GAINESVILLE - Saturday’s meeting in the Swamp brings a direct quarterback test, and the spotlight is built for Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss. He arrives as a Heisman frontrunner, the engine of the Rebels’ offense and the player Florida has to account for on every snap.
Aaron Philo, meanwhile, has taken a quieter route to this point. He has not put up the kind of eye-catching numbers Chambliss has, but he has been steady, efficient and calm while directing a Florida offense that has been piling up points at a scorching clip.
The No. 21 Gators are averaging 54 points, and if they keep that pace going, Philo could walk away from another quarterback showdown with a win when Florida and No.
4 Ole Miss meet on national TV. ABC will televise the game at 3:30 p.m.
Florida offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner has watched Philo develop for years and believes the quarterback’s makeup is a major reason the Gators are here. Faulkner first met him as a ninth-grader and later brought him to Gainesville after two seasons together at Georgia Tech.
“He’s just even-keeled,” Faulkner said. “One thing I think about him is as an 18-year-old, (21)-year-old now, he’s extremely comfortable in his own skin. That’s what kind of separates him.”
Philo earned the job by winning a months-long battle with Tramell Jones Jr., and that competition seems to have hardened him for what he is facing now. Faulkner said the daily pressure of that race mattered.
“That’s pressure everyday, it’s something that you got to bring it everyday, which he was able to do,” Faulkner said.
Through just four college starts, the 6-foot-1, 208-pound Philo has already shown the kind of poise Florida needed. His 192.8 passer rating ranks third in the SEC and stands 35 points ahead of Chambliss’ 157.9. He has also shown enough as a runner to keep defenses honest, while distributing the ball to one of the SEC’s strongest groups of playmakers, including tailback Jadan Baugh and receivers Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson.
Ole Miss, though, brings a quarterback who has repeatedly lifted the Rebels past trouble. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Chambliss has helped Ole Miss beat a pair of Top-25 teams this season, Louisville and LSU, and he is 14-2 as a starter. His dual-threat skill set, accuracy and timely playmaking have pushed the Rebels to the top tier of the sport.
That resume also includes a wild route to eligibility. The 24-year-old had to secure a February court order on his third try to get a sixth season of college eligibility.
Florida will try to slow him down in one of college football’s toughest environments, a place where quarterbacks have traditionally had a hard time. Sophomore edge rusher Jayden Woods, fresh off a 2.5-sack night at Auburn, pointed to the crowd noise as part of the edge.
“It’s a huge advantage, especially on defense,” Jayden Woods said. “If the stadium is insanely loud, the offense, they can’t operate.”
Chambliss enters after another big win, this one a 32-24 victory over LSU last weekend in a matchup with former Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. But Philo also arrives with momentum after Florida’s 44-39 win at Auburn, where he showed he is ready for the moment.
“I’ve been preparing for this moment for a long time,” he said.
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Now at LSU, Kiffin is back in the SEC spotlight with another big week ahead, and the backdrop only added to the noise. Tennessee is preparing to host Texas while LSU lines up against Texas A&M, so the timing of the message was hard to miss for anyone watching the rivalry-adjacent scene unfold. [Read more 🡒]