Jadan Baugh took Florida's loss to Missouri on his shoulders like a true leader would

For as much talk as there is about Buster Faulkner's advanced offensive mind, the Florida Gators offense will go as far as Jadan Baugh takes them for the rest of the season. And in Week 5, Baugh only had 13 yards on 12 carries and the Gators predictably lost 45-17 to Missouri.

Baugh's struggles left some fans to wonder if the best running back in the country was dealing with an injury. Jon Sumrall confirmed that Baugh was fine, and he was ready to accept accountability for his part in Florida's struggles against the Tigers.

"I love Jadan because he owned it, and he's ready to move forward. There's no health issue there. You know, I thought they did a really nice job of swarming to the football and populating hats to the football and making it to where it was hard for him. And credit to them for that. But he'll bounce back," Sumrall said.

Jadan Baugh can't do it alone, but Florida can't do it without him

Even the best running back in the country needs help sometimes and against a Missouri team that was committed to stopping Baugh at every turn, Aaron Philo and the passing game had to step up and make the Tigers pay for their aggressive defense. 

Philo was fine from strictly a numbers standpoint - 21-of-34 for 197 yards and a touchdown wasn't too far off what he gave the Gators in the win over Ole Miss, but the longest play for the first-team offense was 24 yards. With a hesitancy to throw the ball downfield, the Tigers were able to smother the run game and stop the playmakers in space from creating any explosive plays. 

With so many Missouri defenders playing within a few yards of the line of scrimmage, Baugh didn't have much space to operate. Baugh is one of the toughest runners you'll see, and he is more than willing to pay the price by lowering his pads to gain a few positive yards, but even he can't break through multiple defenders hitting him at the line or in the backfield. 

It also helps to have healthy playmakers around them. Sumrall doesn't like to make much of injuries, but the wide receiver room was thinned out with Vernell Brown III unavailable and Bailey Stockton and Eric Singleton Jr. both playing through some ailments. That's three of the top four receivers dealing with injury issues and the Gators' depth isn't currently able to overcome that against a quality opponent. The good news is Brown could return against South Carolina.

Baugh is taking a lot on his shoulders for the offensive struggles against Missouri, but it's not all on him. Faulkner has to do a better job of getting him in a position to make an impact when teams employ a more aggressive run-stopping defense. Meanwhile, Philo has to do a better job of taking advantage of downfield passing opportunities and the offensive line has to do a much better job of blocking. 

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