Jon Sumrall walked into Florida's locker room at halftime of its homecoming game three weeks ago against South Carolina and immediately sensed there was something wrong. The Gators trailed 17-10, but you'd have thought Florida was down by several scores. We're right in the middle of this thing,'" Sumrall told CBS Sports.
The message didn't stick. South Carolina, winless in the SEC at kickoff, pulled away for a 38-19 victory in The Swamp. It was Florida's second straight blowout after a 45-17 loss at Missouri, and boos rolled through Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
The Gators' 4-0 start and rise to No. 8 in the AP Top 25 suddenly looked like a mirage. At the team meeting that Monday, Sumrall made a prediction and challenged his team. "It's gonna be 17-10 at some point again, and we're gonna be on the wrong side of it," he said.
"Well, you fast forward ..." Five days later, Florida went into halftime at No. 7 Texas trailing 17-10. "And at halftime we did respond differently," Sumrall said. The Gators outscored the Longhorns 17-7 in the second half, sacked Arch Manning five times and held on for a 27-24 win behind quarterback Tramell Jones Jr., who made his first career start for an injured Aaron Philo.
It was Florida's first road win over a top-10 opponent since 2012. That three-week swing from unbeaten to reeling to giant killer is all that we know about Sumrall's first season in Gainesville. Beyond that, Florida fans are accustomed to hot starts under first-year coaches that quickly turn into fool's gold.
Will Muschamp was 4-0, then lost four straight in 2011. Jim McElwain opened 6-0 and lost the last three games in 2015. Dan Mullen's success spanned two seasons, with 21 combined wins, but he then lost 9 of his last 11 games against power-conference teams and was fired near the end of his fourth year.
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