Jon Sumrall embraces Florida football vs Georgia rivalry with caveat
· Yahoo Sports
Jon Sumrall will be judged in part as Florida football coach by how UF performs against its rivals.
Visit sportbet.rodeo for more information.
Sumrall will coach his first rivalry game for the Florida Gators when they face No. 3 Georgia at Mercedez-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on October 31 (3:30 p.m., ABC).
Former UF coach Billy Napier took a nameless, faceless approach when it came to rivalry games with poor results. In three-plus seasons at UF coach, Napier went a combined 3-9 against rivals Georgia, Florida State, Tennessee and LSU.
Sumrall wants UF players to tap into the emotion of the Florida-Georgia rivalry while maintaining focus on the task at hand.
"You have to embrace it first and foremost," Sumrall said. "Florida-Georgia is different. Anybody that says otherwise is insane. But what helps you win the game is not different ...
"Putting a whole lot of fireworks on the game doesn't win the game. What wins the game is blocking and tackling and protecting the football - and that's what wins every game. But I do lean into our guys understanding and helping educate them. Going back to our roster, half our roster has never been in this game. Most of their roster has because they've done a good job of layering."
Georgia has won eight of the last nine games in the rivalry under 11th-year coach Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 SEC) enter the game as 10.5-point favorites over the Gators (5-2, 3-2 SEC) in their first game in the rivalry in their home state since 1995. The game was moved from Jacksonville to Atlanta this season due to renovations at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"They're a team that you turn the tape on, you don't see weakness," Sumrall said. "Usually as a coach, you’re trying to figure out what our team’s strengths and weaknesses. I see a lot of strengths, I don't see weakness."
Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun’s Florida beat writer. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Jon Sumrall embraces Florida football vs Georgia rivalry with caveat