Florida beats Ole Miss: No. 21 Gators enter CFP conversation after convincing win

We’ll see plenty of Gators chomping at the bit the rest of the season.

Following Saturday’s 52-28 win over previously undefeated and No. 4 Ole Miss, the No. 21 Gators are in the early-season College Football Playoff conversation and have a burgeoning Heisman candidate leading their backfield in Jadan Baugh.

Jon Sumrall is trying to become the fifth first-year coach ever to reach the CFP in his first campaign. He would join four other members of the Power Four to accomplish this feat, but would make history as the first in the SEC.

The Gators’ victory ended a four-game losing streak against ranked competitors and was Florida’s first victory against a top-five opponent since 2020 (Georgia).

The Gators had lost their previous 12 games against the nation’s elite, and Sumrall joked that heading into Saturday’s showdown, his team had no business is favored against the rebels.

First-year coaches will reach the College Football Playoff

The telltale sign of a well-coached team with no signs of wilting is its ability to respond, and the Gators reflected that in the third quarter, absorbing body blows before firing back.

Florida broke a game open 24-21 in the second half with back-to-back touchdown drives built on the power of Baugh and Duke Clark as well as the accuracy of quarterback Aaron Philo on third down.

Ole Miss entered Week 4 with the worst defense in the SEC, allowing 159 yards per game, and nothing changed inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Baugh and Clark combined for 268 rushing yards, both surpassing the 100-yard barrier – the first time that has happened in the same game for Florida since 2022.

This is part of the new identity mentioned by Sumrall earlier this week.

“I think our mindset has changed,” Sumrall said. “I think we’re playing with a different level of resiliency and toughness than I felt here when I first got here. And I think our guys expect to win. So that’s something I think I’m happy with. The way we play the game, some detail, some consistency.

“There are a lot of areas that still need to improve in order to become the type of team we want to be long term. So we’re far from a finished product here. We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of my vision of how we play this game, week in and week out.”

Is Florida Back?

That’s two SEC tests and two wins for a first-year coach who sees Florida as a factor — not just in the SEC race — in the national championship discussion. Sumrall inherited a talented team, but he deserves credit for getting so much out of it so quickly.

For the first time since 2021, Florida will be in the top 15 Sunday’s new AP poll enters October with all the lofty goals of the program still in sight. It’s a week-to-week grind in the SEC, and anything can happen over the Gators’ final eight games, but this looks like a team capable of reaching the CFP and being a badass, given that this roster embodies their coach’s mindset.

Sumrall said his players seemed “a little overexcited” after the first quarter ended with a failed fourth-and-2 conversion attempt at the Rebels’ 19-yard line. Florida had a comfortable 10-point lead and Philo had an open man in the flat for a potential touchdown, but failed to execute it.

In the past, the Gators offense might have folded after that or struggled to regain confidence with Trinidad Chambliss and an elite passing game on the other sideline. However, all opposition counterattacks were met with a forceful response as Florida burst into the national spotlight.

With Buster Faulkner calling the plays and a renewed focus on physicality from the start, the Gators are scoring points in bunches with a flurry of explosive plays. Florida’s 214 points are the most points in the first four games of a season since 1996 – when the Gators won the national title under coach Steve Spurrier.

Elite territory for Sumrall and Co.