Resurgent defense keyed Gators’ upset win at Texas

Sports admin October 19, 2026 0 Comments

Resurgent defense keyed Gators’ upset win at Texas

Things certainly aren’t going well when your defensive coordinator’s name is emblazoned across bedsheets hanging from your school’s fraternity windows, calling for his firing. But that is the nature of SEC football, especially when that defensive coordinator’s unit is allowing 29 points per game, the worst showing being a 38-point collapse to South Carolina.

For much of this week, the world felt like it was shaking for Florida (5-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference). No one sat closer to the tremors than Brad White, Florida’s new defensive leader and longtime friend of new coach Jon Sumrall. His unit had shown holes in the secondary, ranking 131st in the country in pass defense. The line had been subject to shoving sessions in consecutive weeks, and ever since a seven-sack showing against Auburn in mid-September, Florida’s pass rush had taken a leave of absence.

None of that suggested facing No. 7 Texas (4-2, 1-2 SEC) on the road would be a get-right spot. But in a surprising 27-24 win that featured Florida starting Tramell Jones Jr. for the first at quarterback, the Gators’ defense was the show. And the Longhorns’ quarterback, Arch Manning, was the butt of the joke.

“A lot of it was a mentality,” Sumrall said. “We didn’t have a whole lot of brand new fancy calls today. You know what our guys did? They executed them with more detail, more urgency, more violence, more strain.”

In turn, Florida’s back in the rankings, jumping to No. 20 in the AP Poll on Sunday. Unlike when Florida leaped all the way to September, this version of the Gators might be a touch more sustainable, the product of that defensive jump.

The vast majority of attention will train on Manning, who looked rattled once again in his fourth season at Texas. After a showing against Oklahoma only a week earlier that concluded with two interceptions and a 27-24 Red River Rivalry upset by the Sooners, Florida seemed to be a suitable bounce-back opponent, the Gators already having tallied two losses in October. But after giving up scores on Texas’ first two drives, White’s band held Manning to execute a single additional scoring drive. That came in the fourth quarter, requiring Manning to throw a Hail Mary-adjacent 62-yard fourth-down heave to keep the drive alive.

“It was just tough, gritty,” Florida running back Jadan Baugh said. “I feel like we practice like that all the time. So it was just normal to us.”

More notable than anything Manning did, though, was Florida’s improved product. The run defense was stout, allowing only 99 rushing yards, a 32-yard score by Texas running back Raleek Brown in the first quarter marking the lone burst. The Gators’ front let out its strongest roar in the fourth quarter with a fourth-and-1 stop that led to a rushing touchdown by Baugh, cementing a 27-17 lead.

The play that will stick in most minds came in the final two minutes. As Manning, dropped back, attempting to lead what could have been a game-winning or tying drive, a nearly identical scenario to last week, Florida linebacker Myles Graham wrapped around the right side of the line and hit Manning, and the ball slipped from his hands. Opportunistic Gators defensive back Kanye Clark fell on the ball. A first down by Florida’s offense finished the game.

Away from Manning’s continued late-game struggles and turnover tendencies, the play was also Florida’s fifth sack of the day. Of interest: defensive end Emmanuel Oyebadejo or edge rusher Jayden Woods, who lead the Gators with eight sacks, didn’t account for any of the five. In their stead, LJ McCray tallied 1.5 on the afternoon, and Graham’s late-game pressure brought his total to 3.5 sacks on the season. McCray’s resurgence is especially meaningful, as the former top-10 recruit had tallied one sack in his first two and a half seasons, struggling to find a role along Florida’s line.

“I thought there was a better strain and a better finish and a better urgency,” Sumrall said. “It wasn’t perfect, never is, but I felt like we had a little bit different mentality.”

If Florida and White can sustain the defensive glow-up, alongside an offense that’s remained noticeably improved this year, the Gators may find themselves ahead of schedule under Sumrall. To think, a week ago, the bedsheets were hanging, and they felt so far behind.