Arguably no team across the country proved as much as Jon Sumrall’s Florida Gators in Week 4. Facing then-No. 4 Ole Miss at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, UF thrashed the Rebels, 52-28, in a dominant all-around effort.
With that, Florida flew up the AP Top 25 Poll from No. 21 to No. 8, a leap of 13 spots. That tied the third-highest total of any team in college football history. Now, the Gators (4-0, 2-0 SEC) head to Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri, to take on Eli Drinkwitz and the No. 25 Tigers (3-1, 0-1 SEC).
This series has been highly competitive, with Missouri holding a slight 7-6 advantage over Florida thanks to a win in the 1965 Sugar Bowl. The two sides have split their matchups in SEC play 6-6, with Missouri holding a 4-2 home advantage.
But history is one thing. Focusing on the task ahead is another. That is what Sumrall has preached to his team, especially as they enter a hostile Homecoming environment.
“I have zero concerns about anybody’s homecoming, our homecoming. It’s a football game,” Sumrall said. “I do know this, the last four trips we’ve gone to Missouri we’ve lost three of them. So if we think it’s gonna be a freaking cake walk … we’re in for a rude awakening. We’ve got to get ready to play a really good football team on the road in a place that’s not gone well for us a lot.”
Missouri, who is coming off a 31-24 road loss at Mississippi State on Saturday, has been on one of its best stretches in program history since 2023, the last season they played the Gators. Since then, Drinkwitz’s team has posted a 32-11 overall record, the fifth-best mark in the SEC in that time period.
But one area that has plagued the Tigers is a lack of trademark wins over ranked opponents. Overall, Drinkwitz’s Missouri teams are 8-20 against top-25-ranked foes, but six of those wins have come at home.
Despite that fact, Sumrall isn’t overlooking this talented Tigers team, or the coach he said he has always had a “good relationship with.”
“You marry up the identity that Drink’s created over time there with how they play … they've had an identity of running the football,” Sumrall said. “Then [on] the other side and I think they got really good players too … I think they play the game the way it's meant to be played. A lot of respect for how they play the game.”
For Missouri, its offensive success boils down to their talented backfield and the impressive group of blockers laying the groundwork.
Austin Simmons, who arrived in Columbia from Ole Miss, has been a revelation under center thus far for the Tigers, completing just under 65% of his passes for 950 yards, 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Sumrall labeled Missouri’s QB1 an “SEC winning quarterback” with all the mental and physical tools needed to be successful.
While the Tigers have been without 2025 Consensus All-American running back Ahmad Hardy as he recovers from a gunshot wound to the leg suffered in May, Jamal Roberts has stepped up to the plate as one of the SEC's most productive runners through four games. The senior back has recorded 385 yards on 88 attempts. Furthermore, 293 of those yards coming after contact, per PFF. Roberts only trails Florida’s Jadan Baugh in that category, as Baugh has a whopping 358 yards after contact thus far.
It’s not difficult to understand why Missouri’s backfield has flourished thus far when you take a look at the talented Tigers offensive line. Four of the five starters on the unit have PFF offensive grades of 72.7 or higher this season, and left tackle Cayden Green, who Sumrall labeled a “big time player”, ranks fifth in the SEC with an 87.2 pass blocking grade.
Overall, Sumrall said on Monday that this is the best offensive line Florida’s defense has faced thus far. But that doesn’t mean the Gators don’t have the pieces to pressure Missouri’s offense early and often. JACK rusher Jayden Woods has been a standout thus far for Florida, totaling a team-high four sacks. That ranks him No. 4 in the SEC, only behind Texas’ Colin Simmons, LSU’s Princewill Umanmielen and Missouri’s Daeden Hopkins.
Hopkins has emerged as the standout of Missouri’s defense that has dealt with injury issues on its defensive line. His six sacks and two forced fumbles by far surpass his combined total of 0.5 in those two stats in 2025.
But Hopkins and his Tigers teammates haven't faced an offense quite like Florida’s. The Gators attack is No. 2 nationally in scoring offense with 53.5 points per game and haven’t been held under 44 points all season.
Quarterback Aaron Philo has been uber-efficient, completing over 72.4% of his throws for 917 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Baugh, meanwhile, has emerged as arguably the nation’s top runner with 600 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground thus far.
“[They have] a tremendous running back, one of the best in the country and probably right now the best one in the country,” Drinkwitz said of Baugh. “Obviously, they do a tremendous job featuring him, getting him multiple different carries at multiple different angles … He's really really good.”
Florida’s receiver room has emerged as well, with the pair of sophomores Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson combining for 31 catches, 507 yards and seven all-purpose touchdowns. Brown, however, is listed as questionable this week due to a knee injury.
While there are questions regarding Missouri’s ability to halt Florida’s explosiveness, those same questions can be levied at the other side. Either way, winning a top-25 SEC battle on the road is no easy feat for Sumrall’s team to accomplish.
Ultimately, Florida’s head coach is continuing with the same message that has led to UF’s best start since 2019: Go 1-0 every week.
“I'm very happy that we won last week. I'm happy that we won each week so far. It beats the alternative. But I'm not celebrating anything. Nobody in our building should be celebrating anything,” Sumrall said. “If we are, then we're totally off-base at how you find success over the long term … Tough teams win, selfless teams win. Teams that have an edge about them and hunger about them, they win. Complacent, soft, entitled, lazy, selfish teams, they lose.”
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X at @maxbernstein23.
Max Bernstein is a fourth-year sports and media journalism major and sports management minor. This Fall, he is a Sports Editor and a Florida Gators and Jacksonville Jaguars reporter at The Alligator. Now in his ninth semester with The Alligator, Max previously served in roles including Digital Managing Editor, Sports Editor, Assistant Sports Editor and Football Reporter. He has also made appearances on the Paul Finebaum Show. In the rare moments Max isn't working, he's usually with his girlfriend Reese, watching sports with his fraternity brothers or missing his family and his two cats.
