GAINESVILLE - Florida’s edge-rush conversation has a name attached to it, and after two games, Jayden Woods still hasn’t turned his talent into the kind of weekly disruption the Gators need.
The sophomore has only a half-sack through lopsided wins over FAU and Campbell, and while he flashed more against Campbell - four tackles and that half-sack in just 26 snaps - Florida’s coaches are still waiting for the breakout that matches the tools. Woods logged 54 snaps against FAU, then followed it with a quieter but more efficient outing last Saturday in the 52-3 win.
Defensive coordinator Brad White said Tuesday the production is coming.
“He’ll continue to grow,” White said Tuesday. “It was good to see him get one. He had some really good rushes throughout the rest of the day.”
Woods’ physical profile is part of why the staff expects more. At 6-foot-3 and 245 pounds, he can force offenses into extra protection, whether that’s a double team or a tight end chipping in.
Florida tracked him at 20.6 mph on GPS and said he power cleaned 405 pounds during the offseason. Still, White pointed out that the opportunities were there in the first two games and Woods didn’t always cash in.
“That’s the life of a pass rusher, especially if you want to be elite,” White said of the extra attention. “You’re gonna have to learn how to deal with that. But trust me, there’s plenty of situations where he didn’t get that and so like you got to take advantage of those.”
Coach Jon Sumrall has kept Woods in the same tier as several of Florida’s early standouts, putting him alongside tailback Jadan Baugh, linebacker Myles Graham and receivers Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson. Baugh has already ripped off two games with at least 130 rushing yards.
Graham leads Florida with 16 tackles. Brown has a team-high four touchdowns.
Wilson has a 100-yard game and a score against Campbell.
For Woods, Sumrall said, the payoff is still ahead.
“He’s just got to keep showing up and keep preparing the right way,” Sumrall said.
Florida’s trip to Auburn also carries a different kind of memory for some players in the locker room. More than a dozen Gators saw significant snaps in last year’s 18-16 loss to USF in the Swamp, and linebacker Myles Graham said that experience could help on Saturday night.
First-year Auburn coach Alex Golesh brought in quarterback Byrum Brown, center Cole Best and three receivers as he installed his up-tempo offense. Among that receiver group were Keshaun Singleton and Jeremiah Kroger, who combined for 88 catches, 1,474 yards and 18 touchdowns last season.
“That game doesn’t matter to this game now,” Graham said of the ’25 stunner. “But it definitely gives us the experience. It’s the same kind of system, so we know what to expect going into it.”
Sumrall, though, brushed off the idea of revenge.
“There’s not, like, a revenge game,” Sumrall said. “It’s Florida’s players playing against Auburn’s players. There’s no talk this week of any other teams than those two teams.”
Saturday’s game also brings Florida and Auburn back together on the Plains for the first time since 2011. Auburn leads the series 43-39-2 in a matchup that dates to 1912, and the old rivalry has produced plenty of memorable nights.
The Gators’ last visit to Jordan-Hare Stadium ended in a 17-6 loss in 2011. Florida also dropped a 27-17 game there in 2006, its only loss in a national championship season. Auburn beat a Steve Spurrier-led Florida team 38-35 in 1993, handing the Gators their only conference loss and one of just two defeats overall that year.
There was the 28-21 Auburn win over an unbeaten Florida team when Bo Jackson starred, followed by Florida’s 10-9 loss to Georgia that left the Gators 9-2-1 before Auburn went on to win the SEC title. Florida answered with a 14-10 win at Jordan-Hare in 1985, holding Jackson to 48 yards during his Heisman season.
The teams played annually from 1945 through 2002, when Rex Grossman’s overtime touchdown pass gave Florida a 30-23 win in the Swamp.
Florida’s injury list could affect Saturday’s rotation. Receiver Eric Singleton, who played last season at Auburn, may miss the game with a high-ankle sprain suffered while blocking on Vernell Brown III’s 48-yard touchdown on the opening drive against FAU. Defensive end Emmanuel Oyebadejo is also dealing with an ankle injury after being hurt in Week 1.
When healthy, Oyebadejo made a clear impact in the opener. The 6-foot-6, 303-pound transfer from Jacksonville State, which is two hours north of Auburn, had two tackles, two hurries and a pass breakup in 24 snaps against the Owls.
Sumrall said both players are “questionable.”
As for Sumrall himself, Auburn has been a tough stop. He is 0-4 against the Tigers, having faced them as a Kentucky linebacker in 2004, as a Wildcats graduate assistant in 2005, as a Troy assistant in 2016 and again as a Kentucky assistant in 2020.
His wife, Ginny, is an Auburn alum, but Sumrall made his stance clear this week.
“Any family that is pulling against us, they ain’t my family,” he said.
The game will be played at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama.
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Eric Singleton Jr.s return to Jordan-Hare Stadium would have been an intriguing subplot on its own, given the path he took from Auburn to Florida and the production he has shown throughout his college career. Instead, his status is now tied to a left ankle injury he suffered in Floridas season opener, one that kept him out the following week and has limited him in practice as the Gators prepare for Saturdays game.
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