Florida Urged to Change Narrative Immediately After Loss to South Carolina
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Coming out of September, the Florida Gators were a trendy pick to make the College Football Playoff after ending the month with a 52-28 upset of No. 4 Ole Miss at "The Swamp."
Things change quickly in college football.
Two weekends into October, Florida has looked more like the team it was under Billy Napier than the first four weeks of the season. The Gators were blown out on the road by Missouri, which was understandable coming off the high of a win over the Rebels.
What is inexcusable is turning around and being outclassed by a South Carolina team that had lost three straight games (all in the SEC) coming into Saturday's game at "The Swamp." Questions surrounded USC's head coach Shane Beamer before the Week 6 game.
Now, first-year head coach Jon Sumrall has to quickly get his team to rebound before traveling to play a No. 5 Texas Longhorns program that suffered an embarrassing upset to unranked Oklahoma in the "Red River Rivalry" on Saturday.
Paul Myerberg of USA Today named Florida as one of college football's biggest losers from the Week 6 schedule. He suggested UF must change its goal from making the CFP to just trying to win eight games.
Myerberg doesn't give much hope to the Gators beating Texas and No. 2 Georgia. The Gators will have to beat Oklahoma, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Florida State.
Oklahoma and Kentucky won't be easy outs. Will Stein has reignited the Wildcats, who have won back-to-back games by earning a successful two-point conversion in overtime, including beating LSU on Saturday.
The Sooners offense has struggled all season, but they have a good defense. A pick-6 of Arch Manning and a punt return for a touchdown allowed Oklahoma to walk away with a win over Texas.
For Sumrall, the goal for Florida was to at least make a bowl game. However, the more games he wins, the better he can make a case that the program should receive more funds to better compete for the SEC championship and a spot in the CFP.
Given the way the last two weeks have gone, the Gators have a lot to correct before even a 7-5 record becomes imaginable.
Florida leaned on its running game early in the season. That has been stifled in the last two weeks. Without a strong running game or above-average quarterback play, the Gators will struggle to win games against quality opponents in the SEC.
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