Florida’s rout of No. 4 Ole Miss on Saturday didn’t just give Jon Sumrall his first AP top-five win as a coach. It also put the Gators in the weekly awards spotlight.
On Monday, the Dodd Trophy named Sumrall its Coach of the Week after Florida’s 24-point win over the Rebels. The Gators were sharp in every phase, and the numbers backed it up: Florida finished with a 498-426 edge in total offense, forced two turnovers on defense and got a lift from special teams with strong punting, field goals and kick returns.
The performance was never really in doubt once Florida set the tone and kept it for all 60 minutes. That edge showed up again in the conference’s weekly honors, with three Gators earning SEC Player of the Week recognition.
Running back Jadan Baugh took Offensive Player of the Week after powering the Florida attack. He finished with 142 rushing yards and three touchdowns against Ole Miss, plus one catch for 12 yards. He now has 600 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on the season.
Baugh’s production depended in part on the work up front, and Bryce Lovett got his own SEC recognition for that reason. Florida’s starting left tackle was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week after a clean, physical outing.
Lovett played 69 offensive snaps and posted a team-high 85.3 PFF pass-blocking grade. He did not allow a sack, quarterback hit, hurry or pressure.
"I mean, it feels good. I'm speechless, but like I said, the goal is the goal.
On to the next. The recognition is good, but we're on a mission,” Lovett said on Monday about being honored by the SEC.
London Montgomery rounded out the Gators’ haul by earning SEC Special Teams Player of the Week. The transfer changed field position with a pair of huge kickoff returns, going for 41 yards and then 74 yards in back-to-back fashion.
Both of those Florida drives ended with seven points. He finished with 3 kickoff returns for 128 yards.
Florida returns to action Saturday, Oct. 3, against No. 25 Missouri. The game will air on ABC at 3:30 p.m.
In Other News...
Former Florida QB Pledge Just Raised The Stakes For Mizzou Game
Austin Simmons path has already taken him from one SEC sideline to another, and now it brings a little extra intrigue to Missouris matchup with Florida this weekend. Simmons initially pledged to the Gators in 2023 as a class of 2025 prospect, then reclassified to 2023 and flipped to Ole Miss before eventually transferring to Missouri, where he has emerged as the Tigers starting quarterback.
For Florida, the connection is hard to miss. A player who once looked headed to Gainesville will be lining up against the Gators instead, adding a familiar face to a conference game that already carries plenty of weight. With Simmons now running Missouris offense, the meeting has a little more personal history attached to it than most late-season SEC showdowns. [Read more 🡒]
Jon Sumrall Already Has Georgia Fans Arguing Over Florida Practice Talk
Jon Sumralls Florida practices are already drawing attention well before the Gators and Georgia line up for their next meeting, and this time the buzz has more to do with terminology than tactics. Sumrall has been using Bloody Tuesday to describe the kind of intense, physical work he wants on the practice field, a label meant to signal how demanding those sessions are.
Some Georgia fans and media quickly tried to frame the phrase as a Kirby Smart hand-me-down, but the history stretches far beyond that rivalry. The wording has been around for years, including at Florida under Urban Meyer and even earlier with Penn State coach Hugo Bezdek in the 1920s, which only adds another layer to a matchup already loaded with enough history and side chatter to keep both fan bases engaged as the game gets closer. [Read more 🡒]
Floridas New Offensive Identity Puts Pressure On Buster Faulkner
Floridas offense has started to look like something sturdier and more convincing than the unit that spent earlier stretches searching for an identity, and the recent 52-28 win over Ole Miss only reinforced that shift. Offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner pointed to the rushing game as the clearest sign of progress, with Jadan Baugh continuing to set the tone and Duke Clark emerging as another dependable option in the backfield.
Baugh leads the SEC in rushing yards and touchdowns, but the bigger takeaway for Florida is how the ground game has changed the way defenses have to play the Gators. Faulkner said the offense is showing it can adapt and impose its will, and that kind of flexibility will matter again as Florida turns its attention to Missouri, where the challenge is not just carrying over the same production but proving this new identity can hold up week after week. [Read more 🡒]