One of the key moments from Florida’s win over Kentucky was the failed onside kick from the Gators. Florida had just scored to take a 10-7 lead when it tried to spring a surprise onside kick. The attempt failed; Kentucky got the ball at the 45-yard line and promptly marched down for a touchdown. Thankfully, the moment didn’t cost the Gators, though online reaction was quite visceral.
After the game, Sumrall explained the thought process behind the attempt and if we are being fair, he wasn’t actually that crazy in trying it.
Florida failed onside kick attempt did have merit to it
When we saw the play live, our initial reaction was that Kentucky was lined up in a way that actually made the attempted onside kick not as crazy as it seemed. Sumrall said after that Kentucky did, in fact, give a look that solidified his thinking:
“The touchdown that they got in the second half, that was all me with calling the surprise onside kick. I've never seen that good of a look for us to hit that kick, and I had already made up my mind after our first offensive touchdown, we're gonna call it. Gotta get that kick a little bit wider, but I'd already made up my mind, like, if that guy's lined up 20 yards from the kick point, we're gonna call it. We didn't quite make it past the inside guy.”
If you go back and watch the play, Florida sets up with guys to each side of the kicker with the ball of the left hash mark. Kentucky has four guys directly up on the line, shaded down towards the left hash. They then have two more players set up about ten yards behind their initial wall.
What Sumrall is alluding to is the fact that there was a significant hole to the right side, and the play fails because the man on the edge of the line winds up making a play on the ball. If the kick gets past him, Florida has five guys to crash on the ball to Kentucky’s two.
We live in a world where the Florida Gators believe they have to sneak in an onside kick to have a chance to win against UK.
— Monty Cats (@Monty4033) November 15, 2026
The Steinasty pic.twitter.com/DLAAz27k14
We'd also argue the play failed because Florida wasn’t in sync when the ball was kicked. Again, when you go back and watch the play, Florida players aren't hitting the line of scrimmage together at the same time. Florida’s top two guys hit in sync, but the other three in that group lag behind. There is a narrative to craft that, had Florida been together, they could have disrupted Kentucky’s play on the ball and still come up with it.
It’s a tough call to make because the safe thing would have been to kick it away, given that Florida had all the momentum. Whether or not that was the time or place to go for an early kill shot is tough to say because, had it worked, everyone would call Sumrall a genius.
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