Florida comes back to The Swamp for the first time in 4 weeks with a critical matchup against Oklahoma.  Both teams are coming off of dispiriting losses and hoping to avoid a November swoon that would result in a mediocre season and a disgruntled fan base.  The Sooners have been especially disappointing, coming in at 4-4 and desperate to try and salvage anything from a season in which they were considered a solid Playoff contender.  The Gators are pretty much where most expected them to be at this point of the season, but the roller coaster ride has been especially wild and currently at a low after getting embarrassed by Georgia.

Let’s start with Florida’s offense, coming off of essentially a no-show in Atlanta.  From a questionable game plan to regression in QB play and the continuation of critical penalties, Buster Faulkner has to do something to better utilize the strengths of his players and also attack the middle of the field more.  Tramell Jones will get the start after relieving Aaron Philo last week after Philo self-destructed with a brutal interception and did nothing to move the team.  Jones is playing on a bad lag that will require offseason surgery, but is toughing it out.  Faulkner has to do a better job of emphasizing Jones’ capabilities and give the offense a chance to put together some scoring drives.  Admittedly his job is made more difficult by the injuries within the WR corps and the continued struggles of the O-line, but that’s what he’s paid the big money for – not the abomination of last week.  VB3 is out again this week, and it’s starting to look like he’s done for 2026.  Bailey Stockton continues to play well despite being banged up since the Ole Miss game.  Dallas Wilson somehow needs to push through his own bumps and bruises and start making impact plays.  Expect OU to continue what opponents have done since Florida’s initial stumble at Missouri – press the box, move the safeties closer, focus on stopping Jaden Baugh, and dare the QB to beat them.  The Sooner defense is solid and filled with talent, but also evidence of what a bad offense can do to any defense, as they are wearing down, incurring injuries, and starting to show large cracks under the pressure of trying to bail out the offense.  LB Owen Heinecke is the leading tackler with 64 stops and 7.5 TFL, DB Patrick Bowen is second with 41 tackles and 2 interceptions, DB Reggie Powers III often is around the LOS, racking up 5.5 TFL and 2 sacks, and DL David Stone has 3.5 TFL and 2 sacks.  As a team, Oklahoma has piled up 49 TFL and 23 sacks in 8 games, so you can expect them to get after the Florida O-line all night and force the Gators to execute and make plays.  Overall, a difficult matchup for the Gators that could turn into another ugly result.

The story for the Florida defense (recently) and Oklahoma offense is essentially the same as above.  The Sooner offense has been a mess most of the season, featuring an ineffective running game and getting sketchy play from QB John Mateer.  From a Heisman candidate in early 2025 to one of the lowest-rated QBs in the SEC in 2026, it’s been a long fall from grace for Mateer.  He has struggled reading defenses and turned the ball over too often since the beginning of October.  Get him off of his initial read, and he’ll bail out of the pocket and scramble.  RB Lloyd Avant has 79 carries and averages 4.4 YPC, but Mateer actually leads the team with 86 rushes – a bad sign.  The Sooners actually have proven weapons in WR Isaiah Sategna and TE Rocky Beers, and Florida’s defense has to minimize their production and force Mateer to look elsewhere.  The Sooner O-line has been beset by injuries as well, and the Gators need to take advantage of that by continuing their recent emphasis on an aggressive front seven that runs stunts and blitzes to pressure the QB and LOS.  Emmanuel Oyebadejo, Brendan Bett, Jayden Woods, and LJ McCray should be able to get pressure on the pocket to disrupt anything the Sooners try to run.  Having The Swamp crowd behind them certainly helps, and they may have to carry the day to secure a win.  Finally, OU Head Coach Brent Venables pulled the plug Sunday on OC Ben Arbuckle, who’s brief run was a disaster.  I hope that doesn’t provide a sudden spark to their offense, but anything’s possible.

Special teams will be an excellent matchup.  Sategna is a dangerous punt returner, and Tate Sandell is the returning Lou Groza Award winner and one of the better placekickers in the country.  With VB3 out again, it may be time to add punt return duties to kickoff returns for London Montgomery, who has provided some juice in the return game all season.  PK Patrick Durkin and P Alec Clark continue to be perhaps the best duo in the SEC.  In a game featuring two struggling offenses, a big special teams play may decide the outcome.

