Jadan Baugh Leads Florida Gators To First Top 10 Ranking In Five Years

Coaches and players said all of the right things. Running back Jadan Baugh, whose stock is certainly soaring nationally, provided the familiar cliches during a postgame radio interview about one week at a time and the like. Jon Sumrall? The first-year coach in Gainesville rattled off “Still have a lot to clean up” and “We have so much room to grow and get better” during his presser.

Sure, there was ample praise dished out as well. There should have been. After all, the Florida Gators toppled Ole Miss in the Swamp (52-28) to close out a September in which Sumrall’s squad went unblemished (4-0) and enter Saturday’s matchup at No. 25 Mizzou having ascended to No. 8 in the AP poll.

Frankly, this has been a long time coming in Gainesville. The Gators were last in the top 10 in 2021 when they checked in at No. 10 following a win over Tennessee in the Swamp. After that? Well, Dan Mullen did not finish the season as the Gators won only one more conference game the rest of the way and finished 6-7. It was the first of three straight losing seasons and four out five with Billy Napier’s tenure (22-23) coming to an end at last season’s midpoint. (The buyouts have piled up at UF.)

In other words, settle down and allow things to play out on a week-to-week basis. That is especially the case with the Gators traveling to play a Mizzou team coming off a frustrating loss at Mississippi State.

“Oftentimes in life, whether things have gone good or bad, when you live in the past or you think about what just happened, one of two things is going to happen,” said Sumrall during his weekly presser. “If things have been going good, you will get complacent. Or of things have gone bad, you will have regret.”

Hence, the message to his team following the win over Ole Miss was rather simple.

“We get one opportunity this week,” he said. “We had one opportunity last week. It’s gone forever. Move on.”

Through four games, Baugh has run for a nation’s-best 11 touchdowns while piling up 600 yards (No. 2) at an average of 7.2 yards per tote. The junior is spearheading an offense averaging 533 yards per game, good for fifth nationally.

As for Baugh’s place in UF history, his effort against Ole Miss was his fifth straight 100-yard game dating to last season’s regular season finale against Florida State. Only Fred Taylor (1997) and Emmitt Smith (1987, 1988) had such streaks in program annals.

“Just having my name up there with those guys, they did so much when they were here,” he said, following the win over the Rebels. “Being able to follow in their footsteps and excel means so much to me.”

Baugh ran for 266 yards in that game against the Seminoles, the second-most in school history behind Smith’s 316 versus New Mexico in 1989. He heads into Saturday’s matchup at Mizzou second nationally with 600 yards on the ground. The Atlanta native, who ran for 1,170 yards in 12 games last season and earned second-team SEC honors, has rushed for at least 136 yards in all four games.

Not that Baugh has the spotlight to himself in Gainesville. Quarterback Aaron Philo, who arrived from Georgia Tech where he and offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner were together the past two years, is 13th nationally in pass efficiency. Edge Jayden Woods, who has four sacks in as many weeks, including one of Trinidad Chambliss, and linebacker Myles Graham, with a team-leading 28 tackles, are among others who have contributed to the cause.

Given the doldrums of the current decade with its four out of five losing seasons following what actually was a good start in pandemic-disrupted 2020 when the Gators went 8-4 and got as high No. 3 in the AP poll, Gator Nation should feel very good about the season’s opening month. After all, it is refreshing. Alas, first things first and that is Mizzou on Saturday, which could be a handful for the visitors.

“If you think about things that are too far out in front, then maybe you can have anxiety or worry about what could be,” said Sumrall. “Be where your feet are.”

This article was originally published on Forbes.com