Jon Sumrall Goes Scorched Earth on Gators Defense After Shaky Debut

Looking at just the final score, 66-21, you'd at least know the Florida Gators won big over the FAU Owls. However, not everything met the standard that head coach Jon Sumrall was aiming for to start the season.

En route to allowing 21 points, the Gators' defense allowed 396 total yards and 25 first downs. The Owls' offense converted on third down 50% of the time and on fourth down 57% of the time. There wasn't enough pressure, and the receivers were getting wide open for solid gains.

"Our defense was atrocious at times, quite honestly," Sumrall bluntly said after the game. "So, we had a hard time keeping pace with them. It was that way, in my opinion. I'll watch this play. I'm really a little bit frustrated with how we played defensively at times. I don't think we're as good as we think we are."

Sumrall also gave credit where it's due to the Owls offense and quarterback Caden Veltkamp. He felt they control much of the pace of the game. Despite throwing two picks, Veltkamp completed 65% of his passes for 276 yards and a touchdown.

The Gators' head coach lent praise to the quarterback he'd coached against last year at Tulane.

"I love their quarterback," he said. "I played againsst the kid last year. I love the way he plays. He's tough. He's competitive. He's a leader. He's just a really good football player."

Much of the damage came on three drives, and naturally, it's the three the Owls scored on. They scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives, one toward the end of the first quarter and the next early in the second. Both of those drives alone combined for 153 yards. The touchdown in the third quarter tacked on another 75 total yards.

They added another 74 yards near the end of the game, but Florida recovered by forcing a fumble on 4th and Goal.

Despite the holes that had to be fixed, the defense had their moments. DJ Coleman picked up his first interception of the season, and his efforts helped Dijon Johnson secure a pick as well.

However, those are the standout outliers in a night that will have the team going back to the drawing board.

“I think we need to get lined up with more urgency," linebacker Myles Graham said after the game. "I think we need to get our eyes to the sideline, get the call, and get lined up with more urgency. That eliminates half the mistakes, and we didn't do that at points in the game."

Next week, they face an FCS opponent in Campbell. That might not provide a good barometer for where the defense will be after next week, but it's an opportunity to figure things out before the conference slate arrives.

Come Week Three, they'll have to go into enemy territory, Jordan-Hare Stadium, the home of the Auburn Tigers. That could either provide a rude awakening, or it could be a statement of the work they put in to get things right early. Time will tell.

"We've got a lot of room to grow on defense, and if it doesn't happen real fast, we're going to get embarrassed and exposed handily in some spots," Sumrall said. "Because - that wasn't a great performance by us."

Enjoy our content? Make Florida Gators on SI a Preferred Source to see more stories from us on Google: https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=si.com

Add us as a preferred source on Google