Jon Sumrall didn’t spend much time dressing up Florida’s latest breakthrough.
After the Gators stunned then-No. 7 Texas 27-24 on Saturday, the Florida head coach delivered a message that matched the edge of the win: “We still suck.”
That wasn’t a shot at the result so much as a warning against the same old trap. Florida had already taken a huge win over then-No.
4 Ole Miss earlier this season, only to follow it with two ugly setbacks - a 17-point loss to Missouri and a 19-point home loss to unranked South Carolina. Sumrall didn’t want another feel-good Saturday to turn into another slide.
“We still suck. We just sucked less. And so, we have to figure out how to suck less each week.” - Jon Sumrall after Florida's win at Texas pic.twitter.com/nKouPV3I3V
That mindset came through in his postgame comments. Sumrall pointed directly at the danger of outside praise after a big win.
“I think if we've learned anything about this, in this game or in life, you don't get to go, Hey, I was good last week, so I get to be good next week, right?” Sumrall said. “I guess part of why we got our ass kicked in Missouri and last week at home is because everybody around Gainesville was patting our guys in the back, telling them how good they were, and I'm like, ‘Guys, we suck.’
“Like I've watched this practice, we're not very good.”
Still, Saturday looked different. Florida erased a 17-3 first-half hole, grabbed a 27-17 lead, and then finished off a seven-point win.
Tramell Jones Jr., making his first start, threw two touchdown passes. Jadan Baugh piled up more than 100 yards of offense and delivered the game-sealing score.
And a defense that has taken plenty of criticism all season made key stops, capped by a fumble on Texas’ final offensive drive.
It was Florida’s most complete performance so far, but Sumrall was not ready to declare anything fixed.
“We just suck less,” he said. “And so we have to figure out to suck less each week.
But we're not like a complete team yet. Like this is, so it does nothing for us.
What it does for us, it gets us another win.”
Linebacker Myles Graham kept the same tone, even after the upset.
“We haven't played a full game yet,” Graham said. “And we still haven't. Like, it still wasn't perfect… We still got a lot of things to clean up, but I'm proud of the guys and I'm really just proud of how we fight.”
The timing of the win matters, too. Florida gets a bye week now, giving the Gators a chance to get healthier before a crucial matchup with No.
5 Georgia. More importantly, Saturday showed a team that kept swinging after a rough stretch.
For Sumrall, that was the biggest takeaway.
“It gives me belief and hope that our guys understand you have to fight your tail off every time you play the game,” Sumrall said. “Doesn't matter who you play, where you play, when you play, you have to fight. And if you do not fight, you will get embarrassed.
“This league, man, like there's nowhere to hide. Week in week out, it's the closest thing you got to the NFL, and you got to bring it every freaking Saturday. I'm just glad our guys brought it.”
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The shift was noticeable enough to raise the bigger question now hanging over Florida: was that just a one-game adjustment, or the start of a real change in how this defense wants to operate? With Georgia coming up, the Gators have a chance to show whether the more aggressive approach can hold up against a deeper, more punishing offense. [Read more 🡒]