Latest / A Peek Inside Gators Football: A Show About the Florida Gators / Jon Sumrall ADMITS Something That has Me EXCITED Before Gators Football vs UGA

Transcript

Jon Sumrall ADMITS Something That has Me EXCITED Before Gators Football vs UGA · A Peek Inside Gators Football: A Show About the Florida Gators

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to A Peek Inside Gator Football.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: I'm Allie Peek. It is rivalry week, guys. Florida, Georgia.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: I am so excited about it. This video is brought
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: to you by PrizePix.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Don't forget, new users can download the.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: App, play a $ 5 lineup, and use our code.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: It's HMA. If you win, you'll get $ 150 in lineups instantly. Guys,
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: I am excited.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: There are certain games on the college football schedule that
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: mean more than just another win or loss. And for Florida,
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Georgia is absolutely one of those games. But this year,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: I think this.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Matchup has the potential to mean something even bigger.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: John Summerall has already done some pretty remarkable things in
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: his first season at Florida. He's beaten a top five
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Ole Miss team. He's gone on the road and knocked
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: off a top 10 Texas team. He's taken a program
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: that desperately needed a new direction and given Florida fans
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: some real.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Reasons to believe. But here's the thing.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: There is a difference between showing improvement and announcing you've arrived.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: And Coach Summerall has let us all know all season
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: long that.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Florida has not yet arrived.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: But if Florida can find a way to beat Georgia
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: on Saturday, I think it could completely change the trajectory.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Of this program.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Not just for this season, not just for recruiting, but
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: for the entire relationship between Florida and Georgia going forward.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Because for the better part of the last decade, Georgia
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: has been everything Florida's wanted to be.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: National champions, SEC champions, consistently.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Recruiting, elite player development, and most importantly, a program that
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: expects to compete for championships every single year. Meanwhile, Florida
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: has spent much of that time trying to find its footing.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: So what happens if John Summerall, in his very first
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: opportunity against Kirby Smart, finds a way to beat Georgia?
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: I think it could supercharge Florida's turnaround in a way
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: that very few other wins could. And today I want
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: to explain why. First, you have to understand just how
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: dramatically this rivalry has changed. There was a time when
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: Florida absolutely owned Georgia. When Steve Spurrier took over at
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Florida in 1990, he didn't just change the Gators program.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: He changed this specific rivalry.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Florida won seven consecutive games against Georgia from 1990 through 1996.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: And between 1990 and 2010, the Gators won 18 of
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: 21 meetings.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Think about that.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: For an entire generation of Florida fans, me, my generation,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Georgia wasn't a team that you hoped to beat. Georgia
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: was a team you expected to beat. In 1995, Spurrier
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: famously took his Gators into Athens and scored 52 points
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: against the Bulldogs in Sanford Stadium. The following year, Florida
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: beat Georgia 47-7. And of course, those Spurrier teams weren't
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: just beating Georgia guys. They were competing for SEC and
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: national championships. Later, Urban Meyer continued that success with Florida
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: winning five of six against Georgia from 2005 through 2010.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: And somewhere along the way, the balance of power shifted.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: And Curvy Smart has a.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Huge part in that.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Georgia has won the last five meetings between these two programs.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Florida's last victory comes in 2020. when the Gators beat
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Georgia 44-28.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Dan Mullen.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Since then, Georgia has won by scores of 34-7, 42-20, 43-20, 34-20,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: and most recently, 24-20. And that last score is important.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: Florida wasn't completely outclassed last year. The Gators had opportunities.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: They were right there. But once again, Georgia found a
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: way to win. And to me, that's one of the
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: biggest differences between where these two programs have been. Georgia
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: expects to win games like this. Florida's been trying to
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: figure out how to finish them. Georgia has won two
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: national championships under Kirby Smart, built one of the deepest
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: rosters in college football, and established a standard of consistency
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: that Florida simply hasn't matched. And you don't erase all
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: of that with one victory. But you can absolutely start
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: changing the dynamic. Now let's look at where these two
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: teams are coming into Saturday. Georgia is 6-1 and ranked
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: third in the country. Florida's 5-2 and ranked 17th. The
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Bulldogs open as a 10.5-point favorite, and frankly, I understand why.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Georgia has one of the most complete statistical profiles in
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: college football. The Bulldogs are averaging 43 points per game,
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: nearly 470 yards of offense, and just under 200 rushing
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: yards per game. Defensively, they're allowing fewer than 16 points
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: per game and 276 total yards.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: That's an enormous challenge for the Gators. But here's where
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: things get interesting. Georgia isn't coming into this game undefeated.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: The Bulldogs lost their last game to Auburn 27-24 after
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: starting the season 6-0.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: That was the same Georgia team.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: That went on the road and beat Alabama 20-17 just
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: a week before that. So we know how good Georgia
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: can be. But we've also seen that Georgia isn't unbeatable.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: And Florida, meanwhile, is coming into this game with a
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: little bit of a renewed confidence.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Remember where the.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Gators were just a few weeks ago. Florida started 4-0,
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: including an impressive 52-28 victory over Ole Miss. Then came
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: that 45-17 loss to Missouri. Then a 38-19 loss to
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: South Carolina. And suddenly, all that optimism surrounding John Summerall's
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: first season was disappearing. Florida was struggling offensively. The defense
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: was getting exposed. There were questions about execution and personnel
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: and whether this team was actually as improved as it appeared.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: Then Florida traveled to Austin.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: And with Aaron Filo dealing with a shoulder injury, Tramell
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Jones Jr. making his first career start, and the Gators
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: trailing Texas 17-3 in the second quarter, things looked pretty bleak.
