For the first time since the Will Muschamp Era, Florida will visit Jordan-Hare Stadium to take on Auburn in Week 3. As of June 20, DraftKings had this Sept. 19 matchup listed as a pick ’em.
These schools haven’t squared off since Gus Malzahn brought his undefeated and seventh-ranked Auburn team to The Swamp in 2019 when Bo Nix was his starting freshman quarterback. Nix had already led the Tigers to a 5-0 record that included a 27-21 win over 11th-ranked Oregon on a neutral field and a 26-20 win at 17th-ranked Texas A&M.
Auburn came to Gainesville as a 2.5-point road favorite, but Nix completed only 11-of-27 passes for 145 yards and one touchdown with three costly interceptions. Meanwhile, Florida QB Kyle Trask connected on 19-of-31 throws for 234 yards and two TDs without an interception to lead the Gators to a 24-13 win.
With UF leading 17-13 and less than 10 minutes remaining, RB Lamical Perine ripped off one of the most memorable runs in program history when he went 88 yards down the sidelines for a TD.
In UF’s last trip to The Plains, Auburn beat Florida 17-6 in 2011.
Both schools are breaking in new head coaches and trying to put the disastrous tenures of the previous regimes in the rearview mirror. Billy Napier went 22-23 both straight up and against the spread despite unprecedented financial support from the program to hire an enormous staff.
Even worse, 15 of Napier’s 23 losses came by double-digit margins. His record against Power-Five competition (he lost to Oregon St. when the Pac-12 still existed in its original form) was an atrocious 15-22. He also lost at home to South Florida last season when UF was an 18-point home favorite.
Hugh Freeze compiled a 15-19 overall record at Auburn with an abysmal 6-16 mark in SEC play. He had a 14-20 ATS record. The Tigers had three losing seasons in a row on Freeze’s watch and lost 31-13 vs. Maryland as 4.5-point favorites in their lone postseason appearance at the 2023 Music City Bowl.
Jon Sumrall is the new HC at Florida after outstanding two-years runs at both Troy and Tulane. The former University of Kentucky linebacker took over the Trojans in 2022 when they were coming off three consecutive losing seasons.
Sumrall produced a 23-4 SU record and a 19-8 ATS mark, winning back-to-back Sun Belt Championship Games by a combined score of 94-49. Two of his four losses at Troy came at 21st-ranked Ole Miss and at 24th-ranked Kansas St.
When Willie Fritz left Tulane for Houston, Sumrall came to New Orleans to take over the Green Wave. He led Tulane to a 9-5 SU record and an 8-5-1 ATS mark in 2024. Three of the five losses – 34-27 vs. 17th-ranked Kansas St., 34-19 at 15th-ranked Oklahoma and 35-14 at 24th-ranked Army in the AAC Championship Game – came against ranked foes, and a fourth came vs. Florida (33-8 at the Gasparilla Bowl) after star QB Darian Mensah and others had hit the transfer portal.
Sumrall led Tulane to last year’s College Football Playoff thanks to a 34-21 win over 20th-ranked North Texas as a 2.5-point home underdog in the AAC Championship Game. The Green Wave finished 2025 with an 11-3 SU record and a 7-7 ATS mark, but two of their defeats came at Ole Miss, which went to the CFP semifinals before losing a heartbreaker to Miami.
The 43-year-0ld Sumrall has a 43-12 overall record and has gone 4-for-4 in making conference championship games.
Alex Golesh takes over at Auburn after a solid three-year run at South Florida. He took the Bulls to three straight bowl games, posting a 23-15 overall record, including a 9-3 ledger last season. Golesh, who previously worked under Josh Heupel as his offensive coordinator at both Central Florida and Tennessee, will turn 42 next week.
Florida limped to a 4-8 SU record and 5-7 ATS mark last year. Sumrall’s first order of business was retaining the top players on the roster. He aced that test with the return of RB Jaden Baugh, WR Dallas Wilson, WR Vernell Brown, LB Myles Graham, LB Jaden Robinson, LB Aaron Chiles, safety Bryce Thornton, DE LJ McCray, DE Kamran James, DT Brendan Bett and DE Jayden Woods.
Sumrall’s first recruiting class is ranked #18 nationally at 247Sports, which has UF’s transfer-specific group ranked #30. There are 48 new players that consist of 29 transfers, 18 incoming freshmen and one junior-college import. The 247Sports Composite has 13 freshmen as four-star prospects, and there are two four-star transfers (QB Aaron Philo and WR Eric Singleton).
