Florida Just Embarrassed No. 4 Ole Miss — and Jon Sumrall Has Awakened a Sleeping Giant

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Florida didn’t upset Ole Miss. The Gators physically dominated the nation’s No. 4 team, and Jon Sumrall’s rebuild suddenly looks way ahead of schedule.

Jon Sumrall has spent months telling everyone Florida is a sleeping giant.

Maybe it’s time to stop calling it sleeping.

No. 21 Florida didn’t squeak past No. 4 Ole Miss on Saturday. The Gators didn’t need a last-second field goal, fortunate turnover or controversial call.

They beat the hell out of them.

Florida ran for 302 yards, scored touchdowns on its first five possessions of the second half and demolished the fourth-ranked Rebels 52-28 before more than 90,000 fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Ole Miss coach Pete Golding didn’t bother sugarcoating it.

“That was an old-fashioned butt-whupping,” Golding said afterward.

He’s right.

And the ramifications extend well beyond one September upset.

Florida is 4-0 for the first time since 2019. The Gators are 2-0 in the SEC. They just defeated a Top-5 opponent for the first time since 2018.

And an offense that ranked 104th nationally last season has suddenly become one of the most explosive in college football.

Maybe Sumrall hasn’t completely awakened Florida’s sleeping giant yet.

But something enormous is beginning to stir in Gainesville.

Florida bullied Ole Miss

There are upsets where the underdog hangs around long enough for something strange to happen.

This wasn’t one of them.

Florida imposed its will.

Jadan Baugh carried 29 times for 142 yards and three touchdowns. Duke Clark needed just 12 carries to pile up 126 yards and another touchdown.

Together, they ran for 268 yards and four scores.

Florida finished with 302 rushing yards and 498 yards of total offense.

Baugh also joined some rather impressive company.

He became just the third Florida player to rush for at least 100 yards in five consecutive games, joining Emmitt Smith and Fred Taylor.

Ole Miss knew Florida was going to run.

It didn’t matter.

“Tackling the guy with the ball is a real thing on defense,” Golding cracked afterward. “That’s kind of important.”

That’s about as concise an explanation as you’ll find.

Florida punched Ole Miss in the mouth and kept doing it.

Trinidad Chambliss couldn’t save Ole Miss this time

Ole Miss arrived in Gainesville riding high.

The Rebels had beaten LSU 32-24 a week earlier, climbing to No. 4 in the AP poll, with quarterback Trinidad Chambliss emerging as one of college football’s early Heisman Trophy contenders.

Chambliss wasn’t terrible Saturday.

He threw for 298 yards and ran for 44 more with two rushing touchdowns, despite dealing with a thigh injury suffered early in the game.

But Florida forced him into second-half turnovers and made Ole Miss chase the game almost from the opening kick.

The Gators led 10-0 before Chambliss even attempted a pass.

Every time Ole Miss threatened to make things interesting, Florida answered.

When the Rebels cut the deficit to 24-21, London Montgomery returned the ensuing kickoff 74 yards.

Two plays later, Florida scored.

When Ole Miss later pulled within 38-28, Florida answered with another touchdown.

And then another.

Five consecutive second-half possessions.

Five touchdowns.

That’s not surviving a Top-5 opponent.

That’s dismantling one.

Jon Sumrall has transformed Florida’s offense almost overnight

Here’s the part that should get everyone’s attention.

Florida isn’t winning 17-13.

The Gators are scoring at a ridiculous pace.

Florida entered Saturday averaging 54 points and 544.3 yards per game. Even after facing SEC competition, the production hasn’t disappeared. Through its first two conference games, Florida is averaging 48 points and 466.5 yards, including 272.5 rushing yards.

Sumrall has now become the first head coach in SEC history whose team scored at least 200 points over his first four games. Florida has scored 214.

That’s absurd production for a program that spent much of the recent past searching for an offensive identity.

And Sumrall isn’t acting surprised.

When he took the job, he described Florida as a sleeping giant and repeatedly talked about “waking the beast.”

After Saturday’s destruction of Ole Miss, he updated the metaphor.

“It’s not asleep, but it ain’t fully awake yet,” Sumrall said. “It’s being kind of stirred up a little bit.”

Then came the line that should excite Florida fans more than anything else.

“I didn’t come here for us to be average.”

Florida hasn’t looked remotely average.

The rest of the SEC should be paying attention

It’s easy to forget what Florida can be when Florida is right.

This is one of the premier jobs in college football.

The Gators sit in one of America’s richest recruiting states. They have three national championships, a massive fan base, SEC resources and a home stadium capable of becoming one of the most intimidating environments in the sport.

Florida being mediocre was never normal.

It merely lasted long enough to start feeling normal.

Sumrall’s challenge wasn’t to invent a powerhouse from scratch. It was to get one of college football’s dormant brands functioning like one again.

Four games don’t prove he has completed that job.

But Saturday offered the most compelling evidence yet.

Florida didn’t merely beat No. 4 Ole Miss.

It physically overwhelmed the Rebels.

Florida’s ceiling has changed

Before the season, simply demonstrating meaningful progress would have represented success in Sumrall’s first year.

Those expectations may already be obsolete.

Florida is 4-0.

The Gators have won their first two SEC games for the first time since 2019.

They have one of the country’s most productive running backs in Baugh, a devastating complementary weapon in Clark and an offense capable of hanging 50 on an SEC opponent.

And now they’ve beaten the No. 4 team in America by 24 points.

There are harder games coming, beginning with a road trip to Missouri. Nobody should start planning a championship parade in Gainesville in September.

But Florida’s ambitions just changed.

Sumrall spent the offseason talking about awakening a sleeping giant.

After what Florida did to Ole Miss Saturday, the rest of the SEC might want to hope it doesn’t wake up any further.

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