Florida’s path in Jon Sumrall’s first season is pretty clear: handle the teams the Gators are supposed to beat, survive the heavyweights, and let the swing games tell the real story.
That’s why the dates with Missouri and Oklahoma matter so much. Florida should be favored to take care of seven teams - FAU, Campbell, at Auburn, South Carolina, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and at Florida State - and is expected to be the underdog against three ranked opponents: No.
9 Ole Miss, at No. 5 Texas and vs.
No. 3 Georgia in Atlanta.
If that script holds, the Gators would sit at 7-3 entering the two games that could define everything else.
Those swing spots come Oct. 3 at Missouri and Nov. 7 against Oklahoma. Missouri is ranked No. 25, and Florida was picked ninth in the preseason SEC poll while the Tigers landed at 10th.
A win in Columbia, Mo., could set up UF to be 5-1 before the trip to Texas on Oct. 17.
Oklahoma, meanwhile, was voted seventh in the SEC poll and comes to Gainesville a week after Florida faces Georgia. Split those two games, and 8-4 is in play.
Win both, and the Gators are looking at 9-3 and a strong opening step in the rebuild. Lose both, and 7-5 becomes the likely finish - not disastrous, but not quite what Florida wants out of this reset.
The Sumrall Era begins Sept. 5 against Florida Atlantic at The Swamp, and the early standard is simple: be clean, be sharp and don’t give the game away with self-inflicted mistakes. Florida needs to cut down on pre-snap penalties, eliminate the cheap big plays, stop the run and lean on running back Jadan Baugh.
That was the tone Sumrall pushed on the SEC conference call.
“You see so many common mistakes that happen in (opening) games and (I want) for us to do what we’ve prepared for in a crisp, clean manner,” Sumrall said on the SEC conference call. “But there will be guys making mistakes.
But when they do, I want to see them making them full speed. I want to see them go as hard as they can from the snap through the whistle.”
Florida State, meanwhile, gets a very different kind of spotlight. After opening with a 34-17 win over New Mexico State, the Seminoles host SMU on Labor Day night, Sept. 7 at 7:30 p.m., and it’s the kind of game that can tell a national TV audience plenty about where the program stands under Mike Norvell.
A second look at the New Mexico State game showed some clear strengths and a few loose edges. Florida State was charged with seven missed tackles, and the Aggies converted 10 of 17 third downs, including six of nine in the first half.
NMSU also strung together third-and-10, third-and-9 and third-and-10 conversions on the same drive, which ended in a touchdown. Pass protection wasn’t a total mess - the Aggies were credited with nine disruptions, including one sack, three knockdowns and five pressures - but the Seminoles’ running game was the best part of the night, producing 217 yards and five explosive runs of at least 12 yards.
Sam Singleton, Jr. flashed all over the field with a touchdown rushing, a touchdown receiving and a 46-yard kick return, while quarterback Ashton Daniels did not look comfortable as a runner.
Elsewhere around the football world:
LeQuint Allen Jr. may not be ready for the Jacksonville Jaguars to open the season. The running back has been out since Aug. 18 with what the team called a “soft tissue” injury, has not practiced and, according to coach Liam Coen, would be a “pleasant surprise” if he’s available for Week 1.
During the Tampa Bay joint practices, Allen was seen on the sideline with a long sleeve on his right leg. If he misses time, the Jaguars lose a key piece of their third-down back rotation.
Coen said Chris Rodriguez Jr. has been working on pass protection and that Ameer Abdullah can help in the passing game and in the ways the team wants to use Allen when he returns.
Jacksonville also opened as a 7 1/2-point favorite over the Cleveland Browns, the second-largest spread of Week 1 behind the Los Angeles Chargers’ 10 1/2-point line against the Arizona Cardinals. The last time the Jaguars were favored this much in a season opener was Sept. 3, 2000, also against Cleveland, when they were 10 1/2-point road favorites and won 27-7.
There were a couple of number changes in Jacksonville as well: Abdullah switched from No. 43 to No. 20, and linebacker Jahlani Tavai moved from No. 32 to No. 31. No. 32 remains a notable vacancy, since it belongs to Maurice Jones-Drew.
One local college note stood out, too. Jacksonville native Kolbe Sexton, a Bishop Kenny product, made his first career start at linebacker for Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., and responded with 14 tackles and 1 1/2 sacks.
He was named Defensive Player of the Week in the Heart of America Conference. Benedictine lost at Morningside, 35-28, and heads to Peru State on Sept.
And in the pro sports world, the NBA hit the Los Angeles Clippers with a major punishment on Sept. 2 for “initiating off-court income opportunities” for Kawhi Leonard. The league took away five first-round picks beginning in 2029, fined the team $30 million, handed owner Steve Ballmer a year-long suspension and fined Leonard $700,000.
On the NASCAR side, Denny Hamlin heads to Darlington on Sept. 6 as the playoff leader, 25 points ahead of Ryan Blaney. Hamlin has spent 20 full seasons piling up top-10 points finishes - 17 of them, including five top-three finishes - and after another second-place finish last year, this is the moment to get over the top.
For the week’s picks, Florida is projected to cover against Florida Atlantic, Clemson is backed to fall at LSU, Notre Dame is picked over Wisconsin at Lambeau Field, and SMU is favored at Florida State.
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