GAINESVILLE — Coach Jon Sumrall’s Gators are not yet the behemoth he envisions.
But four games into his tenure, they are starting to look the part.
A 52-28 demolition of No. 4 Ole Miss on Saturday in a sold-out Swamp was Florida’s biggest statement yet in a turnaround moving at full speed.
When Sumrall took over, he inherited a program that had sleepwalked through five years of futility. He also arrived at a school with three national championships, eight SEC titles and expectations that extend far beyond mere relevance.
Following the spring game, Sumrall vowed “to wake this beast up.”
A week after the No. 21 Gators came out of their SEC hibernation with a win at Auburn, they bullied quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebels.
But Sumrall isn’t satisfied.
“It ain’t fully awake yet. It’s being kind of stirred up a little bit,” Sumrall said. “We’re gonna get there. It’s coming.
“I promise you, I didn’t come here for us to be average.”
Florida running back Jadan Baugh leaps in celebration after rushing for a touchdown during the Gators’ 52-28 win against No. 4 Ole Miss on Saturday in the Swamp. (Noah Lantor/AP)
The No. 21 Gators (4-0, 2-0 SEC) were exceptional against Chambliss, a Heisman frontrunner, and an Ole Miss program coming off a monster win against LSU and a season removed from a run to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
“That was an old-fashioned ass whooping,” Rebels’ coach Pete Golding said.
The win was Florida first against a top-five opponent since a 38-10 rout of then-No. 3 Ole Miss in 2015 at home.
With a sellout crowd of 90,683 looking on, Florida rode another explosive day by Buster Faulkner’s offense to hold off a second-half surge by Chambliss.
Star running back Jadan Baugh recorded his fifth straight 100-yard rushing performance while sophomore Duke Clark recorded his first as a collegian on day when the Gators compiled 302 rushing yards against the Rebels (3-1, 1-1).
“Makes my job pretty easy,” quarterback Aaron Philo said. “I didn’t have to do a whole lot tonight.”
Meanwhile, Chambliss was left to shoulder a heavy load playing without All-SEC tailback Kewan Lacy, who injured his left shoulder against LSU.
A week after an emotional home win against the Tigers and former coach Lane Kiffin in Oxford, the Rebels quickly trailed 10-0 against Florida before their star quarterback had even thrown a pass.
Trailing 17-6 at halftime after Baugh scored his ninth and 10th touchdowns of 2026, Chambliss and the Ole Miss offense awoke from a sleepy first half and shook off their LSU hangover.
He cut the lead to 17-14 less than than two minutes after intermission.
A 49-yard completion to Deuce Alexander highlighted a five-play drive ending with Chambliss’ 8-yard scoring run. A completion to Horatio Fields for a two-point conversion cut the lead to 17-14.
Florida, though, quickly responded behind a 45-yard touchdown run by Clark extending his team’s advantage to 24-14.
The 6-foot-2, 208-pound Clark broke through the line and juked two defenders, including former Florida defensive back Shariff Denson, and outraced backup safety Andy Jaffe to the end zone.
Jaffe was in the game because officials ejected starter Joenel Aguero for targeting during the first half.
Standing on Florida’s sideline at the 35, Baugh relished his sophomore back-up’s effort.
“As soon as he broke, I was so proud of him, just making the cut,” Baugh said. “Being able to see that and just see him improve each and every week, that means so much to me — and he doesn’t even know it.”
Chambliss answered, this time with a 14-play, 74-yard drive capped by his 10-yard scoring run to cut the lead to 24-21 with 5:21 remaining in the third quarter.
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss celebrates a touchdown in the third quarter of the Gators’ 52-28 win Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. (Dustin Markland/Getty Images)
Having lost twice last season while at Tulane to Chambliss and Co. by a combined 86-20, Sumrall braced himself.
A shootout in the Swamp was taking shape.
“Knowing who No. 6 (Chambliss) was and the talent around him, I felt it was going to take 42 points to win,” Sumrall said.
From there, Florida steadily pulled away.
A 74-yard kickoff return by third-string tailback London Montgomery gave Florida the ball on the Ole Miss 26, leading to a 1-yard keeper by Philo for a 31-21 Florida lead.
On Ole Miss’ next series, Gators’ sophomore edge rusher Jayden Woods forced a Chambliss fumble that star linebacker Myles Graham recovered. Chambliss sat on the field dejected and hanging his head, knowing his defense was on its heels.
“I don’t want to credit it to just one play, but it was good to give the ball back to our offense,” Woods said. “That was my biggest thing.”
A 6-yard touchdown by sophomore receiver Dallas Wilson on an end-around extended the Gators’ advantage to 38-21 early in the fourth quarter.
Ole Miss, however, drove 76 yards in just four plays, covering a scant 81 seconds. The series ended with Chambliss’ 2-yard scoring toss to Alexander, who entered the night the SEC’s leading receiver and finished with seven catches for 134.
Yet the series proved the Rebels’ last gasp as Florida’s offense continued to apply the pressure en route to a 498-yard day against the SEC’s 15th-ranked defense.
A 2-yard run by Baugh, his 11th touchdown in 2026, ending the scoring as Florida completed its fourth straight game with at least 40 points — last accomplished at Florida in 2001, Steve Spurrier’s final season in Gainesville.
The 6-foot, 222-pound junior struck at Heisman pose in the left corner of the south end zone, ending his day with 142 yards on 29 carries.
Clark added 126 yards on just 12 attempts as Florida closed September undefeated for the first time since 2019.
Seeking their first 5-0 start since that season ended with an Orange Bowl win, the Gators hit the road next week for Missouri, where the Tigers have won three of the schools’ past four meetings in Colombia.
The meat of the SEC season awaits.
“Winning’s fun,” Woods said. “It’s a good indicator of the hard work that you put in. But the most important thing about winning is to not let yourself get complacent.
“We gotta keep going back to the chalkboard, practice just as hard, if not harder, as we did last week, just keep things going.”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com.
Florida Gators players celebrate beating Ole Miss 52-28 on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. (Dustin Markland/Getty Images)