Philo will be in his third season with new UF offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, who Sumrall hired away from Ga. Tech. Faulkner brought Philo, TE Luke Harpring, center Harrison Moore and WR Bailey Stockton with him.
Faulkner was Ga. Tech’s OC for three seasons. His offenses averaged 31.1, 28.9 and 32.2 points per game. In 2022, the Yellow Jackets’ offense scored at a pedestrian 17.2 PPG clip. After hiring Faulkner, that number jumped to 31.1 PPG in 2023.
Prior to his arrival in Atlanta, Faulkner was on Kirby Smart’s staff at Georgia as QBs coach from 2020-22 when the Bulldogs won two national championships thanks in large part to the play of QB Stetson Bennett.
Due to his familiarity with Faulkner’s system, most feel like Philo has a slight edge over redshirt freshman QB Tramell Jones in the battle for the starting QB job. However, Jones had a solid spring and threw several nice deep balls in the annual Orange and Blue game to conclude spring practice. Sumrall has stated that the QB competition will extend well into August.
Philo, who was ranked by 247Sports as the #11 QB in the portal, played in four games for the Yellow Jackets as a true freshman in 2024. He completed 38-of-74 passes (51.4%) for 565 yards with a 1/2 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Philo added 76 rushing yards and one TD, averaging 6.3 yards per carry.
In a Nov. 21 home game vs. NC St., Philo took most of the snaps under center due to a lingering shoulder injury that was bothering starting QB Haynes King. With Ga. Tech trailing 29-23, Philo scored on an 18-yard TD run with 22 seconds remaining to secure a 30-29 comeback win.
In 2025, Philo connected on 21-of-28 throws (75.0%) for 373 yards with one TD and one interception. He added 19 rushing yards on four attempts for a 4.8 YPC average.
As a true freshman last season, Jones appeared in two games. He completed 21-of-35 passes (60.0%) for 191 yards and two TDs without an interception.
Phil Steele’s National Unit Rankings have the Gators #5 at RB, #9 at WR, #42 on the offensive line, #30 on the d-line, #18 at LB, #37 in the secondary and #3 on special teams. The QBs didn’t make Steele’s Top 70 nationally and are in a four-way tie for #12 in his SEC Unit Rankings.
Baugh was one of the few bright spots on a UF offense that averaged only 21.6 PPG last year. Baugh ran for 1,170 rushing yards and eight TDs, averaging 5.3 YPC. He added 33 receptions for 210 yards and two TDs.
Brown enjoyed an outstanding true freshman campaign. He missed two games injured, but he started six times in 10 appearances. Brown hauled in 40 catches for a team-best 512 receiving yards.
Wilson was a five-star recruit that was expected to make an instant impact as a true freshman in 2025. But in the first week of practice in early August, Wilson sustained a foot injury that kept him sidelined for two months.
When he finally made his collegiate debut on Oct. 4 for a home game vs. Texas, Wilson stole the show in UF’s 29-21 upset win as a five-point underdog. He snagged six catches for 111 yards and two TDs.
In four games, Wilson had 12 receptions for 174 yards and three TDs. However, he went down with a broken foot in the first half of a 24-20 loss to Georgia that ended his season.
Out of an abundance of caution, Wilson was a limited participant in spring practice. If he can stay healthy, I expect Wilson to have a monster 2026 season.
Singleton is a transfer from Auburn, but he played in Faulkner’s offense at Ga. Tech in 2023 and 2024. As a true freshman, he had 48 catches for 714 yards and six TDs.
In 2024, Singleton snagged 56 balls for 754 yards and three TDs. Faulkner also utilized him in gadget plays, and he produced 131 rushing yards and one TD on 21 carries for a 6.2 YPC average.
Singleton had 58 receptions for 534 yards and three TDs at Auburn last year. He added 61 rushing yards while averaging 4.4 YPC. 247Sports had Singleton as the nation’s #36 overall player in the portal and the #9 WR.
Wake Forest transfer WR Micah Mays received rave reviews from the coaching staff throughout spring practice. Then he delivered on that praise in the Orange and Blue game, making four catches on four targets for 122 receiving yards and two TDs.
Mays missed some games with injuries for the Demon Deacons, but he started 13 times in 15 appearances over the last two seasons. He has 34 career receptions for 520 yards and four TDs.
Stockton was also impressive during spring practice. He started twice in 18 games at Ga. Tech over the last two years, bringing down 38 career catches for 439 yards and one TD. When Philo was getting most of the snaps in Ga. Tech’s aforementioned win over NC St., Stockton had five receptions for 54 yards.
