I thought the University of Florida played a lot better on Saturday than it did against Florida Atlantic in its Week 1 win against the Owls, but it doesn't sound like those are the comments going around the organization.
Instead of being content with a 52-3 win, one in which Florida posted 514 total yards of offense and allowed just 210, head coach Jon Sumrall doesn't seem too happy about the way his team played.
In fact, he went as far as to say that if Florida is going to be anywhere near the type of team that it was expected to be entering the season, it can't beat itself.
"A lot I was not pleased with, to be quite honest with you," he said in his opening statement. "Some guys proved maybe in the second half, you get an opportunity to prove people right or wrong, some guys proved us right why they're not playing right now…
"The Gators can't beat the Gators," Sumrall said. "When you do that in the games we're getting ready to go play, we will lose the game. I think we will not give ourselves an opportunity to win the game. We have to clean a lot of that up."
I agree with what Sumrall is saying here, even though I thought Florida played pretty well against Campbell. However, looking at who the Gators have to play in the next couple of weeks, we see Auburn, a top-10 Ole Miss team, and 20th-ranked Missouri.
If Florida isn't perfect in some of those games, it isn't going to win. Instead of beating around the bush and making excuses, Sumrall understands a lot needs to change.
I wouldn't say Florida has been bad by any means, but I recognize that beating Florida Atlantic and Campbell isn't going to do it for most of us. This is a program that needs to be atop of the SEC and if it isn't, there are going to be rightful concerns about how to get back there.
With Sumrall, I think Florida will get there sooner rather than later at some point.
