It has been a long while since the Gator Nation has been as excited as it is about this year's edition of Florida football.
Through the first four games, Jon Sumrall has his team humming with a 4-0 record while outscoring the opposition, 214-91, and is ranked eighth in both the US LBM Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 — their highest ranking in both polls since 2021.
After the dust settled on college football's Week 4 schedule, USA TODAY Sports writer Eddie Timanus published his overreactions column and included the Orange and Blue, declaring that "Florida is back as (an) SEC championship contender."
"It seems like every week, a team from the conference of high meaningfulness gets a big poll boost from a notable win. This week it was Florida getting the SEC
bump after taking down last week’s beneficiary Ole Miss," Timanus begins.
"We’ll say this much for the Gators – they’re putting up points in bunches. They exit September with the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense at 53.5 points a game. For skeptics, those numbers aren’t just due to feasting on cupcakes. They’ve put up scores of 44 and 52 against their first two SEC opponents," he continues.
"Can they keep it up? Probably not quite at this pace given that there are a few more accomplished defenses on their dance card. October will find Florida facing the two teams currently heading the polls away from home. Fortunately for the Gators there’s a week in between the trip to Texas and the annual Cocktail Party encounter with Georgia, which will take place in Atlanta this year. It is fair to say the program has regained its competitive edge.
"So while we can’t start measuring the Gators for championship rings at this early juncture, we can’t discount it completely," Timanus concludes.
The next step toward a conference — or dare we say, national — title comes this Saturday in Columbia against Missouri, which enters the matchup ranked 25th in both major polls with a 3-1 record.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: USA TODAY Sports: 'Florida is back as SEC championship contender'
