Florida football notebook: Defense, OL must improve after up-and-down opener, Jon Sumrall says

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Image Credit: Hannah White, UAA

The Florida Gators made a statement to open the 2026 college football season. Largely showing energy and intensity that mirrored new head coach Jon Sumrall, the Gators put on an offensive showcase in a 66-21 win over the FAU Owls that simultaneously provided hope and raised concern.

While offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner appears to have Florida humming despite a new system and quarterback in junior Aaron Philo, the defense was another story altogether. Sumrall and defensive coordinator Brad White are well aware that the unit has questions to answer after giving up nearly 400 total yards to FAU and allowing the visitors to convert 15 of 29 third- and fourth-down attempts.

“The biggest [issues were] situational awareness and football IQ. If it’s third-and-1, we can’t play 9 yards off a corner; that comes with teaching. I thought we were maybe past that, but we can’t forget that all those little details matter,” Sumrall explained, clarifying that the effort was clearly noticeable on tape.

“… The two big tasks were: manage their tempo and limit their explosive plays because that’s what they were good at. I don’t think we managed the tempo well at times. We did manage to limit the explosive plays. They really only had two, by how we count them. Some of that limiting explosive plays was because we were playing a little too cautious and a little too passive in regards to not getting sticky enough at times.

“I don’t think it was an intent issue. It wasn’t an effort issue. It wasn’t a desire issue. It was simply, man, we’re young or untrained on certain spots at certain times. And so we have to coach better. Our players got to prepare in a manner that they can go activate it on the grass on game day. It wasn’t all bad, but it damn sure wasn’t all good, either. There’s a ton of growth that needs to happen within our football team.”

Sumrall further addressed the Gators’ struggles to regularly impact the quarterback, claiming the pass rush will improve while simultaneously giving credit to the Owls’ starter, who he praised all week leading into the game.

“We had several opportunities, and we just didn’t quite get it done the way we need to,” he said. “We got to continue to work on that, and I thought that maybe just could have strained just a little bit harder in certain scenarios. … We were close to creating several more and just didn’t quite finish at the at the top of the pocket.”

Campbell presents a far simpler test than FAU, but UF will not have the luxury of presuming all is fixed if it sees improvements in these areas on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. ET with the game streaming exclusively on ESPN.

Injuries pop up right away

After the Gators effectively escaped the offseason injury-free, it was only a matter of time before ailments popped up … and that effectively happened on Florida’s first offensive possession when senior wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. (Auburn transfer) injured his lower body and sat out the remainder of the game.

Singleton was listed as “highly questionable” (a.k.a. doubtful) by Sumrall with what is believed to be an ankle injury, though the coach noted his official status for the Week 2 matchup would be clarified by the middle of the week. Fifth-year defensive lineman Emmanuel Oyebadejo (Jacksonville State transfer) was effectively given the same status for a similar injury.

Sixth-year running back Evan Pryor (Cincinnati transfer), listed as junior Jadan Baugh’s firm backup on the original Week 1 depth chart, was not able to give it a full go as expected but should be ramping up over the next week-plus. Junior offensive lineman Eagan Boyer (Penn State transfer) is trending toward playing, while freshman wide receiver Davian Groce is week-to-week with a back strain and senior tight end Evan Chieca (New Haven transfer) is continuing to extend his training in hopes of playing soon.

Offensive line has not yet arrived

The Gators piled up 281 yards rushing with Baugh exploding for 160 yards and three touchdowns, and Philo did not take a sack, but that does not mean Florida’s offensive line played a particularly great game. Sumrall credited the unit for playing well in spurts, though he also gave credit to the perimeter blocking efforts of the receivers and tight ends, who fired him up by “getting after people in the run game,” which “usually promotes good football.”

As for the line itself, Sumrall called the effort “solid,” though, “I wouldn’t say they’ve arrived yet or were elite, but I thought that looked like a well-coached, cohesive unit.” He praised the unit for being organized, prepared and clean in attacking their targets, noting, “for the most part, we functioned like a competent football team on the O-line. It wasn’t — by any stretch of the imagination — ‘elite;’ it was just competent football.”

