The Florida Gators under head coach Jon Sumrall had a sensational debut, demolishing FAU 66-21. The Swamp was rocking, the offense was rolling, and the game was never, ever in doubt.
The Buster Faulkner-led attack was a breath of fresh air. If you told me Saturday night was the first time UF schemed a linebacker into covering a wide receiver, I’d believe you. Faulkner did that, springing Vernell Brown III into a hole in the zone behind a backer who appeared to barely understand his role in that particular coverage. Aaron Philo hit Brown for an easy explosive gain.
Billy Napier never schemed guys open. He had his set of favorite plays, and Florida ran those plays as he chose. He barely made any adjustments in relation to what the defense does.
Faulkner did, and it was evident from the jump. You might think that a team with as much talent as Florida has shouldn’t need to scheme around a G6 defense, much less one of the worst defenses in the country from a year ago. Not so. Sure, UF should be able to bully its way to the needed yards whenever it needs, but you still want to see what specific weaknesses there are and exploit them. Faulkner did that.
I also can’t say enough about Jadan Baugh. The cliche of a guy looking like a men amongst boys was made exactly for performances like that. He was electric, and unless a couple of guys in front of him just messed up their blocking, he can take chunks at will. His patience, vision, and elusiveness near the goal line are a true pleasure to watch. Enjoy him while we’ve got him, everyone.
Philo was also crisper than I was expecting. I’ve read and listened to all the preseason camp reports as you have (and maybe more), so I heard all the things about him having a Graham Mertz-like arm and putting the ball in danger. He doesn’t have the zip of even his backup much less a Feleipe Franks, but he hit TJ Abrams in stride on a truly deep throw. He’s got enough arm strength, even if it’s not going to wow us.
And while the interception wasn’t at all his fault, he also threw a ball straight to a defender who jumped a route but couldn’t snag a pick. It evens out in that way. That said, on Friday I described one of his past interceptions at Georgia Tech as as pass that “literally went through an open receiver’s hands, albeit a receiver who is jumping because the ball is a little, but not egregiously, high”. That describes his INT against FAU precisely. Micah Mays still should have caught it, but it’s kind of eerie how similar those two picks were.
It wasn’t a perfect outing for the Gators, of course. It never is in the first game for a new coaching staff.
There were the high snaps from Harrison Moore, which is concerning since as a GT transfer, he’s played in big environments before. He’s also snapping to a fellow former Yellow Jacket in Philo, except of course on Wildcat plays for Baugh, so it’s very curious where that came from.
I also didn’t see much of anything from the defensive line to back up the increasing amounts of praise it got over the offseason and especially preseason camp. I am now quite concerned it’s a spring-game-paradox thing where the D-line looked better than it actually was because the offensive line had been struggling. Those big guys up front are going to need to show out better than that come SEC play.
Hearing Sumrall twice ding his team for effort on the telecast was also not what I wanted to hear. I suppose it’s better that the Owls got a lot of yards dinking and dunking because the effort was lacking rather than because UF’s defense lacks the ability to stop it. The DBs also were asked to play well off of receivers at first, so I’m really not sure how much is on them versus the sets Brad White was calling. I would want to hear more about that from someone with actual information.
It’s possible to fix effort though, and the deficit of it on Saturday probably a hangover from the Napier era. The team had plenty of roster turnover, but there are a lot of holdover players still around. Much of the starting lineup on defense especially is guys who were in Gainesville last year. Some like Ben Hanks III and Myles Graham are not a concern, but I too want to see more consistent play from these guys. It takes some time to rebuild the culture of the team.
All in all, I am far more pleased than not with the game. Sumrall looked disbelievingly giddy to run out of the tunnel, something I don’t think I’ve ever see from a UF head coach. The offense looked effortless. VB3’s long catch-and-run touchdown was the closest thing I’ve seen in terms of acceleration and fluid movement to Percy since Percy was here. Faulkner provided the most creative offensive display since probably the 2020 Georgia game.
There is a lot of season left to go, and some other teams on the schedule were just as if not more impressive in demolishing their own cupcakes. But one game in? The honeymoon is very much still on.