GAINESVILLE, FL (wruf.com) – No. 8 Florida’s undefeated start came crashing down Saturday in Columbia, Missouri.
No. 25 Missouri (4-1, 1-1 SEC) overwhelmed the Gators at the line of scrimmage and pulled away for a 45-17 victory, handing Florida coach Jon Sumrall his first loss at the helm and dropping the Gators to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in SEC play.
Florida entered the matchup with a chance to improve to 5-0 for the first time since 2019. Instead, the Gators were unable to slow Missouri’s explosive offense or establish their own rushing attack, as the Tigers turned a 10-10 tie at the 4:26 mark of the second quarter to a 45-10 rout with 13:33 left in the fourth quarter before the final margin.
Sumrall did not mince words when assessing his team’s performance.
“Start with the coaching, start with me,” Sumrall said. “I’m not going to point fingers at anybody, but we have to play a lot better. I’m sick to my freaking stomach with what we just did.”
Jamal Roberts led Missouri’s attack, breaking loose for runs of 77 and 80 yards. His 80-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter pushed Missouri’s advantage to 45-10 and put the game out of reach.
The loss also extends Florida’s struggles in Columbia. The Gators have not won at Missouri since 2019 and have lost for the fourth time in the last five meetings at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium.
Florida and Missouri traded field goals in the opening quarter, with Patrick Durkin connecting from 20 yards before Missouri’s Blake Craig answered from 32 yards to leave the game tied at 3-3 after one quarter.
Missouri grabbed the first touchdown of the afternoon early in the second quarter when quarterback Austin Simmons connected with Donovan Olugbode for a 47-yard score. UF was playing without safety Bryce Thornton, who suffered an injury during warmups and was ruled unable to play.
Florida answered with its first touchdown of the game.
With 4:26 remaining in the first half, quarterback Aaron Philo found Dallas Wilson for a 12-yard touchdown to tie the game at 10-10. Wilson stepped into a larger role with wide receiver Vernell Brown III ruled out before kickoff.
Wilson finished with four catches for 66 yards and a touchdown, giving Philo a reliable target as Florida adjusted to Brown’s absence.
The tie, however, lasted less than three minutes.
Simmons (23 of 30, 340 yards, two TDs) found Caleb Goodie Sr. for a 31-yard touchdown with a little more than two minutes remaining in the first half to put Missouri back in front 17-10. Craig added a 50-yard field goal as time expired to give the Tigers a 20-10 halftime lead.
The late first-half swing became a turning point.
Florida had entered the game needing to win the battle at the line of scrimmage, particularly against a Missouri offensive line Sumrall had called the best the Gators had faced this season. Instead, Missouri’s offense repeatedly created room for its playmakers while Florida struggled to generate the same physicality on the other side.
“We did not execute well in the run, gave out a lot of different areas,” Sumrall said.
Jadan Baugh was perhaps the clearest example.
The junior running back entered the game with 600 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns and had become one of the most productive players in the country through Florida’s first four games. Against Missouri, Baugh was held to 13 yards on 12 carries.
Missouri, meanwhile, turned its rushing attack into the defining feature of the game.
Roberts scored on a short touchdown run in the third quarter before Craig added a 52-yard field goal. Roberts then broke loose for a 77-yard run late in the quarter, setting up another touchdown that pushed Missouri’s lead to 38-10 after they converted a two-point attempt.
Roberts delivered another explosive play shortly afterward, racing 80 yards for a touchdown. He finished with 211 yards on 24 carries.
“They did a really good job of playing with physicality,” Sumrall said. “They played good defense, and we didn’t execute.”
Florida briefly appeared to answer when London Montgomery returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown, but the score was wiped by a holding penalty. The Gators were then backed up by a false-start penalty. They committed eight penalties for 80 yards to Mizzou’s five for 40.
The sequence summarized Florida’s afternoon: even when the Gators created an explosive play, mistakes prevented them from turning it into points.
Penalties had been an issue during Florida’s 4-0 start, but Saturday’s mistakes came against a Missouri team that did not need additional help. The Gators struggled to maintain drives, missed opportunities and repeatedly allowed the Tigers to create big plays.
“I can’t pin it down to one thing,” Sumrall said. “What bothered me was our lack of execution, our lack of discipline, our lack of detail.”
Philo completed 21 of 34 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown. He was not intercepted, but Missouri’s defense kept pressure on the junior quarterback throughout the afternoon, sacking him three times and limiting Florida’s ability to sustain drives.
With the game out of reach, Florida turned to backup quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. late in the fourth quarter. Jones connected with TJ Abrams for a 42-yard touchdown with 47 seconds remaining, cutting Missouri’s lead to 45-17.
The loss leaves the Gators 4-1 through five games for the first time since 2021, when they finished 6-7. The margin of defeat could quickly change the national perception of the program during Sumrall’s first season.
The Gators entered Saturday ranked No. 8, their highest ranking since 2021, after beating Ole Miss in one of the program’s biggest wins in years. But Sumrall said the record had never meant his team had arrived.
“We haven’t looked like a complete football team at any moment to me yet,” Sumrall said. “Maybe sometimes being a team that was ranked at a certain spot, can make people feel that you’ve arrived.”
Now, Florida has to respond to its first setback.
Sumrall said the loss will lead to a different week of practice and challenged his players to take ownership of the performance rather than allowing the defeat to become an isolated bad day.
“There’s going to be a lot of things to get called out,” Sumrall said. “If there’s guys on this football team who don’t own that, they won’t be on this football team very long.”
Florida will return to The Swamp for next Saturday’s homecoming game against South Carolina (2-3, 0-3) at 12:45 p.m. on the SEC Network.
“We’ve got a lot of improvement to do,” Sumrall said. “We’ve had a lot of work to do, it’s just been masked by winning some games.”
This story was originally published at WRUF.com and is reprinted by express permission.
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