Among the many reasons why Florida had to send Billy Napier on his way was the lack of offense, despite the fact that he claimed he was the chosen one to run the offense. And all offseason, we have juxtaposed whatever it is that Florida did last year with what Jon Sumrall and Buster Faulkner were going to do this year.
But it is one thing to talk about it, while it is another thing to see it in action. And while one can chalk up Saturday’s offensive explosion as being a byproduct of playing a bad FAU defense, there were things we saw in The Swamp that Florida fans had been begging for.
Florida has a fun offense for 2026 under Jon Surmall and Buster Faulkner
Here is a fun stat to put Saturday’s win in perspective:
The Gators scored 66 points in their win. The most Napier ever managed over four years was the 55 points he scored against LIU. What is more fun is that last year, Florida only managed 62 points combined over its four games against USF, LSU, Miami, and Texas.
Again, Florida topped that in a single game.
The 66 points scored in The Swamp are the most Florida has scored in a season opener since 1988.
AKA, not even Steve Spurrier or Urban Meyer had an opener this explosive.
This wasn't some gimmick or fluke either. Yes, FAU’s defense is trash, and we noted that prior to the game. But even in our pregame predictions, we had Florida scoring 41 points. Things got out of hand, however, because Florida’s offense made FAU answer multiple questions on every play. Rather than just a straight HB dive up the middle or a screen everyone knew was coming, every play had some type of wrinkle to it, and it always felt like there was a Plan B, C, and D if Plan A was taken.
At its core, the offense is what we had dreamed of what would happen if you got Florida players in space and just let them do their thing. Jadan Baugh was obviously the star of the show, but it wasn’t like he had to create things off a busted play. He was put in very intentional spots to then be allowed to showcase why he might just be the best running back in the country in 2026.
Florida’s defense was a concern, and we’ll chronicle them separately, but we have been begging for an offensive showing like this in The Swamp.
It was a great night to be a Florida Gator.
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