Please Read: Welcome to the new-look Inside the Gators
Head coach Jon Sumrall, safety DJ Coleman, and wide receiver Bailey Stockton addressed the media on Monday morning following Florida’s 66-21 win over FAU this past weekend.
JON SUMRALL
INJURY REPORT
Sumrall opened this morning’s presser with an injury report following Saturday’s win. Wide receiver Eric Singleton Jr. and defensive lineman Emmanuel Oyebadejo are “highly questionable” going into this weekend. “We won’t really know until probably the middle to later in the week what their real availability is, but they’re definitely not probable as of right now,” Sumrall said. Eagan Boyer was active at practice today and should be back this weekend. Freshman wide receiver Davian Groce is dealing with a back strain. “I think he’ll be down for at least another week, just dealing with nothing major, but just a little bit of a back strain,” Sumrall said. Tight end Evan Chieca is “close” to being back.
ON AARON PHILO’S PERFORMANCE
Sumrall was very positive about starting quarterback Aaron Philo‘s debut. “He operated at a high level, communicated with confidence at the line of scrimmage, led,” Sumrall said. He mentioned that Philo’s interception was not on him and that it was a catchable ball. He spoke about Philo’s decision making. “We were in a third and long, and he scrambled to get it to fourth and inches or fourth and one when we snuck in on fourth down midfield. I thought he just made good decision for the most part,” Sumrall said.
ON THE STRUGGLES AT CENTER
It is no secret that Harrison Moore struggled in his first game. The coaching staff was not happy about it. “He had five bad snaps. Four of the five were on the same exact type of block… I was pissed off. So was Buster. So was Phil,” Sumrall said. While they were not pleased with his performance, they are confident in their starting center. “We’ll get it cleaned up. Harrison will take a lot of pride in his craft and get that corrected,” Sumrall said.
ON JADAN BAUGH’S PERFORMANCE
Jadan Baugh had a three-touchdown game this past weekend. He had some unbelievable cuts in his runs. “Man, he is a powerful, sudden, violent runner who can stick his foot in the ground,” Sumrall said. One run stuck out amongst the rest. On third and goal from the 28, Baugh ran all the way down to the three-yard line. “I told Buster, ‘can we get seven or eight yards here to kick a more manageable field goal?’…and then when he busted that run, we got to the three-yard line I’m like all right let’s go,” Sumrall said.
DJ COLEMAN
Transfer safety DJ Coleman recorded his first interception as a Gator this past Saturday in the win. “It was an amazing experience, man. Just having my eyes on the quarterback, just following the ball. I mean, we knew that team takes shots; they were going to be a little bit more aggressive. So, just in the redzone, I was ready for it. Seeing the quarterback drop, I just took my shot,” Coleman said.
Coleman felt the defense did not play as well as they should have. “It was pretty underwhelming. I feel like we haven’t played our best ball. I feel this week we’re gonna find some things, and we’ll put a better product on the field this week,” Coleman said. He added that there were some good moments, but there were more bad moments than they wanted to see.
BAILEY STOCKTON
Transfer wide receiver Bailey Stockton caught his first touchdown as a Gator from his long-time quarterback Aaron Philo. “I lined up in the wing. I saw man-to- man coverage, and I was like, ‘I might have a shot here.’ Aaron kind of hesitated a little bit and then gave it to me, but it was a good feeling to get into the endzone,” Stockton said. He later added that he has family that grew up Florida fans and loved the experience.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Florida Gators (1-0) will face the Campbell Fighting Camels (2-0) this Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in The Swamp.
Videos courtesy GatorVision on YouTube
