Among the moments that could have flipped the narrative for The Man in the Black Polo was the 2023 game against Missouri. Florida was one play away from pulling off a massive upset with backup QB Max Brown, and then 4th and 17 happened. Now it was more of an indictment of the fact that Missouri needed 4th and 17th to beat a five-win Florida team at home, but one wouldn’t know it based on their post-game celebrations. Among the photos that emerged from the post-game celebrations were Missouri players standing over a dejected Tyreak Sapp.
That photo is now back in circulation as Florida gets ready for its first game against Missouri since 2023, and the Gators are determined to get their payback from that night.
Florida using 2023 defeat as motivation against Missouri this week
Even before Bryce Lovett mentioned it on Monday, Gator fans had started to recirculate the photo as motivation against Missouri. The fact that Florida is actually using the photo in their locker room highlights that the Gators are willing to find any source of motivation during a week that has trap game written all over it for Florida.
OL Bryce Lovett says that Florida has the picture of Tyreak Sapp on the ground after the Missouri game plastered all over the locker room
— Florida Gators 🐊🔥 (@gatorsszn) September 28, 2026
“There's a picture of Tyreak Sapp sitting on the ground [after the Mizzou game]. He had that up in the team room today, and it's all over.” pic.twitter.com/nwAIWab1Et
But that photo, and frankly the entire celebration sequence from Missouri, also highlights the difference between the two programs. Missouri, as a brand, is as irrelevant as it comes in the SEC. They are 6-6 against the Gators since joining the SEC, and are 3-1 in their last four meetings in Columbia, so they have had some pockets of success. But as a cultural fit in the SEC and as a team that Florida fans care about, Missouri is at the bottom of the barrel.
But because Missouri has nothing iconic of its own to celebrate, its first instinct is the Gator Chomp.
Translation:
Florida always has a target on its back that others are jealous of, even when it's a 5-7 team. Beating Florida was their Super Bowl.
While we are at it, since Missouri joined the SEC in the fall of 2012, the Gators have won 20 national titles across all sports. Missouri has won a grand total of two SEC titles across all sports.
Two.
And none in any sport since 2016.
And we gave up playing Auburn so we could play Missouri.
Got it.
In a lot of ways, because this week is a trap game, it is another litmus test for Jon Sumrall. Missouri has been awful against top-ten opponents in the Eli Drinkwitz era. Florida is a top-ten team and will enter Columbia with a target on its back. Florida has its eyes on the playoffs and beyond. Missouri has its eyes on doing the Gator Chomp.
There are levels to this.
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