Florida’s stay in the AP Top 25 is over after a second straight loss sent the Gators tumbling following Saturday afternoon’s 38-19 defeat to South Carolina at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
The Gators opened fast and briefly looked set to put the Missouri setback behind them. Aaron Philo hit Bailey Stockton on a 59-yard touchdown early, giving Florida the kind of jolt it needed. But from there, the day swung away from UF.
South Carolina answered before the end of the first quarter when LaNorris Sellers connected with Nyck Harbor on a 15-yard touchdown. Florida nudged back ahead when Patrick Durkin drilled a 21-yard field goal to make it 10-7, but the lead didn’t last. After the Gamecocks matched UF’s score again, Philo was picked off, and South Carolina took control on a 12-yard touchdown catch by Mazeo Bennett Jr. in the back corner of the end zone.
Lightning in the area stretched halftime a bit, and Florida couldn’t do anything with its final possession of the first half after Durkin missed from 43 yards. It was his first missed field goal attempt of the 2026 season.
Durkin got one back on Florida’s first drive of the second half, connecting from 48 yards to pull the Gators within 17-13. That was as close as they would get. South Carolina then ripped off 21 unanswered points and built a comfortable cushion by the middle of the fourth quarter.
Florida’s final score came in the closing two minutes when running back Jadan Baugh, who finished with 59 rushing yards on 15 carries, found the end zone on a direct snap from two yards out. UF tried for two, but sophomore quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. was intercepted in the end zone. South Carolina then snapped its eight-game road losing streak in SEC play as Sellers knelt out the final minute.
“Disappointing football today by us. No excuse for it.
Not many words that are going to make any of it right. We have to go back to work and improve.
I'm frustrated with every part of what we did today. It starts with me.
I've got to do a better job of getting this team ready to play to its best,” UF head coach Jon Sumrall said. “Today's not anywhere near where we need to perform.
So many things to clean up. Just not a good football performance by us.”
Florida now turns to a trip to Austin, Texas, where it will face a Longhorns team coming off a 27-24 walk-off loss to rival Oklahoma. That defeat was Texas’ first of the season and dropped the Longhorns to No. 7.
“We've got Texas next week,” junior linebacker Aaron Chiles Jr. said. “We've got to get back to together, get back to work, and get ready for that game.”
In Other News...
Florida Is Slipping And The Georgia Stakes Keep Growing
Floridas slide has become harder to ignore as the SEC calendar tightens, and the latest power rankings only sharpen the picture around Gainesville. With Georgia still sitting at the top of the league and the rest of the conference sorting itself out heading into Week 7, every result around Florida carries more weight now than it did a month ago. The Gators are not just trying to steady themselves, they are trying to avoid getting buried in a conference race where even the middle tier is starting to separate.
Georgias ongoing standard at the top keeps raising the bar for everybody else, but it also keeps the spotlight on Floridas place in the pecking order. The rankings reflect a league where recent results are reshaping the outlook every week, and for the Gators, the stakes keep climbing because the margin for error keeps shrinking. What happens next will matter not only for the standings, but for any broader playoff conversation tied to who can survive the SEC grind. [Read more 🡒]
Jon Sumrall Had A Blunt Response To Florida Pressure Talk
After back-to-back losses, Florida fans started wondering whether Jon Sumrall had been reined in by the administration, a familiar kind of chatter whenever a season starts to wobble. Sumrall pushed back on that idea while addressing the speculation, framing the issue less as outside pressure and more as the natural shift that comes when a team is trying to stop a skid.
The Florida coach said hes comfortable being himself around the people running the program, including Duke Warner, Scott Stricklin and UF president Stewart Bell, and he made it clear the changes he makes are tied to the teams performance rather than any directive from above. With the Gators heading to Texas in Week 7, the broader question is whether Florida can steady itself before the noise around the program gets any louder. [Read more 🡒]
Floridas Season Outlook Just Took A Brutal Turn
Floridas fast start has given way to a much shakier stretch, and the contrast is hard to ignore. The Gators opened 4-0 and flashed the kind of rsum boost that comes with knocking off No. 4 Ole Miss, but consecutive losses to Missouri and South Carolina have changed the mood quickly as the season moves deeper into the SEC grind.
Head coach Jon Sumrall acknowledged the disappointment and said the group has to sharpen up before it gets to the next run of games against Texas and Georgia. The bigger issue now is how fragile the margin has become for Florida, with ESPN analysts lowering the teams projected bowl outlook and a tough path ahead offering little room for another slip. [Read more 🡒]