Harpring was limited to seven games due to injuries at Ga. Tech last year. He had 13 catches for 158 yards. Harpring and James Madison transfer Lacota Dippre are the top TEs on the roster.
Dippre started 13 games for the Dukes last season, producing 17 receptions for 192 yards and three TDs. He also had 49 rushing yards on four attempts for a 12.3 YPC average, including a two-yard TD run in JMU’s 51-34 loss at Oregon in the CFP.
Offensive guard Knijeah Harris and OT Caden Jones are the only returning starters on the offensive line. Harris has started 26 career games in three years at UF, while Jones started 12 games last season. The likely starter at center is Moore, who started nine games for Ga. Tech in 2025.
TJ Shannahan will probably start at right guard. He started five games for Texas A&M in 2024 and logged five more starts at Penn St. last season. Shannahan and transfer OT Eagan Boyer played for new OL coach Phil Trautwein at Penn St. in 2025. Boyer is competing with Stanford transfer Emeka Ugorji for the starting spot at left tackle. Ugorji started eight games for Stanford as a true freshman last year, while Boyer made one start in eight appearances as a redshirt freshman for PSU.
Sumrall hired Brad White to be his defensive coordinator. He had been Kentucky’s DC since 2019. Sumrall and White worked together on Mark Stoops’s staff at UK from 2019-21.
UF’s top defensive players are Bett, Graham, Thornton, Woods, Chiles, Robinson and James. Bett is a preseason second-team All-SEC selection in Steele’s magazine, while Woods and Graham are preseason fourth-team All-SEC choices.
As a sophomore in 2025, Graham produced 76 tackles, seven QB Hurries, seven tackles for loss, four passes broken up and two sacks. After transferring to UF from Baylor, Bett recorded 39 tackles, four TFL’s and three sacks.
In three seasons at UF, Thornton has started 22 times in 33 games. He has 131 career tackles, 10 PBU, eight TFL’s, six QB Hurries, four interceptions, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries for 37 return yards and one TD and 1.5 sacks.
Woods played in all 12 games for the Gators as true freshman in 2025, earning SEC All-Freshman honors. He produced 28 tackles, five TFL’s, 3.5 sacks, three QB Hurries, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one PBU and one interception that he returned 25 yards at Ole Miss.
Sumrall only brought two players with him from Tulane, but they’re both good ones for his special-team’s units. Punter Alec Clark was a first-team All-AAC selection for the Green Wave last year, burying 16 of his 48 punts inside the enemy 20-yard line. Clark averaged 46.5 yards per punt with a long of 70. Steele’s magazine has him as a preseason fourth-team All-SEC pick.
Kicker Patrick Durkin nailed 25-of-28 field-goal attempts for Tulane in 2025. He missed only one extra point in 42 attempts.
Steele’s National Unit Rankings have Auburn #10 at QB, #14 at RB, #22 at WR, #32 on the d-line, #15 at LB, #29 in the secondary and #28 on special teams. The offensive line isn’t ranked, and his list goes to #69. In Steele’s SEC Unit Rankings, Auburn is tied for #13 with four other teams (translating to tied for last).
247Sports has Golesh’s first recruiting class ranked #21 overall and #9 in terms of transfer-specific imports. There are 60 new players, including 39 total transfers, 20 incoming freshmen and one juco product. Golesh brought 13 transfers with him from USF.
There are nine four-star transfers, including QB Byrum Brown (USF), DE Da’Shawn Womack (Ole Miss), DT Walter Mathis (LSU), RB Bryson Washington (Baylor), DT Cody Sigler (Arkansas St.), WR Jeremiah Koger (USF), TE Jonathan Echols (USF), RB Nykahi Davenport (USF) and QB Tristan Ti’a (Oregon St.).
In 32 starts and 35 games during four seasons with the Bulls, Brown completed 64.8 percent of his passes for 7,690 career yards with a 61/19 TD-INT ratio. He also has 2,265 career rushing yards, 31 TDs and a 4.7 YPC average. Brown has three career receptions for 48 receiving yards and one TD. Per 247Sports, he was ranked as the #8 QB and #51 overall player in the portal.
Washington had 1,816 rushing yards and 18 TDs in 23 games for Baylor over the last two seasons. He has a 5.5 career YPC average, in addition to 41 receptions for 311 yards and two TDs. Washington will share carries with returning starting RB Jeremiah Cobb, who had 969 rushing yards, five TDs and a 5.5 YPC average in 2025.
