Florida’s 66-21 win over Florida Atlantic came with plenty of fireworks on offense, but the defense had a much rougher night than the scoreline suggests.
FAU moved the ball enough to keep Florida from ever feeling fully in control on that side of the ball. Caden Veltkamp threw for 276 yards, and the Owls added 120 more on the ground. Kelby Vasin was especially steady as a target, hauling in 10 catches for 92 yards and giving Veltkamp a dependable option throughout the game.
That backdrop made Myles Graham’s night stand out even more. The junior linebacker was around the ball constantly and did the kind of dirty work Florida needed, even as the unit as a whole had trouble slowing FAU down. For that effort, he earned Gators Wire’s defensive player of the game.
Graham finished with 10 total tackles, including four solo stops and six assisted tackles. He also logged half a sack and half a tackle for loss, showing up repeatedly in the middle of the action.
For Florida, the defensive performance was not nearly as dominant as a 45-point win might imply. The Gators still have plenty to sort out before the competition gets tougher, especially after a night in which they had trouble getting off the field.
Even so, one game is far too early to draw any sweeping conclusions about the defense. Graham’s outing was a clear bright spot, and a sign that at least one Gator was ready to make his presence felt.
In Other News...
Florida Suddenly Have A Big Early Concern At Wide Receiver
Floridas early-season momentum has already been nudged by an injury watch list, with head coach Jon Sumrall saying wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. is highly questionable for Week 2 against Campbell after hurting his leg in the opener. Singleton arrived in Gainesville for the 2026 season after productive runs at Georgia Tech and Auburn, and his addition was supposed to give the offense another dynamic piece right away.
Now the Gators are waiting on more than just one pass catcher. Sumrall also said defensive lineman Emmanuel Oyebadejo is highly questionable, with final availability still to be sorted out later in the week, leaving Florida to manage a couple of key early-depth concerns before it even gets fully into September. [Read more 🡒]
Florida's SEC Schedule Already Comes With One Early Concern
Floridas path through the SEC already looks a little sharper after the league opened the season with a perfect weekend. Every conference team got off to a win, a jolt that matters to Florida because nine of those opponents are on the Gators schedule, and several of them did more than just survive. The leagues opening slate offered an early snapshot of who looks organized, who has playmakers in place and who may already be setting a tougher tone for the months ahead.
For Florida, the bigger takeaway is that there was no easy read among the group it will see down the road. Some of those opponents handled their openers cleanly, while others leaned on key performances to get across the finish line, but all of them left Week 1 with momentum. The one result that probably raised the fewest eyebrows came from Vanderbilt, though even that game served as another reminder that the SECs bottom tier may not be as soft as it can look on paper. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Philo And Buster Faulkner Already Give Florida One Real Reason To Believe
Aaron Philos move to Florida in January came with a familiar landing spot, since he joined offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner after the two had worked together at Georgia Tech. In a sport where quarterbacks often follow coaches chasing the right system, that kind of pairing carries real weight, and the Gators have already seen enough to understand why the fit matters.
Philos recent game showed more than just arm talent. It showed comfort in the structure around him, the kind of system familiarity that can speed up a quarterbacks adjustment and make a transfer feel less like a reset and more like a continuation. Florida does not need to guess whether the partnership can translate. It already has one reason to believe it can. [Read more 🡒]