Just another game in the SEC meat grinder, and both teams desperately need to win.  I’m glad this is a home game for the Gators, as Oklahoma has many good players and could suddenly reverse course at Florida’s expense.  Win this one, and Jon Sumrall still has a shot at 8 or 9 wins.  Lose, and suddenly you’re 5-4 with a trip to Kentucky next week and little chance of even a decent bowl game – as if that means much anymore.  Which offense can make enough plays to win?  We’ll see Saturday night.

Prediction:

Florida 23

Oklahoma 20

It was a Happy Halloween for Georgia, as Florida passed out all the treats (4 turnovers, multiple major penalties) with a very disappointing and lackluster offensive performance in a 27-8 loss.

Those were the kindest adjectives I could come up with to describe the horror show that was the Gator offense, which took the holiday a little too seriously it seems.  Aaron Philo got the short hook in the 2nd quarter after looking completely lost and panicked, including throwing a terrible interception as he was falling down.  Tramell Jones then came in and provided a brief spark, but that ended with an interception on a catchable pass to Eric Singleton leading to a 10-0 Georgia lead.  Right before halftime came the coup-de-grace – a strip sack of Jones that was returned for a TD that made the score 24-0.  BOO indeed.  The second half wasn’t much better, including an ill-advised end zone pick to a Bulldog DB that inexplicably Jones didn’t see.  Good news, though – Florida’s scoring streak lives on……YAY!  A TD drive with 7 minutes left made the score 24-8, and Georgia tacked on a late FG to close out the scoring.  While both QBs had bad days, the O-line was as much a culprit.  There were critical holding penalties all afternoon, along with a false-start penalty on 3rd-and-1 that ended a 2nd quarter drive.  Georgia repeatedly got a push at the LOS, pressured the pocket while racking up 4 sacks, and ate up any runs or passes to the edges.  The Gators never established a consistent running game, with Jaden Baugh getting stuffed at or behind the LOS all afternoon.  Which leads me to some pointed criticism of Buster Faulkner’s game plan.  Why in the hell he continued to call those plays to the edge – both runs and passes – was baffling, as the Bulldogs have too much talent and speed in their front seven to have any real success doing it.  That, along with not attacking downfield more often in the passing game – the few times that the Gators actually made some positive plays – was frustrating to watch.  While I acknowledge that Georgia likely has the best defense Florida will face all season, this was by far the worst performance by the offense of the season – including the duds at Missouri and against South Carolina.  A complete and total failure across the board.

On the opposite side of the ball, Florida’s defense played it’s best game of the season.  It repeatedly rose up to stop Georgia through the first 3 quarters less the short fields allowed by the turnovers and fumble return for a TD.  It had to be extremely difficult to go back onto the field after watching the offense continually screw up, yet the defense fought gamely until they ran out of gas in the 4th quarter.  The D-line made some big plays, including a sack and deflected pass by Emmanuel Oyebadejo.  The secondary had mostly good pass coverage, and overall the defense played an aggressive scheme that DC Brad White seems to have finally figured out.  LB Miles Graham and safety Bryce Thornton made some big hits and flew around the field.  The defense held Georgia to only 318 total yards, 101 passing, and much of the 217 rushing yards came as the players tired in the second half.  I hope that this unit sees on tape how well it played and can keep up that same performance the last four games……because apparently it will be needed.

Jon Sumrall was visibly annoyed after the game, as he should be. He knows this isn’t good enough, and at least is honest enough to say it publicly.  He and his offensive staff have to coach up both QBs to play better.  Both likely will be needed, as each is playing through injury.  The O-line needs to bounce back in a big way, and stop the dumb penalties.  The WRs and TEs all have to do more to help the QBs, and block better for the running game.  It’s unfortunate to still have all of these glaring issues 8 games into the season, but that’s where the offense is – and isn’t – right now.

There are a few more meaningful games to be played, and an overall solid year can still be had if the team can improve and keep looking forward.  In all honesty, the win-loss record to date is close to where almost everyone predicted it would be.  Getting to 7 or more wins would be a marked improvement for the program – especially with what Slingblade left behind for Coach Sumrall to work with.  Lots of work to do this week in practice.

Florida returns from it’s bye week by being thrown right into the deep end, facing a tough Georgia team coming off of it’s own bye week and stewing after an ugly upset loss at home to Auburn.  This year’s game is at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, due to the renovations being made to EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville.  I’m sure the Bulldog faithful are looking forward to this game being so much closer to Athens and also in-state.