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: But Florida didn't fold.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: The Gators scored 24 unanswered points, rallied to beat the
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: seventh-ranked Texas team 27-24, and delivered one of the biggest
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: road victories this program has enjoyed in years. Jones was poised.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Jaden Baugh ran hard. The defense pressured Arch Manning and
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: recorded five sacks. And Florida dominated in the middle portion
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: of that football game. More importantly, when things went wrong,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: this team responded. That's something we haven't always seen from
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Florida in recent years. And to me, that is where
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: John Summerall deserves a tremendous amount of credit. The turnaround
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: isn't just about X's and O's. It's about changing what
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: a team does when adversity hits. But now comes the
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: next challenge. Can Florida take the same mentality into a
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: rivalry game against one of the best programs in America?
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Beating Texas showed us Florida can get up after they've
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: been knocked out on the mat. beating Georgia, would show
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: us that Florida might already be starting to change the
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: pecking order a little bit. We're going to take a
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: quick break from this video to give a little love
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: to Alumni Hall. Guys, over 600 of you have used
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: this code so far.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: Keep using it. It's PEAK15. That's P-E-E-K-1-5.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: It's going to give you 15% off your entire order
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: at alumnihall.com, and in stores. There is an Alumni Hall
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: in Gainesville on Archer Road. They're also located in many
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: other cities across the country, and this code will work
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: in all of them. Alumni Hall has all the best brands, Nike,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Cutter & Buck, Peter Millar, Jordan, everything you're looking for.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: They've got kids' clothes, women and men's clothes, accessories, things
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: for your house, lots and lots to choose from. So
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: make sure you check them out. The holidays are just
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: around the corner. It's a perfect opportunity to save a
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: little money and get your shopping done. We appreciate Alumni
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Hall for all their support. Let's get right back into it.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: I want to talk about what a victory would actually mean.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: And I want to start with recruiting. I think this
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: is potentially one of the biggest benefits. Florida and Georgia
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: recruit a lot of the same players. They compete for
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: elite talent in Florida, Georgia, and throughout the Southeast. And
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: for years, Kirby Smart has been able to point to
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: something very simple when recruiting against the Gators.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: Results.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Georgia's been winning championships, producing NFL talent, and beating Florida
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: on the field.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: That's an awfully strong sales pitch.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: Now, one Florida win is not erasing Georgia's championships or
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: its track record, and that's certainly not what I'm saying.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: But imagine being John Summerall on the recruiting trail after
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: beating Ole Miss and then beating Texas on the road
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: and then knocking off Georgia in your first season. Think
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: about what that conversation would be with a recruit.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: He's not selling what he hopes to build. He's pointing
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: to what he's already accomplished.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: And I think that's a really different recruiting pitch, especially
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: for players who want to be a part of bringing
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: Florida back. The message becomes pretty simple. We're not asking
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: you to take a leap of faith. We are showing
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: you the evidence. And in today's college football world, where
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: recruiting and roster retention are so closely tied to winning,
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: that matters. But it goes beyond recruiting. Think about what
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: it would mean inside Florida's locker room. There are players
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: on this roster who have experienced some really difficult seasons.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: Players who have been a part of this program when
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: things weren't going well. Players who have experienced Georgia's dominance firsthand.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Now imagine those players walking off the field in Atlanta
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: with a victory over the Bulldogs. after already beating Ole
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Miss in Texas.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Think about the confidence that creates. Think about the buy-in.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: A coach can spend all off-season talking about accountability and
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: toughness and preparation and culture. But when players start seeing
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: those things translate into victories against elite competition, the message
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: becomes a whole lot more powerful. And that's how winning
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: starts to build on itself. That's how a turnaround accelerates.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: And there's another part of this that I don't think
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: we should overlook. Florida doesn't need to convince anybody that
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: it's a historic college football program.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: The Gators have national championships, Heisman Trophy winners, SEC titles,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: one of the best stadium environments in college football. The
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: history is there. But what Florida has needed is somebody
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: who can bring that level of success into the present.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: And beating Georgia would give Summerhall one of the most
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: convincing arguments yet that he's capable of doing exactly that. Now,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: I don't want this to sound like I'm suggesting Florida
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: should be favored to win Saturday because the Gators should
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: not be. Georgia has earned the benefit of the doubt.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: But I do think Florida has a path. And it
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: starts with something this team has struggled with at times
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: this season.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: Consistency.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Florida's averaging almost 40 points and 451 yards per game.
