The “real” season has arrived.
After a 2-0 start with home wins over Florida Atlantic and Campbell, the Florida Gators head on the road for the first time under Jon Sumrall. But this game is personal in many ways.
For the first time since 2011, Florida will face the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium, a venue that has hosted some of the most storied battles between the two programs.
However, Sumrall’s focus remains the same: Go 1-0 for a third consecutive week and start SEC play in style.
“These games count twice: your overall record and your conference record,” Sumrall said. “If I have to get anybody ready to play SEC football, we have the wrong people here.”
The first-year Florida coach is more than ready to coach his first conference game, which “just means more.” Currently, the SEC boasts the top two ranked teams in the country and occupies six of the top 10 spots in the Week 3 AP Poll.
But Sumrall’s excitement goes further than just the play on the field. This game is unique for the 44-year-old who was raised just over three hours north of Jordan-Hare Stadium and whose wife, Ginny, attended Auburn. Despite opposing allegiances within his family, Sumrall does not doubt where the loyalty of his kin lies – at least he thinks he doesn't.
“If they do [root for Auburn], they’re no family to me,” Sumrall said. “Florida pays my mortgage. Any family that’s pulling against us ain’t my family.”
On a more serious note, Sumrall’s more focused on stopping Auburn on the field than worrying about who is or isn’t cheering for his side.
Sumrall called the Tigers a “good football team” on both sides of the ball and outlined his general game plan to slow down head coach Alex Golesh’s 2-0 squad.
Florida’s defense, which is still working through growing pains according to Sumrall, will be tasked with shutting down the high pace of Golesh’s scheme and veteran quarterback Byrum Brown. Sumrall has faced the pair once before and vanquished their attack, leading his 2024 Tulane team to a 45-10 victory over the South Florida Bulls that were coached and quarterbacked by Golesh and Brown, respectively.
While a lot of attention regarding Auburn’s offense is about explosive plays and unique schematic looks, Sumrall honed in on the run game as the key element of the Tigers’ attack.
“The spacing and the shots gets everybody's attention … What kills you is the run game,” Sumrall said. “If you don't stop the run against them, you’ve got no chance.”
And that task won’t be easy against a talented Auburn backfield. Brown is one of the most decorated running QBs in the nation and he tallied 1,007 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground in 2025. Further, the tandem of running backs Jeremiah Cobb and Omar Mabson II are both averaging north of 5.5 yards per carry and have combined for 265 yards on the ground through two games.
While Auburn’s offense has some firepower, Sumrall said that the Tigers’ defense might be even stronger. He labeled Auburn defensive coordinator DJ Durkin “one of the best coordinators in college football” and highlighted their physicality as a standout trait.
A former linebacker himself, Sumrall also said that the positional group is the key to Auburn’s defensive success. He singled out 2025 second-team All-American Xavier Atkins, calling him an “unbelievable player.”
“As a linebacker guy, I love watching him play,” Sumrall said of Atkins. “Not real excited about watching him play against us.”
But Sumrall made one thing clear: this is 2026 Auburn the Gators are playing against, not 2025 South Florida.
Though Florida’s stinging 18-16 loss to the Bulls – which saw Golesh and Brown take down the Gators in The Swamp with a last-second field goal – lingers in the back of many fans' minds, the Gators have put it in the rearview and aren’t focused on relating their first game of conference play to last year’s heartbreaker.
“There’s not a revenge game. It’s Florida’s players against Auburn’s players,” Sumrall said. “There’s no talk about other teams other than those two teams.”
Adamant the Gators are not a finished product, Sumrall will head into familiar, but hostile territory Saturday. That hostile environment at Jordan-Hare Stadium will be the first real test of communication and intensity for a relatively young Florida squad, but Sumrall and Co. have been gearing up to ensure things run smoothly and players remain where their feet are. That, in part, comes with working through crowd noise in practice all week.
“You have the ability to feed off the crowd a little bit at times, and so, some of our guys have played in these environments, some of them haven't,” Sumrall said. “Being composed, staying locked in to what helps you win games, not getting too high or too low … Don’t make it bigger than it is.”
With the first game of conference play come heightened emotions, expectations and postseason implications, but Sumrall has remained grounded. To him, it doesn’t matter where he plays, and he’s ready to enter a hostile environment in Auburn with the same focus: finish the week 1-0.
“I like playing football. On the road, in the parking lot. It doesn’t matter,” Sumrall said.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.org. Follow him on X @CuranAhern.
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.
Curan is a senior sports journalism student in his sixth semester at The Alligator. He is currently a sports editor and football beat reporter for the Gators and the Jaguars. He previously served as a men's tennis and sports enterprise reporter, and he is pursuing a public relations minor.
