No. 8 Florida Gators Routed 45-17 at No. 25 Missouri, Suffer First Loss Under Jon Sumrall

The Florida Gators' climb into the top 10 ended abruptly Saturday in Columbia, Missouri, where No. 25 Missouri scored 35 consecutive points and routed the eighth-ranked Gators 45-17 at Faurot Field. The loss was Florida's first of the season under first-year coach Jon Sumrall, dropping the Gators to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the Southeastern Conference one week after a 52-28 rout of then-No. 4 Ole Miss lifted them 13 spots in the AP Top 25.

Missouri running back Jamal Roberts ran for a career-high 211 yards and three touchdowns, quarterback Austin Simmons threw for 340 yards and two scores, and the Tigers held Florida star Jadan Baugh to 13 rushing yards on 12 carries.

A tie game that came apart

For most of the first half, the game was competitive. Florida opened the scoring on a 20-yard field goal by Peter Durkin, who has replaced Trey Smack as the Gators' kicker. Simmons answered with a 47-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Olugbode for a 10-3 Missouri lead.

Florida's best drive of the day tied it. Quarterback Aaron Philo capped a seven-play, 68-yard march with a 12-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Dallas Wilson, making it 10-10 with 4:26 left in the second quarter.

Missouri then took control before halftime. Simmons hit Caleb Goodie for a 36-yard touchdown, Goodie's first career scoring catch, with 2:05 left in the half, and Blake Craig kicked a 50-yard field goal with two seconds remaining to send Missouri to the locker room ahead 20-10.

The second half belonged to Roberts. On Missouri's first possession of the third quarter, Simmons converted a third-and-7 with a 36-yard completion to Goodie, and three plays later Roberts scored from 5 yards out for a 27-10 lead with 12:24 left in the quarter. Roberts later broke a 77-yard run on the next-to-last play of the third quarter and scored from 1 yard out two plays later, then ran 80 yards for a touchdown on the first play of Missouri's following drive. Missed tackles fueled both long runs, according to a Florida football report card published by Yahoo Sports.

Florida's only points after halftime came with 47 seconds left, when backup quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. threw a touchdown pass down the sideline to TJ Abrams.

Baugh contained, Philo under pressure

Florida's offense, which had averaged more than 50 points a game through four weeks, never found its footing. Baugh, who had drawn early Heisman Trophy attention after running for 11 touchdowns in the first four games and had strung together five straight 100-yard games, was held to a season-low 13 yards. The Gators finished with 42 rushing yards as a team.

Philo completed 21 of 34 passes for 197 yards and a touchdown and was sacked three times. Wilson was one of the few bright spots, catching four passes for 66 yards and the Gators' first touchdown. Florida played without leading receiver Vernell Brown III, according to the Associated Press.

Simmons, meanwhile, was 16-of-21 for 238 yards and both of his touchdowns in the first half alone, according to the AP, as Missouri moved the ball at will through the air before turning to Roberts after the break.

Sumrall takes the blame

Sumrall did not soften his assessment after the game. "Embarrassing performance in every phase. Starts with the coaching, starts with me," Sumrall said, according to Gator Country.

The loss was a sharp turn for a first-year staff that had energized the fan base in September. Sumrall, hired from Tulane to replace Billy Napier, opened with home wins over Florida Atlantic and Campbell, won a 44-39 shootout at Auburn and then dismantled Ole Miss in Gainesville. Some fans on social media drew unflattering comparisons to Napier's tenure after Saturday's result, Yahoo Sports reported.

A breakthrough for Missouri

For Missouri, which improved to 4-1, the win snapped a nine-game losing streak against ranked opponents. It also gave coach Eli Drinkwitz his first regular-season win over a top-10 team in 11 tries at Missouri and was the program's first regular-season win over a top-10 opponent since 2013, according to the AP. The Tigers played the game as their homecoming.

There was an Ole Miss connection, too. Simmons, who torched the Gators' secondary, transferred to Missouri from Ole Miss, the team Florida had beaten so convincingly a week earlier. Missouri, now 1-1 in the SEC after a loss at Mississippi State in September, hosts Texas A&M on Oct. 10.

What it means for Florida

The Gators are projected to fall well out of the top 10 in this week's AP poll, with at least one projection placing them at No. 18. More important, the road ahead offers little time to regroup. Every remaining regular-season game except the Nov. 27 finale at Florida State is against an SEC opponent, a stretch that includes Texas on the road, Georgia in Atlanta and Oklahoma at home.

The Florida-Georgia game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta this season instead of Jacksonville, the first time since 1995 the rivalry has left the city, because of renovations to the stadium in Jacksonville.

What's next

Florida returns home to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville to host South Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 10. The Gators then travel to Texas on Oct. 17 before an open date and the Georgia game on Oct. 31.

The immediate questions for Sumrall's staff are whether Florida can restore the running game that carried it through September and whether a defense that allowed 560 yards can tighten up before the heart of the SEC schedule.