the Gators’ win over the Florida Atlantic Owls with Sumrall using his timeouts in a poor way. That resonated again against Auburn.
“Sumrall burned all of his timeouts by the 6:55 mark of the second quarter, still leading 14-0. Given how Billy Napier’s timeout management was scrutinized during his tenure, that’s not a great look. One of the timeouts was due to defensive lineman Jeremiah McCloud going down to stop the clock because of FAU’s high tempo, also known as the Lane Kiffin rule. It’s the first game, and you only have a couple of scrimmages during fall camp to simulate these situations. How concerning is it long-term? Only time will tell.”
After the first SEC contest, those questions have persisted. His poor clock management at the end of the first half, using a timeout after draining the clock down to 25 seconds. That prevented the Gators from going for it on fourth and two, and forced a field goal. With six minutes left in the game, the Gators had just one timeout left. Now, the Gators got a sizable win on Saturday night, but this could become an issue during the course of SEC play.
Winner: OC Buster Faulkner
The biggest thing that Sumrall knew he needed to do was fix the offense. Well, through three games, they have done just that.
Over the first three games of Sumrall’s tenure, they have been explosive on offense, with their lowest point total being 44, and yardage total being 495, both of which were on Saturday night. During Billy Napier’s tenure, they reached 500+ yards just six times, and Sumrall nearly had his first three games hit that number.
Faulkner has done a great job maximizing the talent on the roster, creating unique ways for explosives down the field. The run game is also really good, as their blocking schemes are physical and violent. We still need to see it against more SEC competition before we truly know how good this offense will be, but the early returns are great.
