Florida hasn’t beaten a top-five team since 2018. That changed Saturday, and it wasn’t close.

In front of more than 90,000 fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, No. 21 Florida (4-0, 2-0 SEC) knocked off No. 4 Ole Miss 52-28, earning the Gators’ first win over a top-five opponent since beating No. 5 LSU in 2018 and improving to 4-0 for the first time since 2019.

The win was built on the ground. Jadan Baugh and Duke Clark combined for 268 rushing yards on 41 carries, and Florida’s defense held potential Heisman candidate Trinidad Chambliss to his offense’s lowest point total of the season, even as the Gators’ recurring penalty problem reared its head yet again.

“It’s not asleep, but it ain’t fully awake yet,” Gators coach Jon Sumrall said of Florida’s program following the game. “It’s being stirred up a little bit. So we’re going to get there… I promise you, I didn’t come here for us to be average.”

Florida wasted no time setting the tone, capping its opening drive with an eight-play march that ended in a 4-yard touchdown run from Baugh for a 7-0 lead. The defense carried that energy into Ole Miss’s first possession, stuffing the Rebels on fourth-and-1 to give the offense a short field. Florida cashed it in with a 49-yard field goal from Patrick Durkin to make it 10-0.

That’s when the penalties started piling up as the Gators finished with eight for 92 yards. Three penalties in four plays—a delay-of-game call on Aaron Philo, a holding penalty on Bailey Stockton that wiped out a 68-yard touchdown run by Vernell Brown III and a kick-catch interference flag — stalled a Florida drive that had all the makings of another score.

“The offense is rolling right now,” Philo said. “We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas, moving forward, keep practicing hard and keep grinding, moving on week by week.”

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