Halfway through the 2026 campaign and there has been a ton to unpack with the Gators. Florida started off as hot as any team in the country, only to crash back down to the pack. At 4-2, the Gators still could easily finish 9-4 with a bowl win, and most would live with the end result. Florida could also go 6-7 in a heartbeat if things don’t get better.
With that in mind, these are the three burning questions we have that will define the second half of the season.
Three burning questions that will define Florida’s second half of 2026
Can the defense all get organized?
We have been pretty hard on the defense this year, but it’s not like it hasn’t been deserved. Florida is currently 113th in points per game against. Just to put things in perspective, this is where Florida finished in this category over the past six seasons in points against per game:
- 2020 - 64th
- 2021 - 73rd
- 2022 - 87th
- 2023 - 78th
- 2024 - 42nd
- 2025 - 60th
So while the defense hasn’t been great in Gainesville in a long time, it is very difficult to pretend that the unit hasn’t taken a step backwards. Yes, there is an argument to be made that the players themselves need to step up and take better ownership of what is happening.
But too often have things just not look orgainized or guys just don’t know their assignments. At the absolute minimum, it doesn’t matter whether you have five-star players or walk-ons; a defense should be able to know its assignments and coverages if things are organized.
If the organization doesn’t get fixed, Florida might not win another game in 2026.
How loud are the calls for Tramell Jones going to become?
We are going to state what we stated this weekend:
Aaron Philo isn’t the problem with Florida’s offense, but he also isn’t the solution.
What we mean is that Philo is perfectly capable of running the offense when he is surrounded by talent, and he won't be the reason Florida loses a game. But what is also true is that he doesn’t seem capable of going out and winning the game by himself.
And while Tramell Jones has had some limited appearances here and there, we are going to stick with the thesis we had coming out of the spring game that Jones has a far higher ceiling, and the only reason Philo has the job now is that he knew all the quirks of Buster Faulkner’s offense.
Sumrall himself is the one who claimed that whoever started game one might not be starting in game twelve, and he did comment on Monday that Jones is continuing to get reps in practice, so it is worth keeping an eye on.
How will Jon Sumrall continue to react as the honeymoon phase is over?
To Sumrall’s credit, he didn’t try to shield himself from criticism after these past two week. He told Gator fans they had a right to boo given the team’s performance on Saturday.
But this is also the first time Sumrall has had a genuine microscope put on him, and something we found interesting from Monday’s press conference was when he referenced why he wasn’t as animated these past two weeks when things went south. Sumrall explained he tries to keep things calm rather than ramp things up.
That line of thinking has merit, but it is also worth pointing out that from 2022 through 2025, between his stops at Troy and Tulane, in six of his nine losses by at least 10 points, he was considered a 10+ point underdog going into the game.
In other words, to this point in Sumrall’s career, when things have gone south, they have gone south in games that he wasn’t expected to win. During his first four years as a head coach, he lost only four times as the favorite. He's done that in back-to-back weeks in blowout fashion.
This is new territory for Sumrall as well and will test how well he can right the ship.
Add us as a preferred source on Google