If Florida is to have any chance at victory, it’s offense will have to find ways to move the ball and also score touchdowns against another terrific Georgia defense.  OC Buster Faulkner has experience against the Bulldogs, having coached against them the past few years while at Georgia Tech.  He’s had success against Kirby Smart, but that was with a big, tough QB that ran the ball better than he threw it, which always gives the Dawgs trouble.  The Gators do not have that type of QB, so we may see a similar game plan to the one employed at Texas – a conservative, grind-it-out scheme that uses safe, short throws and tries to get enough push for Jaden Baugh and the running game to generate first downs, control the clock, and shorten the game.  Perhaps Faulkner schemes in more QB runs than expected, throwing injury caution to the wind, but that’s a huge risk.  As much as I’d love to see a wide-open attack, the Florida O-line just isn’t good enough right now to stand up against Georgia’s front seven, which is among the best in the country.  Whether it’s Tramell Jones getting his second start or Aaron Philo returning from injury, either one will need to be quick and decisive in their reads and make accurate throws.  If they can’t do that, then it will be a long afternoon for the Gators, as they likely can’t hold down Georgia’s offense consistently.  The Florida WRs have to come up big in this game – here’s hoping the extra week of rest helps many of them heal up, including Dallas Wilson, Eric Singleton, and Vernell Brown III, who has been out for a month.

This will be the most talented and physical defense Florida plays this season, and even if the offense plays at peak efficiency it may not be enough unless they can score at least 24 points while also winning the time of possession battle.  Georgia is led by an elite LB corps that includes 3 of the team’s 4 leading tacklers – Raylen Wilson, Chris Cole, and Justin Williams.  Wilson and Cole have 6.5 sacks between them, and Cole will be a NFL 1st-round pick.  Their secondary is unique in that their DBs aren’t afraid to mix it up against the run and are tough and physical.  Safety Rasean Dinkins and DB KJ Boldin are all-SEC candidates, with Boldin being someone that Florida badly wanted out of high school.  DL Jordan Hall and Nnamdi Ogboko are stout interior linemen that are hard to move and allow the LBs to clean things up.  At a minimum this matchup will be a measuring stick for Jon Sumrall and his offensive staff to evaluate where they need to eventually get to become a true title contender – especially up front.

The Florida defense will have it’s hands full against a Georgia offense that is averaging 470 yards per game – 272 passing and 198 rushing.  QB Gunner Stockton leads the SEC in completion percentage, yards per attempt, and passer rating.  Many of his throws are quick outs or screens, with occasional seam routes to his TEs and WRs.  There is no true #1 target – 4 WRs, 2 RBs, and 1 TE all have between 10 and 20 catches.  The Gators can’t afford to play any soft coverage, or they will die from the proverbial thousand cuts.  This will be a test of man coverage and open-field tackling – the Bulldogs thrive and yards after the catch.  Georgia’s running game is solid as usual, led by RBs Dwight Phillips, Chauncey Bowens, and Nate Frazier.  Bowens and Phillips are also targets in the short passing game.  Every level of Florida’s defense will be tested and have to have big games in order to slow the Bulldogs down enough to have a chance for the upset.  I hope to see a continuation of the aggressive, attacking scheme for the front seven deployed at Texas, to try and disrupt the LOS and pressure Stockton.  That’s preferable to sitting back and allowing Georgia to dictate the action and control the clock.

Both teams come in with excellent special teams, so I don’t see any real advantage there.  Of course, Florida could help itself out with a big kick return, while the coverage unit needs to tighten up after allowing a punt return TD at Texas.  We’ll see if VB3 is ready to play – he could be a difference-maker in the return game.

The SEC conference schedule has already proven this year to be more volatile than perhaps ever, with many solid favorites getting upset – both on the road and at home. That alone shows that Florida has a chance to pull off a major upset this week, but the game still must be played.  Coach Sumrall should have his team ready after a much-needed bye week.  The SEC slate is such a grind and physically demanding, and the Gators were pretty beaten up even before winning at Texas – especially the WR room.  There will be a solid and loud contingent of Gator fans in Atlanta, with myself among them, rooting for the upset.  Realistically it will be a tall task to accomplish, but that’s why they play the games – especially rivalry games – right?

