![Florida running back Duke Clark (20) celebrates during the second half an NCAA football game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, September 5, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_3000,h_1687/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ReutersImages/mmsport/213/01m1vayw94h0ch2xsmqs.jpg "Florida running back Duke Clark (20) celebrates during the second half an NCAA football game at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, September 5, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
When you put up 66 points on offense, there are plenty of opportunities to get various Florida players involved. Duke Clark and Micah Jones both had touchdowns. Tramell Jones and Anthony Rubio got to play. If the game had continued, they might have let a fan from the stands come in and get a carry.
But because Florida’s offense was so dominant, one of the shiny new toys for the Gators never got to play on Saturday,
Florida doesn’t punt the ball once in win over FAU
New kicker Patrick Durkin, who transferred in from Tulane, was perfect on the night. He was 8/8 on extra points, and he nailed a 53-yarder as well. Backup kicker Liam Padron even got to come in and kick an extra point.
But fellow specialist Alec Clark, the transfer punter also from Tulane, didn’t get to take the field once on Saturday.
That’s because Florida didn’t punt the ball once. Of their 13 drives, the Gators scored on 12 of them and had an interception on the other.
For what's it is worth, only once during the Billy Napier era did Florida have a game where they never punted (2022 against Eastern Washington).
Beyond Florida’s offense being dominant all night, part of why Clark never did get to take the field was because Jon Sumrall wasn’t interested in shutting things down in the 2nd half that might have led to some punts for Clark.
Sumrall said during his post-game press conference:
“And so I told the staff going into the game, we're going to be aggressive all night. We're not in any position to shut it down right now. We got to figure out who the next guy up is, roll guys in, and we weren't going to change how we played the game.”
For what it is worth, Clark is a good punter on paper. He is on the 2026 Ray Guy Watch List, and last year at Tulane, he averaged 46.5 yards per punt. He also had a punt last year that went 70-yards. But he is also in the awkward spot where him taking the field means Florida’s offense failed.
If Saturday night against FAU was an indication, Clark might not see the field next week against Campbell either. The Camels gave up 37 points in their opener to East Tennessee State, so one can only imagine what Florida is going to put up one them.
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