The most substantial, noticeable issue was snapping the football, which boils down to junior center Harrison Moore improving his technique. Coaches counted five bad snaps by Moore, including four that came on the exact same type of block. Sumrall believes Moore’s work ethic will be enough to ensure the issue gets corrected, though it will require a change in training strategy.

“He takes a lot of pride in his work. I would be out here in the summer at 4:00 in the afternoon. … He would be out there with TJ Shanahan doing extra snaps. Most of the time, he working on pass sets. He probably needs to start taking extra snaps working on back blocks, not pass sets,” the coach explained. “… I was pissed off. So was Buster. So was Phil [Trautwein], multiple times. We’ll get it cleaned up. Harrison will take a lot of pride in his craft and get that corrected.”

So far so ‘good’

It’s clear Sumrall is impressed with the offensive production and Faulkner’s leadership of the unit given the way he has spoken about it throughout the offseason. Florida’s offensive explosion against FAU may be a sign of what is to come, but it could simultaneously be fool’s gold against an opponent that was overmatched both from a talent and schematic standpoint. Still, for one week at least, given what Gators fans had to watch for the prior few years, it was a refreshing development.

“What we do offensively, what our scheme presents is it threatens every blade of grass vertically and horizontally,” he explained. “… There’s just a lot to manage for a defensive play caller and a lot of eye-violation things that can be created when you’re a second- and third-level defender. They put you in conflict a lot, and that puts a lot of stress on the defense.”

Sumrall singled out the impressive performances from the two offensive stars.

Philo: “He made really good decisions with the football. The one interception was not on him. That was very catchable, should be a completion there. He operated at a high level, communicated with confidence in line scrimmage, led, knew when to tuck it and go a couple times. Obviously scored on the one fourth down. We were in a third and long and he scrambled to get it to fourth and inches or fourth and one when we snuck it on the fourth down at midfield. He just made good decisions for the most part, wasn’t perfect, but I thought he played clean football and he operated at a high level.”

Baugh: “Man, he is a powerful, sudden, violent runner who can stick his foot in the ground. His long run, the most impressive part of that to me was the end when he stops on a dime and two guys [fly by him] and then the downfield blocking on that one, too. … Jaden, man, he’s a good football player. He catches the ball well, too. Even though he didn’t have any catches the other night. That wasn’t by design. We’re going to throw him the football some, but he just runs with such conviction. He’s a violent runner who has gotten even better at running north and south. … He’s been more decisive on make the cut or cut and go. … Before the game Saturday night, I said, ‘Hey, thank you for staying here. Thanks for being here. I’m very glad you’re still a Florida Gator.’ So fun to watch him play and glad he’s on our football team.”

Notes & quotes

• Sumrall praised the effort of the inside linebackers and safeties, who played solid overall.
• Sumrall effectively makes all go-no go decisions on fourth down, though he consults with senior offensive analyst John Donovan, who has NFL experience and served as Washington’s offensive coordinator for two seasons. Donovan handles the analytics, which Sumrall considers while attempting to maintain an aggressive mindset. He claimed Florida will almost always go on fourth-and-1 as long as it is outside its own 40-yard line: “That part of the game like, from a mental aspect, I absolutely love it. What makes it fun is you have to think fast, make quick decisions, be confident those decisions. Can’t second guess yourself. They’re not always going to go right. I will probably go for it at fourth down at some point this year and us not get it. That’s life.”
• Senior punter Alec Clark (Tulane transfer) never saw the field Saturday, which is a best-case scenario, of course: “I’d love to never punt. I love Alec Clark. He’s a great holder. All right. He might be as good of a holder. He’s a punter, and he’s a pretty good punter. I don’t care if I ever see him play,” Sumrall said. “We may have to get his scholarship back and NIL money back and all that if he doesn’t ever play. … We’re going to need him. But yeah, it was fun to not have to punt. That’s enjoyable.”
• Sumrall this week is focused on maintaining team focus and correcting mistakes without impacting team confidence: “You have to show up with a chip on your shoulder every day. You can never assume anything. I don’t care who you’re playing. And as soon as you get complacent or overconfident, this game will humble you really, really fast. You get seven days [every week] to either be promoted or exposed. And you’re going to get exposed if you are not ridiculously dialed in. … Our guys are going to improve. I promise you that. They’re either going to improve, or I’m going to lose my mind trying to help them.”