Takeaways From Florida Gators Win over FAU

The Florida Gators picked up their first win of the season opening night, throttling FAU by a score of 66-21. Even with the small sample size, some conclusions can already start to be drawn.

Here are three takeaways from this recent win.

The Debate as to Where Baugh Ranks in Gators History Can Begin

Is he the best running back since Fred Taylor or maybe even since Emmitt Smith? If you're going to name skill players who can make a similar impact, maybe you think of Percy Harvin or Kyle Pitts.

When he's clearly on his way to another 1,000-yard rushing season, the conversation can get going about where Jaden Baugh stands in this program's history. He would be the first to achieve this in back-to-back seasons. Many greats didn't achieve this twice, period. If he gets there, he'll solidify himself as an all-time great.

Offense Already Looks Better

Much of the same talent that Sumrall has carried over from Billy Napier's departure. It shows that it really just takes the right guy calling the plays.

Out of the gate, they put up 66 points, more than the previous head coach ever saw his team score in a game. It was more creative, and offensive coordinator was able to utilize a number of players to run up the score.

Even when the starters were no longer in the game, they had some impressive results. That's pretty telling.

Defense Wasn't Getting Any Benefit of the Doubt (and Shouldn't)

Sumrall wasn't having it for how poorly the defense played overall outside some key plays. He flat out said they were "atrocious" at times on Saturday.

The defense allowed 21 points and 396 yards of total offense, and the Owls converted on third and fourth down with little trouble.

Fair enough. If this is how the defense looks when they're up against an FAU Owls team that is on the schedule for the sake of being a freebee in the win column, serious competition when the SEC schedule arrives could mean things go awry.

The standard is being met. It's a good thing that they aren't just taking it the win. If they just take it now, they could be risking losses later on.

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