3 biggest winners and 3 losers from Florida's impressive win over Florida Atlantic

Jon Sumrall's debut was a rousing success. The Florida Gators scored at will in a 66-21 win over the Florida Atlantic Owls. The coach's trademark intensity was on display all night and his team responded in kind.

Even in the best of times, nothing is ever perfect and don't let the lopsided score fool you into thinking that the Gators won't need to make a ton of improvements next week against Campbell before starting that gauntlet of an SEC schedule. 

With Week 1 in the books, it's time to look at the winners and losers from the blowout win over Florida Atlantic:

Winner: Buster Faulkner's offense lived up to the billing

The Gators offensive coordinator has been heralded around the college football community and was dubbed a "home-run hire", a "slam-dunk hire" and any other sports cliché you can think of. Although Faulkner's offense had a lot to live up to, it delivered big time. The Gators scored 66 points and got into the end zone on nine of their 12 drives. 

Aaron Philo was excellent, throwing for 275 yards and three touchdowns with an interception that wasn't his fault (more on that later). The balance was what an offense aspires for: 343 yards passing and 281 yards on the ground. Faulkner's offense was all that and a bag of chips.

Winner: Jadan Baugh is the favorite for the Doak Walker Award

The Heisman Trophy is a quarterback's award. It is what it is and the roster of QBs in college football is probably too deep for a running back to get any real notice. But the Doak Walker is the award that means everything to a running back and right now there's no one better at the position than Baugh. He had 14 carries for 160 yards and three touchdowns. Baugh showed speed, agility and power on each of his touchdown runs as he passed the 2,000-yard mark for his career.

Winner: Vernell Brown III is the WR1 in the room

With Eric Singleton possibly out for an extended period, the pass-catching responsibilities will increase for Brown. He immediately showed his playmaking skills by turning a WR screen into a 49-yard touchdown, but he was also catching balls down the field. Brown has that competitive spirit that shines through when he plays. He wants to win and is willing to do what it takes to be successful. 

Loser: The defense was pretty leaky at all levels

We knew Florida Atlantic was going to try to sling the ball around the yard, but the Owls also ran the ball fairly well - they gained 396 total yards. You can't give up nearly 400 yards a game and expect to win in the SEC. It's just not going to happen. The sacks and tackles for loss weren't there in the first half and FAU had 25 first downs while going 11-for-22 on third downs. That's too much. On the good side, the defense did force some turnovers, so there's something to build on.

"We've still got a lot of questions on defense. We've got a lot of room to grow," Sumrall said to the SEC Network immediately after the game.

Loser: Eric Singleton's injury looked nasty

You never, ever want to see someone get rolled up in the way Singleton was on the first touchdown of the game. The hope right now is that the tests will come back negative, and the injury is not too serious. But it's a major bummer on a special night for Florida football. Let's just hope Singleton is alright, because the Gators offense will need him. Fans will be waiting patiently for Sumrall to give an update here.

Loser: Micah Mays Jr. will need to be much better

Mays was the only high-profile wide receiver signing out of the transfer portal. The senior from West Palm Beach has the potential to be a big-play guy, but he looked nervous in Week 1. Mays failed to get a grasp on a Philo pass that turned into an interception and only a 16-yard reception in garbage time helped his stat line (2 catches, 15 yards) look less disappointing. With Singleton's availability up in the air, Mays is going to have to be better to help fill that void. 

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