Prediction:

Georgia 31

Florida 17

Chaos Theory

What a crazy week – not just in the SEC, but across the country.  5 of the Top 7 teams in the country lost, while 2 others were in death struggles.  Of course, the day was led off by Florida rising from the dead and upsetting Texas 27-24 in Austin.  Few – including me – thought it would happen, but I’m so happy to be wrong.  At least I was there in person to watch the Gators come back from a 17-3 deficit to stun the Longhorns and  – for now – quiet some of the noise from both the media and fan base as to where the season was heading.

For most of the first half, it was a continuation of the poor play and uninspired effort that marked the previous two bad losses.  The offense struggled under the leadership of QB Tramell Jones, who got the start due to a shoulder injury sustained by Aaron Philo the week before.  The Gators looked listless while struggling to establish the running game – again – and were unable to sustain any drive until the end of the first half.  It wasn’t pretty, but somehow Florida put together a TD drive in the last 4 minutes of the half, chipping away at a stout Longhorn defense with short completions and finally generating a semblance of a running game with Jaden Baugh.  Jones extended the drive with perhaps the most important play of the season to date – a completion to Dallas Wilson to convert a 4th-and-12 and inject some life into the offensive players.  That led to a TD pass to TE Lacota Dippre to cut the lead to 17-10 at halftime.  The offense then came out and drove for the tying touchdown on the opening possession of the second half, coming on another TD reception by Dippre.  It was great to see the TE utilized in the passing game again after disappearing during the two losses.  That completely turned the momentum around and gave the entire team the belief they were in the game and capable of winning.  From there to the end of the game, Florida dominated time of possession, finishing with 37 minutes, running 81 plays, and smartly executing OC Buster Faulkner’s conservative game plan.  Jones completed 22 passes for only 155 yards, but did just enough through the air to provide some balance to the offensive attack.  Most importantly – he threw no interceptions on his 35 attempts.  Faulkner did unveil some unusual formations and misdirection plays that confused Texas and helped Florida finish 8-18 on 3rd-down conversions after starting 0-6.  Even the O-line showed some toughness and resolve after embarrassing itself the previous 2 weeks.  They were able to give Baugh just enough room to make some key first downs and finish with 91 yards and a TD, and gave Jones enough time to convert 3rd-down completions despite a ferocious Texas pass rush.  After the defense forced a Manning fumble with just over 2 minutes left, the offense ground out the first down that iced the game while forcing Texas to burn all of it’s timeouts in the process.  Props to the WRs, many of whom, including Wilson, Eric Singleton, and Micah Mays, were battling injuries throughout the game and gutted it out.  It also didn’t help that VB3 was out for the 3rd straight game.  Finally, a continuing issue is too many silly penalties ending series early and forcing the defense into tough situations, and that has to stop.  Again, it wasn’t pretty or exciting, but winning is always the goal.  

Florida’s defense started out slowly, allowing Texas to easily score a TD on it’s first possession of the game, and then giving up another long drive that ended with a FG and a 10-0 deficit to overcome.  At that point it appeared it would be a repeat of most of the first 6 games, and you could sense some desperation along the Gator sideline.  Then – suddenly – the defense awoke, and from that point until 6 minutes left in the game, they shut down Texas, holding them under 100 yards of offense during that time and giving the offense the opportunities it needed to get itself going.  We finally saw some blitzing and some line stunts that seemed to confuse the Texas O-line and QB Arch Manning, helping to generate 5 sacks and holding the Longhorns to under 100 yards passing until less than 5 minutes remained in the game. DE LJ McCray was a menace the entire 2nd half, sacking Manning twice and harassing him numerous times.  The LBs tackled well in space and blitzed successfully, and the entire front seven did a good job of limiting Manning’s scrambling ability and also stopping Texas on two short 4th-down attempts.  Other than the opening drive, the defense held up well, less the 62-yard completion on a 4th-down scramble play that got the Longhorns right back into the game with more than 4 minutes still remaining.  This coming right after Baugh’s TD run that made the score 27-17 with 6 minutes left and had many Texas faithful heading for the exits.  Manning was exposed – again – as a barely-adequate QB that is vastly overrated and cannot consistently read defenses or provide a complementary passing game.  The defense also recovered 2 fumbles – the last coming on a sack of Manning to help clinch the victory when it looked like Florida was about to throw away all the good it had done. 

