Florida football wins turnover battle and plays near perfect game to upset Ole Miss
· Yahoo Sports
Jon Sumrall acknowledged The Swamp didn’t need much more energy added to it after Florida football’s first drive vs. Ole Miss.
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The Gators took less than four minutes to take a 7-0 lead against the No. 6 Rebels. UF forced a quick fourth down on Ole Miss first drive. Pete Golding, though, showed guts and went for it.
From the moment RB JT Lindsey took the ball, Aaron Chiles met him. The Rebels turned it over on downs.
“In games like this, when you're at home, you need a couple plays to get the crowd fully amped,” Sumrall said. “You just felt things kind of set off a little bit there after that play.”
Chiles' defensive play set the tone for the Gators in the program’s biggest win in over five years, and marked the first momentum shifter in a cleaner game from Florida’s defense and the team as a whole.
Gators bend-but-don’t-break defense plays ‘well enough’
Florida’s defense wasn’t perfect on Saturday. It allowed Ole Miss to score on three of its first four drives of the second half, and Jamari Lyons committed a poor unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
But the Rebels hold one of the best offenses in the country, and QB Trinidad Chambliss is a Heisman contender. With all that considered, holding the Rebels to 28 points and six in the first half was huge.
“Defensively, I thought we rose up and we battled better than we've battled all year to be honest with you,” Sumrall said. “I still don't love giving up 28 points but holding that outfit to 28's not hateful.”
Ole Miss was 0-5 on third downs in the first half and ended 4-11.
Defensive end Jayden Woods acknowledged the difficulties of facing a QB like Chambliss, saying you need to rush smart and not scared.
Brad White’s strategy worked as Chambliss struggled by his standards in the first half. The Gators held him to under 100 yards passing and no touchdowns. Ole Miss’ rushing game was nonexistent with 60 yards as Florida took full advantage of Kewan Lacy’s injury.
UF allowed 39 points to Auburn last week, and Chiles admitted the media criticism inspired the defense.
“We use that as fuel to play hungry and play violent,” Chiles said.
Florida football wins the turnover battle
Chambliss woke up from his slumber in the second half, as expected, but Woods still delivered the second half’s momentum shifter when he forced a Chambliss fumble. It was the one empty possession for either team in their first four drives of the second half.
Woods said he blacked out during the strip sack.
“As soon as I ran the hoop, I saw he was right there and his eyes were downfield, and first instinct is to go for the ball,” Woods said.
The Rebels scored only one more touchdown after that point, and DJ Coleman intercepted Chambliss to put the game on ice.
Offensively, the Gators scored on all but three drives. Two ended in punt, and the third was a turnover on downs where Sumrall – up 10-0 – decided to go for it in field goal range.
It was a bold call, but the coach said it was warranted facing a Rebels squad where you can’t leave points on the board. He remembered Ole Miss’ first game against Louisville, where it scored 31 second half points.
“I felt it was going to take 42 points to win tonight, potentially,” Sumrall said. “When you get to fourth-and-1s and fourth-and-2s, we're pretty aggressive.”
Florida walked the fine line of playing aggressive but smart, and it worked. Aaron Philo served as a perfect game manager and didn’t turn the ball over as the Gators rushed for over 300 yards.
This is despite Philo losing three of his top receivers at points in the game in Bailey Stockon, Vernell Brown III and Eric Singleton Jr.
“It’s a big part of what goes into a football game,” Philo said. “If you don’t turn the ball over, you got a good chance to win.”
Special teams puts Gators in good position
Florida also earned the benefit of excellent field position. London Montgomery finished with 128 return yards. This included returns of 41 and 74 yards in the second half to set up short fields.
“My coach had to push me back because I was coming off the sideline,” Duke Clark said.
Sumrall said Florida puts as much of an emphasis on special teams as any team in the country – a welcome improvement from the struggles of Billy Napier’s tenure.
“We put great players on special teams too,” Sumrall said. “You got to earn the right to play through playing special teams on offense and defense here.”
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1, Instagram @Ramreporter and Facebook Noah Ram - Reporter.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football wins turnover battle and plays near perfect game to upset Ole Miss