Florida Gators football faces its first SEC test of the season against the Auburn Tigers on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium, but the numbers show Florida is up for the challenge.
The Gators enter the matchup fresh off back-to-back blowout wins. However, after a second half where the Gators scored as many points as penalties committed, coach Jon Sumrall sees the game as a wake-up call.
“While I’m really happy to be 1-0 this week, I’m not real pleased with … where we are from a maturity standpoint and executing at a really high level all the time,” Sumrall said. “Because, [with] what we’re about to walk into in conference play, we will get absolutely embarrassed if we don’t improve a ton.”
Besides the talent disparity among Auburn, FAU and Campbell, Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown’s rushing ability is something the Gators have not faced this season.
Brown ran for 47 yards with an 11-yard go-ahead touchdown against Baylor, and he ran for 91 yards against Southern Miss. He was particularly effective at escaping the pocket against Southern Miss with 73 yards and four first downs on scrambles.
The only effective quarterback running the Gators have seen so far has been a 7-yard touchdown run and a 7-yard scramble from FAU quarterback Caden Veltkamp, as well as a 10-yard scramble from Campbell quarterback Grayson Harvey.
Through the air, Brown has been more inconsistent. Against Baylor, he was 26-of-35 passing for 259 yards and three interceptions. He did better in an easier Week 2 matchup, completing 18 of 29 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns.
Florida’s pass defense revealed its strengths and weaknesses in Week 1. While Veltkamp completed 34 of 52 passes for 276 yards and a touchdown, he also threw two interceptions.
The Gators defense will look to force turnovers between the numbers as Brown threw all of his interceptions in this part of the field, and the Gators already picked off Veltkamp once here too.
Conversely, junior quarterback Aaron Philo has found success throwing between the numbers to start the season, completing 18 of 24 passes for 278 yards, four touchdowns and an interception in this area, but the interception was off of a Micah Mays Jr. drop.
Auburn’s pass defense has been susceptible to throws in this area of the field so far, but it has also taken the ball away. Through its first two games, opposing quarterbacks were 32-of-47 passing for 354 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions over the middle.
Although Philo has been efficient, he has had to face very little pressure in these performances, only being pressured nine times and sacked once. Auburn looks to change that Saturday as they have already pressured opposing quarterbacks 38 times and recorded four sacks.
Yet, in his few dropbacks under pressure, Philo completed 4 of 5 attempts for 141 yards, two touchdowns and his previously mentioned interception.
“He’s just the kind of guy you like having on your side because he’s confident in nature, not easily rattled,” Sumrall said.
The Gators’ rushing attack will face its greatest obstacle yet. Auburn has allowed only a little over 3 yards per carry and no touchdowns to start the season.
Additionally, the Gators have favored running on the left side of the line, averaging 8.1 yards per carry on runs off of the left end and left tackle. But Auburn has held opponents to 65 yards on 21 attempts in the same area.
However, junior running back Jadan Baugh has been hard to contain at all. He ranks fourth in the country in yards after contact per attempt (5.97) and seventh in total yards (173) after contact among running backs with at least 20 attempts.
While the Gators have performed well so far, the stakes of Saturday’s matchup will be the highest yet.
“These games count twice. I tell our team all the time: when you turn to conference play, they count on your overall record and your conference record,” Sumrall said.
