All Florida has done through four games of the 2026 season is average 532.8 yards per outing and dismantle every opponent that has lined up on the opposite sideline. Saturday was no different when the No. 4 Rebels (3-1, 1-1 SEC) came into town.
The No. 21 Gators (4-0, 2-0) welcomed Ole Miss into The Swamp for the first showdown between two ranked programs since 2022 and left no doubt they can keep up — and take down — the best of the best.
With Florida’s 52-28 blowout, Jon Sumrall became the first head coach in Southeastern Conference history with 200-plus points in his first four games. Sumrall traded in his Tulane threads for the orange and blue and made an immediate impact. The Gators have tallied 214 points in 2026, setting the tone for the remainder of the stretch. Moreover, their 28 touchdowns are one shy of matching the 2025 total — with eight games to go.
“I think the sky’s the limit,” Sumrall said post-game. “We’ve been really efficient at scoring points per drive, points per possession this year and, if we do that, we’ll have a chance every week. We just have to continue to capitalize on our opportunities.”
While Florida was favored to defeat the Rebels heading into the afternoon, it still had much to prove. The Gators were fresh off their first SEC victory of the year and back-to-back routs of non-Power Four programs, and had plenty in store ahead. Ole Miss was a week off a massive top-25 win against then-No. 7 Louisiana State and boasts a rapid-fire offense captained by Heisman candidate Trinidad Chambliss.
Even still, Florida emerged firing and muddled the issues that formed in prior weeks: stalling in the second half.
The Gators’ offense has been loaded with fireworks through four weeks, but seems to hit a wall coming out of the halftime break. Of their 162 points in the first three games, just 59 have come in the final 30 minutes of play. That all changed against the Rebels.
Florida took an 11-point lead at halftime, but went on a rampage in the latter portion of the contest. The Gators turned all of their second-half drives into touchdowns, punching the ball into the end zone on five accounts.
The victory also marked the first time since 2001 Florida has scored 40-plus points in its first four games, marking a new beginning for the program. Sumrall and Aaron Philo’s crew seemed to have everything figured out Saturday.
Florida’s junior quarterback has looked poised in his first campaign in Gainesville. He sported a passer rating of 155.5 to go along with his 196 yards and two total touchdowns. The first score came on a quarterback sneak with 3:45 left in the third quarter and marked his third rushing touchdown of the year.
Philo’s initial effort after taking the snap was followed by a leap over the line of scrimmage for the score. The Bogart, Georgia, native immediately faced the Gator faithful, doing the celebratory chomp in front of the sold-out crowd.
“When you’re playing the game of football, there’s going to be emotions and I was pretty fired up in that moment,” Philo said.
The score opened the floodgates for the Gators, who rattled off a 21-7 run in the game’s final frame.
“We gotta keep the foot on the gas and we gotta keep scoring,” Philo said of his message to his teammates after his rushing touchdown. “I was just trying to make sure everybody was staying locked in and keeping our foot on the gas.”
In addition to Philo’s end zone push, Florida excelled on the ground. It added 302 rushing yards in the win and used its backfield depth to its advantage.
Leading the charge was Jadan Baugh. The junior rushed for 142 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries, marking his fifth-straight showing with more than 100 yards on the ground. Baugh joined an elite club of Fred Taylor (1997) and Emmitt Smith (1987, 1988) to accomplish the feat.
“That means everything to me, just having my name up there with those guys; they did so much when they were here,” Baugh said. “Being able to just follow in their footsteps and excel, that means just so much.”
In what has become a staple of Baugh’s elite performances, the 6-foot-1 back hit the Heisman pose following an end zone trip. He has already notched 600 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in his third season in Gainesville, putting together a prime campaign for the country’s most exclusive award.
While the victory marked another ultra-productive outing for the Atlanta product, he wasn’t the only running back to excel on the ground. Duke Clark also eclipsed 100 rushing yards, his first game even coming close to the mark. Clark’s previous career-high sat at 65 yards against Florida Atlantic, but the sophomore plowed for 126 yards and a score Saturday.
Clark’s massive 45-yard touchdown gave the Gators a major swing of momentum in their first series coming out of the halftime break, extending their lead to 10 points. Despite the Rebels putting together a 14-play, 74-yard drive following the score, Clark aided in Florida’s second-half run to put the game away.
“That’s my little brother,” Baugh said of Clark. “Duke keeps his head down, and it doesn't matter what comes at him, no matter what obstacles he has in front of him, he’s gonna overcome it.”
The running back duo became the first in program history to each rush for more than 100 yards in the same game since Montrell Johnson Jr. and Trevor Etienne did so in 2002. The team’s 302 rushing yards also marked UF’s most against an SEC foe since 2022.
Florida will be back on the road to take on Missouri (3-1, 0-1) Oct. 3. The Gators have not defeated the Tigers in Columbia since 2019.
“I believe in our team,” Sumrall said. “I believe in the direction we’re headed. We still are not a finished product by any stretch of the imagination.”
Contact Riley Orovitz at rorovitz@alligator.org. Follow her on X at @rileyorovitz.
Riley is a junior sports journalism student and a Fall 2026 sports editor and Gators football beat reporter. Currently in her third semester with The Alligator, she has previously covered Gators swim & dive and Gators gymnastics. She is an avid South Florida sports fan and enjoys playing/following all sports in her free time.