I also have to mention the special teams.  They were excellent the entire game, less one glaring play.  Patrick Durkin converted his 2 FG attempts into a swirling wind, and 5 of his 6 kickoffs were touchbacks.  But the player of the game may have been punter Alec Clark.  He averaged 52 yards on his 6 punts, including a 75-yarder that should have been downed at the 1-yard line except for an unfortunate mistake by the coverage team.  He flipped the field on every kick except for that aforementioned miscue.  The one unfortunate play was allowing a 63-yard punt return TD that made the score 17-3 Texas and really put the Gators in a hole.  The coverage units have been very good all year, but sometimes you just get beat by a sterling individual effort.  Other than that, another solid performance from this unit that definitely helped secure the win.

So, here we are at the bye week, with the Gators sporting a 5-2 record and two wins over Top 10 opponents at the time of kickoff.  It’s hard to believe that this was Florida’s first road win against a Top 10 opponent since defeating Florida St. in 2012.  This was a huge win for the program and for Jon Sumrall to help quiet some of the criticism and hopefully get the players re-energized for the upcoming games.  There are still plenty of challenges ahead, and also the question of who will be the starting QB.  Jones may have earned the nod given his performance on the road in his first-ever start, but Philo’s health and what happens in practice the next two weeks will be important.  There are many players with nagging injuries that desperately need this off week to heal up.  It’s already been a wild roller-coaster ride, and it could easily continue starting on Halloween against Georgia.

A suddenly reeling Florida now must go on the road to face a Texas team coming off of a bitter and mostly-self-inflicted loss to Oklahoma in it’s annual rivalry game.  You can bet the Longhorns will be pissed off even more than trying to avenge last year’s embarrassing loss at The Swamp to Billy Napier of all people.  Any hopes I had of Texas sleepwalking into this game with an early 11:00 am local kickoff and perhaps a mental letdown after the Red River Rivalry game have now evaporated.

If Florida is to have any chance at all to steal a huge upset win, the defense somehow has to find a way to gain some semblance of stability – especially in the secondary.  QB Arch Manning is vastly overhyped and overrated and can be forced into mistakes, but I just don’t know if DC Brad White (or Sumrall, or whomever) can put the Gator defenders in position often enough to generate some turnovers and get enough stops to give a struggling Gator offense enough opportunities to win.  Unfortunately, I suspect that means we will see more zone coverage to try and force the Longhorns and Manning to be patient and hope for physical or mental mistakes – not comforting.  The front seven showed more aggression in it’s pass rush last week, and I think they can cause problems for Manning despite his running ability.  The tackling last week against South Carolina was the worst of the season, and that is something that can be improved just from better focus and effort – if the defenders aren’t starting to mentally check out.  I sure hope not – the season is only half way over, but you can sense the growing frustration among the Gator defenders.Leaders like Jayden Woods and Myles Graham have to make some big plays to inject some juice into the defense.  Finally – somehow, some way, the secondary has to play better by getting into the right position and sticking to the Longhorn receivers.  I’ve seen no evidence of it to date, but here’s (blindly) hoping.  If not, expect another blowout loss.

Florida’s offense will be facing by far it’s toughest defense to date.  Texas is loaded with talent at all three levels, allowing only 96 yards rushing and 16 points per game.  DE Colin Simmons leads the SEC with 9.5 sacks, 12.5 TFL, and is a likely 1st-round NFL pick.  LBs Rasheem Biles and Justin Cryer and excellent at filling gaps and also in coverage.  And as usual Texas is loaded with elite secondary talent, led by Jelani McDonald, Kade Phillips, and Derek Williams.  All three are sure tacklers and also aren’t afraid of playing run support.  Buster Faulkner will have his plate full trying to establish any sort of consistent offense against this group, and perhaps will have to rely more on specific formations and individual big plays than any methodical drives led by the running game.  I’m guessing that Aaron Philo will start at QB, and he’ll have to play his best game to have any chance of success.  But don’t be surprised to see Tramell Jones come in for a few series as early as the first half to perhaps throw the Longhorns a few changeups and perhaps spark the offense with some specific play calls.  The Gator WRs need to play much better and more aggressively, despite nagging injuries to Dallas Wilson and Bailey Stockton.  Here’s hoping that VB3 will return to action, but he will not be at 100%, just like Eric Singleton, who is gamely trying to play each week but never was allowed to recover from his ankle injury in the opener.  Perhaps either TJ Abrams or Micah Mays can surprise, but neither has done much so far.  It’s looking bleak for the offense, unless the O-line suddenly surprises again and gets out of it’s recent funk.  This is simply not a favorable matchup for Florida.