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: Those are impressive numbers. Jaden Baugh has rushed for 763 yards.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: Aaron Filo has thrown for 1,341 yards.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: And we saw what Tramiel Jones Jr.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: Was capable of doing against Texas. There is talent on
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: this offense. But against Georgia, Florida can't afford the kind
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: of stretches we saw against Missouri and South Carolina, where
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: the offense struggled to establish the running game and the
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: pressure on the quarterback became a major problem. Georgia allows
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: just over 91 rushing yards per game. So if Florida
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: wants to control the clock and sustain drives and keep
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Georgia's offense on the sidelines, it's going to have to
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: earn every yard. And whether it's Philo or Jones at quarterback,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: Florida cannot consistently put itself in third and long situations.
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: But I'm even more interested in Florida's defense.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: Against Texas, we saw what that unit is capable of
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: when the players execute and tackle and get.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: Pressure on the quarterback.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Georgia quarterback Gunnar Stockton has completed about 74% of his
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: passes this season with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. He's efficient,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: he's experienced, and he's surrounded by talented players. Georgia's been
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: averaging nearly 198 rushing yards per game. So Brad White
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: and his defense are going to have to find ways
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: to make Georgia uncomfortable.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: And that is a big ask. Florida has allowed an
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: average of.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: 28 points and nearly 376 yards per game this season.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: Those numbers are not exactly going to scare Kirby Smart.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: But that defense that showed up in Austin, that defense
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: has a chance to make things interesting. And here's another thing.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Florida has to play a cleaner game. The Gators are
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: averaging nearly 75 penalty yards per game. Georgia's averaging 53.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: The difference may not sound enormous. But against a team
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: as good as Georgia, one penalty can extend a drive,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: erase a big play, or turn a manageable third down
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: into a nearly impossible one. Florida cannot afford to be
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: its own worst enemy. You can't beat Georgia if you're
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: constantly giving the Bulldogs extra opportunities. And that's going to
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: be another test of the culture Summerall is trying to establish. Discipline, preparation,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: and execution aren't just things that you talk about. They
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: have to show up on Saturdays. For the first time
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: in more than 30 years, Florida and Georgia won't be
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: playing their annual rivalry game in Jacksonville. Instead, they're going
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: into Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. And next year, the game
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: moves to Tampa before returning to Jacksonville in 2028. And
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: for the first time in a while, there's an opportunity
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: for Florida to make a major statement about where this
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: rivalry is headed.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: Now, I'm not saying beating.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: Georgia means Florida suddenly becomes the better program.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: It does not mean that.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Georgia has earned it standing through the years of sustained success.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: But these rivalries don't remain the same forever. There was
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: a time when Georgia dominated Florida. Then Steve Spurrier arrived
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: and changed everything. Later, Georgia found its answer in Kirby Smart.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: And now Florida is hoping John Summerall can begin another shift.
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: Nobody knows whether that will happen, and we certainly can't
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: say that after seven games that Florida has.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Completely turned a corner or anything.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: The losses to Missouri and South Carolina are reminders that
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: there is still plenty of work to do. But I
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: do think we can acknowledge something. This Florida team has
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: already shown it can beat really good football teams. The
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: Gators have already shown they can respond to adversity. And
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: Sumrall has already shown that he can get his players
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: to buy into something bigger than themselves. Now imagine adding
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: a win over Georgia to that resume. Imagine going from
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: a program that finished last season searching for answers to
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: a program that beat three highly ranked opponents in its
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: first eight games of a new coaching era. That's how
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: you change expectations. That's how you change recruiting conversations. And
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: that's how you change the level of belief surrounding a program.
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: That's how you begin to change your rivalry. Florida doesn't
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: have to beat Georgia on Saturday for this season to
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: be considered progress. But if the Gators do, I think
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: this turnaround could go from promising to something much more significant.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: John Summerall isn't just trying to get Florida back to
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: winning football games. He's trying to get Florida back to
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: competing for championships. And for the Gators to truly get
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: to where they want to go, eventually they're going to
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: have to start going through Georgia.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: Why start now? Why not start now? Why not start
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: right now? So I want to hear from you.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Do you think beating Georgia would be the biggest win
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: of John Summerall's young Florida career? Or do you think
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: this turnaround is already happening regardless of what takes place
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: on Saturday? And more importantly, do you believe that Florida
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: can actually pull the upset?
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: I cannot wait to watch.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys for tuning in, and I appreciate
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: PrizePix for all their support. Don't forget, guys, download the app.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: If you're a new user, play a $ 5 lineup and
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: use our code.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: It's HMA.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: If you win, you'll get $ 150 in lineups instantly. Make
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: sure you guys are subscribed to the channel. I've got
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: tons of new content coming your way this week. It
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: is a rivalry week. We're gonna be here every single day.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: As always, go Gators.