Take Five Breakdown: One last warm-up game

Please Read: Welcome to the new-look Inside the Gators

• Florida Football Preseason Superlatives
• Former Florida Football Player Roundtable I
• Post-Fall Camp Ranking of Florida position-by-position

The Florida Gators open up Week Two of the 2026 football season back at the Swamp against Campbell University. The Gators barely missed the AP Poll’s Top 25 list again, staying put at No. 27 with 83 votes. Saturday’s game will be their last non-conference game until Rivalry Week against Florida State. To learn more about who the Gators face this weekend, Inside the Gators spoke with Abigail Clavijo, the Sports Editor at the Daily Record in Dunn, NC.

Five Fighting Camels to Know

DaVonyae Pettis, Defensive Lineman, Senior

• Pettis is one of Campbell’s strongest defensive players. Last season, he had 25 tackles, with 8.5 stops for loss, forced three fumbles, and finished with a total of four sacks. He also earned an All-CAA preseason honorable mention. Last season was his first at Campbell; he previously played two seasons at The Citadel. Entering his second year with the Fighting Camel, he is anticipated to be a strong leader on the line.

Kamden Sixkiller, Quarterback, Senior

• Sixkiller is a pretty great last name for a quarterback. And he is not too bad a quarterback either. Last season, the returner completed 224-357 passes for 2,154 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also rushed for 224 yards, running in three touchdowns, and averaging 2.9 yards per carry. On Sunday, against Western Carolina, Sixkiller had two touchdowns of his own. In his second year, he gained some confidence, stepping up as a team leader, which has been huge for the team this year. Sixkiller came to Campbell to be the starter and has taken full advantage of that opportunity.

De’Von Thomas, Running Back, Sophomore

• De’Von Thomas is going into his second year with Campbell. Last season, he played in only one game for the Fighting Camels, against North Carolina State, rushing for six yards on three carries. However, this season, he is expected to have a much larger role on offense, already surpassing his 2025 yardage. Against East Tennessee State, he had five carries for 10 yards, and two touchdowns.

Spencer Jones, Wide Receiver, Senior

• Before transferring to Campbell in 2025, Jones spent two seasons at Duke, seeing the field three times for a total of 17 snaps. Last season, he finished with 87 receiving yards, averaging 10.9 yards per reception, but zero touchdowns. Jones got his first touchdown as a Camel this past weekend against Western Carolina, alongside a career-high of 126 yards receiving. He is Campbell’s strongest receiver at the moment, but probably will not get much production on Saturday against Florida.

Brandon Bowman, Punter, Senior

• It is the North Carolinian’s first year with Campbell, after transferring from North Carolina Central. In August, Bowman was named to the 2026 FCS Punter of the Year watchlist and previously earned honorable mention BOXTOROW HBCU All-America honors and first-team All-MEAC recognition in 2025, with the Eagles. This season, he has 77 yards on four punts, with one inside the 20-yard line, and a NET punting average of 42.5 (in 2025, it was 43.3).

Five Fast Facts

• This is the Gators and Camels’ first-ever matchup.
• Campbell is 0-14 against FBS opponents, and Florida is the Camels’ only FBS opponent this season.
• Florida is paying Campbell $525,000 to play in the Swamp.
• The Gators are Campbell’s first SEC opponent in program history.
• The Fighting Camels finished 2-10 last season, but are off to a good start this year at 2-0.

Five Game Day Storylines

Stumbling on Decisive Plays

• A huge issue for the Camels last year was their inability to make decisive plays on offense and to hold on to their lead. Campbell had a good track record of taking a halftime lead but would fall apart in the second half. However, throughout the offseason, they worked on making those decisive plays in the last-minute moments, and the issues seem to be correcting themselves so far this season. Against East TN State, the Camels were up 28-24 at the half and almost let that up, allowing two touchdowns late in the fourth. But they made a strong, decisive play at the end of the game, running a shotgun offense that got Sixkiller into the end zone. He scored, giving Campbell some insurance and securing a win. With Florida’s fast-paced offense and unique play-calling from Buster Faulkner, the Camels will probably struggle to keep up and will give Florida’s defense some much-needed “juice.”

Running Game vs. Passing Game

• Last season, they rushed for 1,313 yards on 372 attempts and passed for 2,494 yards on 402 attempts. Previously, the Camels have prioritized running the ball as the “safer” option over passing, so we might see more of that on Saturday against Florida. However, they have focused on developing Sixkiller and their passing game a lot more this offseason.

New Staff

• The Campbell athletics department recently cleaned house, with the former Athletic Director, Hannah Bazemore, leaving to take a job as Senior Deputy Athletics Director and Senior Woman Administrator at Florida State. The trend is across Campbell’s athletic department, with women’s basketball, men’s basketball, and men’s soccer all having new coaching staffs. But Coach Braxton Harris has stayed with the football program despite two seasons of losing records, so it is clear the athletic department trusts him to build up this specific program.

Starting Strong

• The last time Campbell opened their season with a win was in 2022. This season, they already have two, and Coach Harris is not looking to break that streak. In the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) coaches’ press conference this week, Harris said, “We’re excited about the challenge… we’re going to compete, and we’re going to Florida to win a football game.” Both programs are off to a strong start this season, but Campbell’s will probably come to an end sooner than Florida’s

Defense Has Some New Stars

• The back of their defense has a lot of new guys, or at the very least, a lot of guys who haven’t played many snaps. The sophomore linebacker, AJ Benton, was named CAA Football Defensive Player of the Week after putting up a career-high of eight tackles, one sack, and a tip. Benton played in eight games last season, and he’s expected to be a breakout player on defense this year. Another sophomore, cornerback Michael Gilliam, showed some promise. Last season, he did not play in a single game, but this year he played against both of Campbell’s first two opponents, recording two solo tackles in each game. A couple of other players in the same boat stepped up, especially the back of their defense, holding WCU to a single rushing yard. It was the Camels’ fewest rushing yards allowed against a non-conference opponent in program history and the second fewest all-time.

Prediction

• Ross: 59-10
• Clavijo: 37-14

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