What Happened
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Junior quarterback Aaron Philo passed for 275 yards and three touchdowns, while junior tailback Jadan Baugh rushed for 160 yards and three scores, as the Florida Gators broke the seal on the Jon Sumrall era with a 66-21 defeat of Florida Atlantic in the season opener Saturday night before a sold-out house at Spurrier/Florida Field. 

Sumrall, the 31st head coach in the program’s 120-year history and the eighth this century, watched his Gators offense crank out 624 total yards (343 passing, 281 rushing) and his defense force a pair of turnovers and three times turned the Owls away on fourth down. It was far from perfect, though, with FAU finishing with at 396 yards of offense and 25 first downs, but the performance and energy at the “Swamp” felt a lot different than the malaise of the previous four seasons under Sumrall predecessor Billy Napier. 

Philo, the transfer who followed offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner from Georgia Tech, completed 16 of 21 passes, with touchdown tosses of 49 yards to Vernell Brown III, 12 yards to fellow Tech transfer Bailey Stockton and 10 yards to reserve tailback Duke Clark before giving way to backup Tramell Jones Jr. late in the third quarter with the Gators up 52-21. Baugh, whose 1,170 yards in 2025 marked the seventh-highest single-season total in UF history, got his ’26 campaign off to a fantastic start in carrying just 14 times, but amassing the second-highest total of his career. Baugh scored on runs of 12, 7 and 6 yards, while also breaking off a 61-yard dash to set up his final TD. 

FAU quarterback Caden Veltkamp completed 34 of 52 passes for 276 yards and accounted for a TD each running and throwing. He also was picked off twice.

Brown, the junior and third-generation Gator, caught six passes for 117 yards and scored the first touchdown of his career — and his team’s first of the season — on a dazzling 49-yard catch-and-run on UF’s first possession. Three Florida possessions in, the Gators led 17-0 before the Owls got on the board with an Ethan Ervin 1-yard run that capped a 75-yard march that featured five first first downs, including a pair of fourth-down conversions. 

Philo’s 3-yard scoring run pushed the UF lead to 24-7, but was canceled out by another long drive (78 yards) with his counterpart, Veltkamp, running in from seven yards out on third-and-goal to make it 24-14. 

Baugh then finished three consecutive UF drives with touchdowns bridging the two halves, as the Gators surged to a 52-14 advantage. After Veltkamp’s second throwing TD made it 52-21 with 4:21 to go in the third quarter, Philo finished a 79-yard drive by scrambling to hit Clark in the end zone on the quarterback’s final play of the night. UF had seven touchdown drives of at least 75 yards.  

Jones played two series, hit four of five throws and tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Micah Jones with 25 seconds to go to give the Gators their highest-scoring game since beating Samford 70-52 in 2021 near the end of Dan Mullen’s tenure. 

 


Sophomore wideout Vernell Brown III during his 49-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, the first scoring play of his career. (Photo: Audrey Djuricich/UAA Communications)

What it Means
An encouraging, feel-good start (before an appreciative, success-starved crowd of 90,275) to the Sumrall era. 
 
In the Spotlight
Take your pick. Any of the stat-busters on offense would qualify, but give the nod to Sumrall, who has pushed all the right buttons since coming from Tulane, which he led to both an American Conference championship and berth in the College Football Playoff last season. Before that, he won two Sun Belt Conference championships in two seasons at Troy. He knows how to do this.   
 
Staggering Statistic
The Gators scored touchdowns on their first two drives of a game for the first time since 2023 when they did it in a 49-7 defeat in the second game. It was a good sign. UF’s 66 points marked the most scored by the Gators in a season opener since beating New Mexico State 70-21 to start the 1994 season under Coach Steve Spurrier. 
 
Up Next
Florida (1-0) is back at home for another “buy” game when the Gators face FCS-classified Campbell (1-0) next Saturday night at the Swamp. The Camels opened their season in Week 0 with a 49-37 defeat of East Tennessee State. They were scheduled to play No. 24 Western Carolina on Saturday on their home campus in Buies Creek, North Carolina, but the game was postponed due to weather and rescheduled for Sunday at 11 a.m. Campbell began playing football in 2008 and is a member of the Big South Conference. 

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu Find his story archives here.