GAINESVILLE — So that was what Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen and Billy Napier wanted Florida to look like.
A crowd operating at full throttle for nearly four hours. An offense resembling an unstoppable train of physicality and speed. An opportunistic-at-the-right-time defense. And star power all over the field.
Welcome back to the national conversation, Florida Gators. Welcome back to being respected by your conference. Welcome back to playing exciting football. Welcome back to winning. Welcome … back … to … every … damn … bit … of … it.
No. 21 Florida 54, No. 4 Ole Miss 28 at The Swamp on Sept. 26 was arguably the biggest home win since the Urban Meyer Era, which, as a reminder, ended 16 years ago.
The Gators posted a whopping 302
rushing yards in stopping a 12-game losing streak against top-5 teams.
The Gators scored touchdowns on five consecutive drives to start the second half to turn a lead that was twice down to three points (17-14 and 24-21) into a rout.
The Gators’ defense had one fourth-down stop and two takeaways that led to 10 points.
And the Gators got a 74-yard kickoff return that set up the put-away touchdown in the third quarter.
Led by coach/overnight sensation Jon Sumrall, the fun times are back, folks! The corpse that was Florida football is about to roar.
“It’s not (asleep), but it (isn’t) fully awake yet,” Sumrall said. “It’s kind of being stirred up a little bit. We’re going to get there. I promise you, I didn’t come here for us to be average. We’re going to work tirelessly to put a product on the field we can be proud of.”
What a day/night to be a Gator administrator, coach, player, staff member, student, alumnus and fan. What a statement this team made by pounding the Rebels.
The days of Florida being average should be over. You finally have something to be proud of.
Pete Golding: ’Old-fashioned butt-whoopin’
The days of Florida’s offense being mediocre are over. Sumrall is the first coach in SEC history to score 200-plus points (214) in his first four games.
Enjoy offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner while you can, UF. He may be one-and-done if an NFL head coach calls and wants him to be his offensive coordinator. Pro football should be much more attractive than leaving the Gators to rebuild a college program as a head coach.
The offense is a juggernaut. You’re surprised when they are stopped for a gain of fewer than 5 yards. You’re shocked when they punt.
“Obviously, awesome,” quarterback Aaron Philo said of the UF offense during the 4-0 start.
First up on the awesome chart is running back Jadan Baugh, who rushed 29 times for 142 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Duke Clark gained 126 yards on 12 attempts (one touchdown). The Gators averaged 5.7 yards per carry.
“It makes my job pretty easy,” Philo said. “I didn’t have to do a whole lot.”
After each touchdown, Baugh would do a quick Heisman Trophy pose before celebrating with his teammates. He is full of speed, power and moves. See the defender approaching, he breaks the tackle. See the defender in the gap unblocked, he sticks his foot in the ground and twists said defender into a pretzel.
If it weren’t for Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith, Baugh would have the highest Heisman odds for a non-quarterback. His 11 touchdowns through four games are tied for the most by an SEC player since the league first expanded in 1992.
And what about Clark? His 45-yard touchdown run answered 11 consecutive points by Ole Miss that cut the UF from 17-3 to 17-14.
Most impressive about the UF offense was how it answered each Ole Miss surge. Sure, that probably created some anxiety on the sidelines, but you wouldn’t know it. The Rebels kicked a field goal, UF scored a touchdown. The Rebels scored to open the second half, UF scored a touchdown. You get the idea.
“I felt like it was going to take 42 points to win, potentially,” Sumrall said.
The Gators had 45 points with 9:19 remaining.
“That was an old-fashioned butt-whoopin',” Ole Miss coach Pete Golding said.
Jon Sumrall: ’Excited about direction we’re heading’
Does beating Ole Miss force us to recalibrate our expectations for Florida?
Yes. Shoot, I picked the Rebels because so many of their players were in this kind of high-stakes, high-pressure environment last year in the CFP and won two games. I underestimated the power of the UF offense.
“Excited about the direction we’re headed,” Sumrall said. “We have not arrived. We have so much room to grow and get better.”
Sumrall is right. A team that is a finished product in late September will lose games in October and November.
UF should have put Ole Miss away in the first half, but the offense settled for a field goal after a fourth-down stop and turned it over on downs in the red zone. But those are quibbles in the big picture.
The Gators go to Missouri next and should win. They go to Texas and that will be difficult, ditto for playing Georgia in Atlanta to end October.
But 10 wins should the new target. And for future years? Reaching the playoffs should be the floor. Years from now, Florida fans may be able to look back at beating Ole Miss as The Beginning.
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night"), Thursdays (1:15 on "XL Primetime") and Fridays ("First Coast Football Friday" 4-7 p.m.).
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Look out, SEC, Florida football is back after rout of Ole Miss