Jon Sumrall and the Gators are staring at a potential 5- or 6-game losing streak, and one of the most difficult things to do in sports sometimes is to reverse a sudden and massive shift in momentum.  The coaches and players are all saying the right things – for now – but I’m afraid the weaknesses in the roster have been exposed and that the better opponents on the schedule can exploit them too easily to overcome.  Of course, one big win can change the narrative, but that looks like a tall order right now.  I’m afraid there’s gonna be Gator meat added to the BBQ menus in Austin this weekend.

Prediction:

Texas 41

Florida 17

And just like that, the wheels have fallen off and the season suddenly stands on the brink of an epic disappointment.  Florida suffered another embarrassing defeat, this time losing at home 38-19 against a reeling South Carolina team that was able to get well in The Swamp.  Shane Beamer gets a temporary stay of execution courtesy of the Gator defense, while Florida stares down at the abyss……again.

Once again, Florida’s defense was terrible, allowing QB LaNorris Sellers to look like Patrick Mahomes while piling up 318 yards of total offense and 5 total TDs (4 pass, 1 run).  This is now looking alarmingly just like what Todd Grantham, Patrick Toney, and Austin Armstrong rolled out as previous defensive coordinators going back to 2020.  Poor tackling, inexplicably bad pass coverage, and an inability to get off the field on 3rd downs.  I was not kidding when I mentioned last week that Jon Sumrall may have to do something drastic regarding DC Brad White, and now I believe it’s necessary.  These kinds of performances cannot be allowed to continue, and massive changes need to be made.  Yes, it’s drastic to do something like that mid-season, but Sumrall needs to take this on head first – and now.  There was some improved pressure on the QB with some blitzing and 7-man fronts, but too often Sellers was allowed to escape the rush due to missed tackles, and when he had time to throw it was far too easy to pick apart the Gator secondary.  What’s happened to the secondary is beyond words – these players are too talented and athletic to look as bad as they do right now.  Meanwhile, the front seven allow Sellers to escape pressure outside the pocket too often, despite knowing the running threat he was.  That extended to many drives and you could sense the confidence building in the Gamecocks as the game wore on.  Too many breakdowns, too many missed assignments, and another second half fade to black.  

The Florida offense had some moments in the first half, but those came mostly through the passing game, as Carolina made sure to load the box and force Aaron Philo and a banged-up group of receivers to beat them….and they couldn’t.  Philo did show some toughness with by far his most rushes in a game this season, but that just showed how teams are focused on shutting down Jaden Baugh.  After closing the gap to trailing 17-13 early in the 3rd quarter, the offense couldn’t get anything going again until garbage time, with Tramell Jones leading a late TD drive.  The offense never could establish the running game, and had too many drives sabotaged by penalties on the O-line, putting the offense off-schedule.  This was a point of emphasis after the loss at Missouri, and unfortunately failed again.  The O-line again was physically pushed around, and the lack of talent that OC Buster Faulkner and OL Coach Phil Trautwein were previously able to mask are now being exposed.  The final total yards and passing stats by Florida were similar to Carolina, but did not tell the story played out on the field.

Well, it was nice of Florida to be such an accommodating Homecoming host and allow the Gamecocks to perhaps save their season from a complete downward spiral.  You could feel the energy and enthusiasm drain out of The Swamp crowd in the second half, as the Gators meekly succumbed – again – to a more physical opponent.  And only now is Florida entering the toughest part of it’s schedule.  From a 4-0 start, the Gators are staring down a potential stretch of 5 or 6 consecutive losses and struggling for bowl eligibility.  Yeesh.

Sumrall’s head has to be spinning, seeing things fall apart so quickly.  To his credit he maintained after each of the first 4 games that his team was far from perfect and an unfinished product, but at the same time I’d wager he did not foresee such a collapse by the defense nor the sudden struggles of the running game.  IMO this shows exactly what he inherited from Billy Napier – the lack of talent and talented depth at too many position groups along with physical limitations and mental weakness.  This is not to excuse some terrible coaching from the defensive staff that could have helped mitigate some of the larger issues, but the coaches are paid professionals, and aren’t doing their job well.  Expectations will have to be reduced dramatically.  I hate to say it, but it’s time to start looking ahead to 2027 and beyond even now.  I would have Jones ready to play more at QB the next 2 games at Texas and against Georgia.  Perhaps Will Griffin will need to see some snaps in November, because the current QB play is not good enough to overcome the deficiencies elsewhere – no fault of either Philo or Jones.  Roster analysis needs to begin now for the future, even at the expense of some hurt feelings from the holdovers from the previous regime.  Fun times.

