4 winners and 2 losers from Florida Gators 52-3 blowout of Campbell ahead of crucial Auburn Tigers matchup
The vibes are really high for Jon Sumrall’s Florida Gators after a 2-0 start, and it starts on offense.
Florida Gators head coach Jon Sumrall couldn’t have had much of a better start, starting 0-2 with a 52-3 win over the Campbell Fighting Camels.
Even though the Gators went down 3-o after a field goal by the Fighting Camels in the first quarter, they didn’t hesitate and scored 52 unanswered points. The offense was explosive, putting up over 5o0 yards for the second consecutive game. The one difficult part of the first two games is figuring out how good they really are. That will come next Saturday night when they head to Jordan Hare Stadium to take on the Auburn Tigers.
On Saturday night, these were the standout players and themes.
Winner: WR Vernell Brown III
Brown announced to the world that he is one of the most electric players with the ball in his hands. It didn’t take him long to make an impact, either. At the beginning of the second quarter, Brown returned a punt for 64 yards and a touchdown. Then, he did it again from 70 yards out just 3:25 later.
It’s not just that Brown found a way to get back-to-back punt return touchdowns, it’s his insane movement skills that maximize how he did it. He also followed it up with a jet pass touchdown from 14 yards out. He’s a rare talent and thriving in Buster Faulkner’s offense.
Winner: QB Aaron Philo
I had doubts about how well Philo would do as a starter in the SEC, but two games in and I’m sold on his potential. Some of that is his familiarity in Faulkner’s offense from his time at Georgia Tech, and that carry over has been huge in helping launch this offense in the first two games.
Philo is attacking every level of the field with confidence, and he’s attacking vertically in the same way. It’s also how he attacked defenses when he was with the Yellow Jackets. We need to see him do it against better competition, but it’s a great start.
Loser: Third down offense
If the Gators really want to take the next step that many thought they would make under Billy Napier, they have to tighten up the little things. The Gators finished 3-9 on third down, but converted the final two opportunities in garbage time. That’s not ideal situational gameplay.
The silver lining here is simple: they were 5-9 against Florida Atlantic and converted both fourth downs in that game. They need to figure out how to be better in situational football and fast.
Winner: RB Jadan Baugh
Simply put: Baugh might be the best player in all of college football not named Jeremiah Smith. He’s only rushed the ball 28 times this season, but has gained 296 yards with five touchdowns in the process. It hasn’t mattered how Baugh has gotten the ball: he’s finding a way to attack every blade of grass.
Baugh’s biggest question mark is straight-line speed, and it won’t go away anytime soon. Even so, he did break a 75-yard touchdown run against Campbell, including deking a defender out of his shoes. Baugh is primed for an elite year.
Winner: Brad White’s defense
After allowing a fast-paced offense in Florida Atlantic to gain plenty of yards and score 21 points, things tightened up quite a bit on Saturday. The Gators allowed just 210 yards on the day and the Fighting Camels were only 5-of-18 on third down. It’s an important step forward for a defense that struggled with details in the season opener. Next week is a huge test against Byrum Brown and the Tigers.
Loser: Special teams decisions
This was a really weird decision-making process for the Gators. They called a fake punt in the third quarter with a 42-point lead. Punter Alec Clark nearly ran for a first down, which in itself was impressive. However, was it really smart to put that on film in a game that was already in hand?
Also, true freshman Justin Williams muffed a punt in the second half inside the 20. The Gators’ defense was able to get the stop, but it’s frustrating to see it happen at all, especially since it was a routine catch.
