Beware the big-win hangover. Because the next opponent is ready, waiting and capable of inflicting a buzzkill beatdown. If you\u2019re a little off, the scoreboard will tilt heavily against you.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis league\u2019s tough,\u201d said Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz, after what was his biggest win in seven seasons on the job. \u201cYou have to have a bounce-back factor. You go on the road, it\u2019s going to be an extreme challenge. \u2026 Every team\u2019s got really good players and really good coaches and really good schemes. And if you\u2019re not on your A game, then things can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
After losing at Mississippi State last week, Mizzou (4\u20131) regrouped and relocated its A game, beating a top-10 team at home for the first time in 16 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Quarterback Austin Simmons shredded a vulnerable Florida secondary for 340 passing yards and two touchdowns. Running back Jamal Roberts trampled the Gators for 211 rushing yards and three TDs. The Missouri defense reduced the nation\u2019s No. 2 rusher, Jadan Baugh, to a nonfactor, holding him to 13 yards on the ground\u2014his fewest since the third game of his career, in 2024. The Tigers outgained the Gators by a jaw-dropping 235 yards.<\/p>\n
Drinkwitz\u2019s postgame message to Sumrall: Your turn to bounce back next week.<\/p>\n
In a conference where it just means more, the swings are extreme and the schedule can set up teams for great victories and dispiriting defeats. Riding high after beating LSU and Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss ran into a Swamp ambush. Saturday it was the Gators\u2019 turn, going from a week of \u201cFlorida is back\u201d hype into a raucous homecoming atmosphere at Faurot Field.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to start by thanking the fans for an unbelievable atmosphere,\u201d Drinkwitz said. \u201cI appreciate the home field advantage that was created today. I thought our crowd was outstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Missouri](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01m42c5r39npcpqkq9ev.jpg\" "\\"Missouri")
<\/p>\n
Missouri wide receiver Caleb Goodie (2) celebrates a touchdown with offensive lineman Cayden Green. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
Pretty much every team in the league can whip up a home frenzy that lifts up its team and rattles the visitors. There simply are more hard places to play in the SEC than anywhere else.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Florida collapsed here, getting punched in the mouth for the first time this season after previously never trailing against an FBS opponent. The Gators gave up 35 consecutive points in one stretch, leaving Sumrall disgusted and dismayed.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmbarrassing performance in every phase,\u201d he said. \u201cStarts with the coaching, starts with me. I told the guys in the locker room just now, I expect everybody to be a man, which means be accountable for your actions and own it. I\u2019m going to start that way right now. I\u2019m sick to my freaking stomach with what we just did. Like, livid.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Missouri can bottle what it put on the field Saturday, the Tigers could be one of them. Drinkwitz was dragging a 7\u201319 record against ranked teams into this game, something he\u2019s heard about often\u2014especially after the loss at Mississippi State last week. Now 8\u201319, he had some thoughts on that Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s just noise that people create on social media for no reason,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has nothing to do with anything. It\u2019s people searching for crap to talk about. And it had nothing to do with this game. That\u2019s the hot take world right now. Try to find things that you can poke holes in our program about. Great, that\u2019s fine. Do what you want to do, but it doesn\u2019t faze us any.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust so everybody in here is aware, players, coaches, teams are allowed to improve and a game doesn\u2019t define the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the grind continues in the SEC, the losses will continue to pile up. Will anyone escape unscathed? Seems unlikely. Which means, as we work our way to the first College Football Playoff rankings early next month, you\u2019re going to hear a lot of SEC talk about strength of schedule.<\/p>\n
In years past, it has been at times a tiresome refrain. No league has tried harder to excuse losses, sometimes disingenuously. But this season, with the SEC looking considerably better than the other conferences\u2014and finally playing nine league games\u2014those assertions will have to be taken seriously.<\/p>\n
Are there five, six or even seven playoff-caliber teams in the league? Maybe. The last three unbeatens\u2014Texas, Georgia and Alabama\u2014currently top the list. (One of them will lose next week, when the Bulldogs play the Crimson Tide.) The stack of one-loss teams runs seven deep\u2014Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, Tennessee and LSU.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those 10 play a whole bunch more games against each other in the weeks to come. Texas and LSU play five of them; Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri and Kentucky play four; Alabama, Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi State play three. So prepare yourselves, everyone from outside the SEC: It seems quite likely that there will be multiple 9\u20133 teams from that conference in the playoff hunt.<\/p>\n
Which SEC teams can maintain consistency of effort and focus will decide a lot. Kirby Smart\u2019s Georgia teams generally are wired for that\u2014after the Bulldogs, we\u2019ll see who else can sustain it across the breadth of the season.<\/p>\n
![\"Missouri](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01m42c754tpv28y2cbvy.jpg\" "\\"Missouri")
<\/p>\n
Missouri quarterback Austin Simmons looks to throw in the third quarter against Florida. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a really emotional league to play in,\u201d noted Simmons, who transferred to Mizzou from Ole Miss during the offseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The lows are humbling. The highs are intoxicating. As darkness fell and the dome atop Missouri\u2019s administration building, Jesse Hall, glowed in victory, Columbia was on tilt\u2014much the way Gainesville, Fla., was last week and Oxford, Miss., the week before.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be an awesome scene tonight downtown,\u201d Drinkwitz said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to be out, but good God almighty, it\u2019s going to be a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
PODCAST: Listen to Sports Illustrated\u2019s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, hosted by Pat Forde, on Apple<\/a> and Spotify<\/a>. Watch the show on SI\u2019s college YouTube channel<\/a> or on SI TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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