Things suddenly have become far more interesting regarding this week’s game against South Carolina.  Florida is coming off of a disastrous performance at Missouri, while the Shane Beamer Era with the Gamecocks may be approaching it’s end, with Carolina coming in 2-3 overall and 0-3 in SEC play.  Last week’s loss was hugely disappointing, but the way it happened was all-too-familiar for Gator Nation after the previous 4 years of the Rural Meyer failure.  Some still-healing wounds were re-opened – especially by the defensive collapse – and Jon Sumralll has a LOT to try and correct starting this Saturday.

South Carolina’s offense has been productive this season, a fact overlooked due to their win/loss record.  The Gamecocks are averaging 491 yards (256 rushing) and 38 points per game.  QB LaNorris Sellers is starting for the 3rd straight season and has NFL prototype size and speed, but has been maddeningly inconsistent in his career – especially as a passer.  He is a dangerous runner and is second in carries only to RB Matthew Fuller.  Carolina averages 6.5 yards per carry, and has earned it against a strong schedule.  Florida’s front seven will be up against it on Saturday, and if they can’t at least slow down the Gamecock running ame, it could be another long afternoon for the defense as a whole.  WR Mazeo Bennett Jr. is Carolina’s leading receiver with 18 catches, but WR Nyck Harbor is the most dangerous pass-catching threat, a huge target with good speed.  Based on the poor performance of the Gator secondary this season, one or both could add to Florida’s defensive problems.  DC Brad White is getting eviscerated by both the media and Gator Nation, and he’s earned all of it.  The excuses are already tiresome – he’s had an entire spring practice, fall practice, and 5 live games to fix “communication issues” in the secondary and play more aggressively with the front seven, and hasn’t accomplished either.  Florida is languishing in the 100s in defensive ranking, and that is unacceptable given the talent on the roster.  The Gamecocks are capable of piling on to the embarrassment of last week, and this matchup likely decides the outcome.

Florida’s offense has a very rough go at Missouri, with the lack of running game the largest culprit.  It was quite the shock watching the O-line and RBs get stuffed all game, and that forced Aaron Philo into almost exclusively passing downs.  He’s not built for that nor has the passing talent to execute that kind of offense, and he and the entire offense suffered for it.  OC Brad Faulker has a lot of film study to do to figure out what went wrong – was it a tell in his scheme, or was the O-line simply exposed by pressure applied every down?  You can bet Carolina will employ the same strategy until the Gators prove they can cope with it.  If they can’t, then it could get ugly.   The WR corps is still banged up.  VB3 may play but is not 100%, and Eric Singleton still is not right. Dallas Wilson is trying to carry the load, but he too has some minor injuries and is having to play too many snaps.  TJ Abrams and the TE corps have to take up some of the slack.  Faulkner did not do a good job of utilizing the TEs or RBs to help Philo out last week, and there’s a good place to start in getting the offense moving again.  If it’s a rainy day, I think that gives an edge to the Gamecocks.

Special teams could have a huge impact.  Florida’s have been very good to date, but they will have to be careful of Gamecock punt returner Vicari Swain, who is averaging 15.8 yards per return and already has 2 TDs.  If the offense continues to struggle, the kicking game has to come up big to help the defense with field position.

It’s Homecoming week, and Gator Nation suddenly has more to worry about than expected.  It’s a 12:45 kickoff, which usually means the home crowd isn’t as wound up and loud as usual, so the Gators need to get off to a fast start and get the fans into the game early.  You can bet that Coach Beamer will throw everything he can into this game in order to get a much-needed win for their program, and knows his job is in jeopardy.  That can be a dangerous combination to deal with, and the Florida staff has a huge job to do this week to get the season back on track.  The way the defense has struggled so far, any SEC game is in doubt, and this one could easily be undecided until late.  In addition, it’s likely to be a wet week across most of the state, and the weather could play a pivotal role in this game.  It was obvious that for whatever reason the team was emotionally flat last week, and did not respond when punched in the mouth early on.  Both failures were disappointing and a little shocking to see – especially with Coach Sumrall being such a high-energy guy.  I expect a much better mental effort from Florida this week, and it will be needed to get the win.

Prediction: 

Florida 31

South Carolina 28