Florida’s big Saturday night win wasn’t enough to keep the Gators in the Coaches Poll top 25.
Despite rolling past Campbell 52-3 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Florida fell out of the US LBM Coaches Poll when the Week 2 rankings were released Sunday. The Gators had moved into the top 25 a week earlier, but this time they landed just outside it at No. 26 in effect, drawing 183 votes.
Virginia held the final spot in the poll at No. 25 with 249 votes, while Florida finished 66 votes behind the Cavaliers and 23 votes ahead of Louisville. The Gators opened the season at the de facto No. 27 position with 147 votes.
The shakeup also left the SEC with one fewer team in the top 25 than it had last week. The league’s ranked group is led by No.
1 Texas and includes Georgia at No. 2, LSU at No.
7, Texas A&M at No. 8, Ole Miss at No.
9, Alabama at No. 10, Tennessee at No.
14, Oklahoma at No. 21 and Missouri at No. 22.
Florida is among the SEC teams still receiving votes, along with South Carolina, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Auburn.
Florida now turns the page to SEC play with a road trip to Auburn on Saturday, Sept. 19.
The Gators and Tigers will meet at Jordan-Hare Stadium, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
At the top of the Week 2 poll, Texas stayed at No. 1, followed by Georgia, Notre Dame, Indiana and Miami. Ohio State checked in at No. 6, while LSU, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Alabama rounded out the top 10.
In Other News...
Floridas Blowout Exposed A Few Surprises Fans Need To See
Floridas 52-3 win over Campbell gave the Gators plenty of breathing room, but the Pro Football Focus review afterward did a nice job of showing where the performance really stood out. The grades offered a quick snapshot of who carried the day on offense and defense, along with how the team stacked up nationally through two weeks, which is the kind of context that can be useful early in the season when the sample size is still small.
The PFF breakdown also dug into the details behind the final score, including individual performances, missed tackles and pass breakups, which can reveal more than the scoreboard alone. For Florida, that kind of report matters because a lopsided win can still hide a few surprises, and the grades help point to the players and trends worth watching as the competition gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Quietly Found Depth Pieces Fans Should Be Watching Closely
Floridas 52-3 win over Campbell offered the kind of night where the spotlight naturally lands on the obvious stars, but there was also real value in the supporting cast. Dallas Wilson made the most visible case for a bigger role with six catches for 104 yards and a touchdown, while Bailey Stockton added four receptions and did some of the little things that tend to stand out to coaches, including important blocking on punt return touchdowns.
Elsewhere, a few more names surfaced as pieces worth tracking going forward. Roderick Kearney graded as the teams best pass-blocking lineman, JVari Flowers broke up three passes, and Jeramiah McCloud finished with four tackles, half a sack and a pass deflection. In a game Florida was expected to control, those kinds of contributions are the sort that can quietly shape the depth chart as the schedule gets more demanding. [Read more 🡒]
Floridas New Standard Faces A Much Bigger Test Ahead
Jon Sumralls first few weeks at Florida have already made one thing clear: the new standard in Gainesville is going to be demanding, even after a blowout win. Following a victory by more than 40 points, Sumrall and defensive coordinator Brad White both pointed to the defense as an area that still fell short of where they expect it to be, a sign that the margin on the scoreboard was not enough to satisfy the new staff.
For a program trying to build consistency under a new head coach, the bigger challenge is keeping that edge when the games start to look comfortable. Sumrall has stressed the need for the Gators to hold themselves to a high standard and stay locked in mentally, and the next stretch will show whether that message sticks once Florida is asked to carry the same focus into a tougher test. [Read more 🡒]