Jon Sumrall Calls Out Gators After Campbell Win: 'We Will Get Absolutely Embarrassed if We Don't Improve a Ton'

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Gators beat Campbell on Saturday by 49 points. Jon Sumrall was still not pleased with what he saw in his second game as the program's head coach.

"A lot I was not pleased with, to be quite honest with you," he said in his opening statement. "Some guys proved maybe in the second half, you get an opportunity to prove people right or wrong, some guys proved us right why they're not playing right now.

"We were way too sloppy."

Sumrall's not wrong.

Florida used a 35-point second quarter to build its lead. From there, the Gators only managed seven across six drives in the second half, which was marred by penalties by the offense. Florida was called for eight penalties for 95 yards in the win. Seven of them, including five by the offense, came in the second half.

Offensive lineman TJ Shanahan Jr. was called for a hold on a Jadan Baugh 42-yard rush to open the third quarter before tacking on an unnecessary roughness on the very next play to give Florida first-and-35. He was removed from the drive after the penalty. Roderick Kearney was also called for an unnecessary roughness in the third quarter, while backup tackle TJ Dice Jr. was called for two holding calls.

"The Gators can't beat the Gators," Sumrall said. "When you do that in the games we're getting ready to go play, we will lose the game. I think we will not give ourselves an opportunity to win the game. We have to clean a lot of that up."

The offensive line also did itself no favors in the run game. Despite Baugh finishing with 136 yards and two scores, 75 of those yards came off a single rush. Sumrall was quick to point to the lack of consistent open lanes for Baugh.

"It's really frustrating," Sumrall said.

Florida managed just seven points in the entire second half. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

Sumrall was also critical of depth pieces at certain positions, especially considering the Gators' lone second-half touchdown came with the starters still in the game on Baugh's 75-yard score. He said the depth pieces behind Baugh were "not as clean" as they ask them to be and, without naming specific players, pointed to his freshman class in his criticisms.

"I don't care if you're a first, second or third team player. There is a standard here. It's non-negotiable," he said. "Doesn't matter how many reps you got in practice, the standard has to be met all the time.

Florida ultimately punted twice, had a fake punt fall short of the line to gain, threw an interception and saw the game end mid-drive in the second half outside of Baugh's score.

"I think maybe some guys learned tonight what readiness looks like isn't quite where they are," Sumrall said.

That being said, not all was bad for the Gators.

Vernell Brown III housed two punts and set a program record with 147 punt return yards in the win, while Baugh recorded his third straight 100-yard, multi-touchdown game with a 136-yard, two-score effort. Additionally, Florida's defense saw improvement from last week, when they gave up nearly 400 yards of total offense and three scores.

The Gators only allowed one scoring drive, which came on the game's opening drive, and recovered two fumbles, including one near the goalline late in the game.

Sumrall, albeit praising the unit for its improvement, expressed the need for faster starts from his defense. Senior defensive lineman Kamran James echoed that sentiment but expressed confidence because Sumrall is a "man of action."

"Coach Sumrall is not somebody who just says something with no plan. He's a man of action," James said. "So he may have voiced that, but that's just him telling us what he's going to be focused on the next week that's coming up. Like he told us in advance already what we should be prepared to get ready to hear him say and voice and be on about next week."

Jon Sumrall is hoping for faster starts from his defense moving forward. | Kyle Lander / Florida Gators on SI

Despite the shortcomings, Florida enters Week Three undefeated for the first time since 2021. However, Sumrall made it clear that the Gators will have a "real rude awakening" as SEC play begins if Florida carries over its second-half performance into future games.

Florida travels to Auburn next week before playing five ranked teams in six games, three of which — No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Texas, which just upset No. 1 Ohio State — are ranked inside the top 10.

"While I'm really happy to be 1-0 this week, I'm not real pleased with just maybe where we are from a maturity standpoint, executing at a really high level all the time," he said. "What we're about to walk into in conference play, we will get absolutely embarrassed if we don't improve a ton."

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