Koger started seven games as a true freshman last year at USF. He produced 38 receptions for 597 yards and eight TDs. As a redshirt freshman for the Bulls in 2025, Echols had nine catches for 109 yards and three TDs. He’ll compete with North Carolina transfer Jake Johnson and Bowling Green transfer Arlis Boardingham for the starting TE job.
Johnson, who is the son of Brad Johnson (FSU, Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and brother of Max Johnson (QB at Ga. Southern after previously playing at LSU, Texas A&M and UNC), has nine career starts in his three years at Texas A&M (2023) and UNC (2024-25). Boardingham didn’t play for the Falcons due to an injury last season, but he has 44 career receptions for 417 yards and six TDs in 23 games for the Gators in 2023 and 2024.
Davenport had 612 rushing yards, seven TDs and a 6.2 YPC average for the Bulls in 2025. As for Ti’a, he played in three games for the Beavers last year, completing 37-of-53 passes (69.8%) for 385 yards with a 3/2 TD-INT ratio. He was ranked as the #23 QB in the portal.
Womack recorded 27 tackles, 4.5 TFL’s, two sacks and one forced fumble in 15 games for the Rebels in 2025. In 11 starts at Arkansas St. last season, Sigler contributed 35 tackles, seven TFL’s, six PBU, five sacks and one fumble return for a TD. Mathis had nine tackles and one PBU in 12 games as a true freshman at LSU in 2025.
There are three other transfers from USF that will likely be starters for Auburn’s offense, including WR Chas Nimrod, WR Keshaun Singleton and center Cole Best, who was a third-team All-AAC selection last year. Nimrod played in 27 games for Tennessee from 2022-24 before transferring to USF. He had 23 catches for 466 yards and three TDs in USF’s first six games before injuries derailed the rest of his season.
Singleton started 19 times in 24 games for USF over the last two years. He had 50 receptions for 877 yards and eight TDs in 2025.
LB Xavier Atkins is one of three returning starters from an Auburn defense that gave up an average of 20.6 PPG. Atkins was a first-team All-SEC selection after producing 84 tackles, an SEC-best 17 TFL’s, nine sacks, seven QB Hurries, two forced fumbles, one PBU and one fumble recovery that he returned for 73 yards.
Kaleb Harris has started 16 times at free safety in 24 games during his first two years at Auburn. He has 96 career tackles, four PBU, three TFL’s, one force fumble and one interception.
One of Golesh’s biggest wins in his first few days on the job was retaining DJ Durkin, who is entering his third season as Auburn’s DC. He brought his OC Joel Gordon with him from USF.
**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**
-Trautwein played OT for the Gators from 2004-08. He was a second-team All-SEC selection when UF won the national championship in 2006. After sitting out the 2007 season due to a stress fracture in his foot, Trautwein garnered first-team All-SEC honors and won a second national title in 2008. He’s been killing it for UF on the recruiting trail in the 2027 cycle. Trautwein has helped secure verbal commitments from five-star OT Maxwell Hiller, four-star interior OL Peyton Miller and four-star OT Elijah Hutcheson. 247Sports has Hiller ranked as the #2 overall player in the 2027 class.
-Steele’s magazine has Baugh as a preseason second-team All-SEC selection and a preseason fourth-team All-American. Brown is a preseason third-team All-SEC pick at WR.
-Steele has UF at #23 in his Preseason Power Rankings, and he has Auburn at #29.
-Steele has Atkins ranked as the #1 outside linebacker that’s eligible for the 2027 NFL Draft. He has Brown as the #19 QB, while UF’s Baugh is the #4 RB. Steele has Singleton ranked as his #18 WR.
-FanDuel has UF’s odds to win the SEC Championship Game at 22/1. Those are the ninth-shortest odds the board. Auburn has the 11th-shortest odds at 45/1.
-Brown has 55/1 odds to win the Heisman Trophy at FanDuel. Philo has 65/1 odds. Baugh isn’t on the board at FanDuel, but DraftKings has him listed at 300/1.
-DraftKings has Florida as a 12.5-point underdog vs. Georgia in Atlanta. The Gators are 4.5-point road favorites at FSU on Black Friday.
-DraftKings has Auburn as a 10-point road underdog at Alabama in the Iron Bowl. The Tigers are 16.5-point road underdogs at Georgia on Oct. 17.
-DraftKings has Auburn as a seven-point favorite for its opener vs. Baylor in Atlanta. The Gators are 26.5-point home ‘chalk’ vs. FAU.