When going through Florida’s 2026 schedule, the November 14 meeting on the road at Kentucky is among the handful of games most Gator fans would classify as a must-win no matter what. Part of it is that most Gator fans still have the version of Kentucky in their heads that lost 31 straight times to Florida, not the version that is 5-3 against Florida over the last eight meetings.
But the other part of that is that both Florida and Kentucky will have brand-new coaches in 2026, and on paper, the roster in Gainesville will be better than the one in Lexington.
During his appearance at SEC Media Days, new Kentucky coach Will Stein made some bold claims, and the way he laid out the new-look offense for Kentucky paints a picture that Jon Sumrall is going to need to rely on the havoc that he leaned on heavily at Tulane.
Florida’s November trip to Kentucky will be dictated by turnovers
Of the four coaches who appeared in Tampa on Monday, Stein had the biggest money quote. He was asked why he believed he could win big at Kentucky, when historically no one has been able to do that.
Stein was not shy about his vision:
“This is going to sound like really... I think because of me, to be honest. I think 'cause of me. I think I know what it takes. I have seen it at the highest levels. I know what it takes to recruit at this level.”
Alrighty then.
As he went into actual details of what the players themselves would be doing, the former Oregon OC painted a picture of a run-first team that was going to rely on a completion percentage north of 70% to ensure positive yards on every play:
“Indiana's running the ball in the championship game. It's not like Fernando had some crazy stats. Miami has that big back, the big offensive line, controlling the line of scrimmage. I just go back to, like, what just happened.
I think we have a narrative out there that everything's about air yards, throwing as far as you can. It's about first down success rate. You have to get first downs, have to, right? That is critical.
Points per possession is huge. Are you scoring when you have the football? That's huge.
Turnover margin and explosive plays, right? Those things to me win and lose football games.
Is the running back market devalued? I mean, the best ones in the country are making a ton of money. I think it's like NFL. You got the Ezekiel Elliotts of the world when he was making a crazy deal. Jahmyr Gibbs, all these premier players in the league are getting paid.
So are the running backs in college football. I had to have five running backs last year. We were able to run and throw the ball. That's what I'm expecting to be able to do here at Kentucky, is control the line of scrimmage, run the football. Ultimately it gets cold, and quarterbacks and receivers get a little cold fingers. You have to be able to hand the ball off, call and haul a run, block it up, get four or five yards.”
Blueprint to beat Kentucky falls into Jon Sumrall’s hands
Now, ignoring the fact that within the same quote Stein advocates for explosive plays while also advocating for four yards and a cloud of dust, the general gist of his vision is to keep defenses on their heels and be willing to take whatever free yardage the defense is willing to hand out.
But also tucked within this quote is Stein’s comment about the importance of turnover margin, and this is where Sumrall might be able to take advantage of Stein.
Last year, while Stein was the OC at Oregon, the Ducks were prone to turnovers and finished the year tied for 49th in turnovers lost. And in each of the three years Stein was in Eugene, the Ducks committed more turnovers than the previous year.
Meanwhile, generating turnovers was a huge asset for Sumrall at Tulane. The Green Wave forced 25 turnovers in 2025 and finished 9th in the country in this category. This is after forcing 22 turnovers in 2024.
Given where the Kentucky game falls this year, there will be plenty of time to figure out Stein’s actual approach in Lexington, and Sumrall will have plenty of time to come up with a game plan. But if Sumrall can continue to get turnovers in Gainesville anywhere near the clip he got them in New Orleans, he can blow up whatever new look vision Kentucky has in a heartbeat.
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