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Know Your Foe: Oklahoma Sooners at Florida Gators
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- Know Your Foe: Oklahoma Sooners at Florida Gators
The Oklahoma Sooners will be back on the road in Week 10 . OU's record currently sits at 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the SEC in 2026, as head coach Brent Venables and his team have endured a seesaw year. Oklahoma beat UTEP, but lost to Michigan. The Sooners beat New Mexico but fell to Georgia. After the bye week, OU beat Texas, but then lost to Kentucky. Then Oklahoma defeated Mississippi State but fell to South Carolina last week.
OU is hoping that trend continues for at least one more game, but it'll be a tough test this week against the Florida Gators at The Swamp. The Gators went 4-8 last year, missed a bowl game, and fired head coach Billy Napier midseason. Billy Gonzales took over as interim while Florida searched for a new direction.
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The Gators found that direction in new head coach Jon Sumrall. He spent two years as head coach at Troy and two years at Tulane before the Gators hired him. UF hired him to restore the program to excellence after he led the Green Wave to the College Football Playoff last season, winning the American Conference in the process.
In Sumrall's first season, his team is currently 5-3 overall and 3-3 in SEC play. The Gators started hot, becoming one of the nation's best stories by beating FAU (66-21), Campbell (52-3), Auburn (44-39), and Ole Miss (52-28). However, back-to-back losses against Missouri (45-17) and South Carolina (38-19) followed, but the Gators bounced back with a nice win over Texas (27-24) ahead of their bye week.
However, Florida didn't play well in their rivalry matchup against Georgia last week, losing 27-8. This week's game pits two teams that were outplayed last week against each other, with something to prove under the primetime lights at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
On offense, new offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner is in command for the Gators. Sumrall hired him away from Georgia Tech this offseason, and he's done a good job in Gainesville. He'll be matched up against Venables calling OU's defensive plays in what should be a great chess match this weekend.
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Faulkner's offense is diverse and hard to defend, and the Gators have emphasized the run game this season. Running the quarterback is also one of his calling cards, and his scheme while coaching the Yellow Jackets featured a lot of fly sweep motion, zone read, and play action. At Florida, it's been a bit more straightforward, but the offensive production has still been very strong.
The Gators have been through a quarterback shuffle over the last few weeks, and they're expected to start Tramell Jones Jr. over Aaron Philo against the Sooners. It would be Jones' second career start. He earned his first one against Texas when Philo was injured. Philo started against Georgia, but was replaced by Jones in that game. Both players can run and pass well, but Jones is the more dynamic runner and scrambler of the two. Oklahoma will have to contain his mobility after struggling with QB containment last week against South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers.
Running back Jaden Baugh is UF's top offensive weapon, and the scheme is built around what he does well. Stopping him on the ground is the Sooners' top priority, as the Gators have been much more effective when he gets loose this season. Through the air, wide receiver Vernell Brown III is not trending toward playing this week, which means a lot more targets for Dallas Wilson and Bailey Stockton, Florida's two leading wide receivers, though Stockton's status is also a bit up in the air. Florida's offensive line is also something to watch, as the Sooners should have an edge in the trenches on defense.
On the other side of the ball, Oklahoma fired offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle after the disappointing South Carolina loss. Venables elevated Jason Witten to interim offensive coordinator, and he'll call plays at the collegiate level for the first time on Saturday night. That's the big story of this game, as the Sooners have a new voice calling the offense for the rest of the season.
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Witten will face Florida defensive coordinator Brad White this week. White comes over from Kentucky, where he'd been since 2018. Despite Sumrall's defensive background, White calls the defensive plays. Sumrall and White worked under Mark Stoops at Kentucky together for three years (before Sumrall got the Troy job), and when the Wildcats fired Stoops and Sumrall got the Florida gig, he moved quickly to hire White to run his defense.
Despite the synergy, Florida's defense hasn't always been consistent this season. Defensive lineman Emmanuel Oyebadejo's status is up in the air this week, but he leads the Gators with 4.5 sacks so far this season. Linebacker Jayden Woods also has 4.5 sacks this year, and he's the team's third-leading tackler behind linebacker Myles Graham and Aaron Chiles. Safety DJ Coleman leads the secondary in tackles and interceptions.
Oklahoma is expected to stick with John Mateer as its starting quarterback this week, starting him over both Whitt Newbauer and Bowe Bentley. He'll need to execute Witten's version of the offense in a hostile environment, and a third straight game without a turnover would certainly increase OU's chances of winning on the road. Injuries are really taking a toll on Oklahoma's offensive line and wide receiver room at this point in the season, but the strategy should be the same for the Sooners this week as its been for most of the season. OU has to find an offensive identity and find some balance between the run and the pass against the Gators.
OU special teams coordinator Doug Deakin will face off against Florida special teams coordinator Johnathan Galante this week. Galante came over with Sumrall from Tulane, where he spent his first season with the Green Wave in 2025. Prior to that, he spent three years in the same role at Marshall. He was a nominee for the Broyles Award (given to the best assistant coach in college football) last season, so Deakin and the Sooners will need to be strong on special teams. They can't afford mistakes in that department if they want to win this game.
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Oklahoma and Florida have met just twice before. The first-ever matchup game in the BCS National Championship Game for the 2008 season in Miami, Florida. That night, the Gators defeated the high-powered Sooners 24-14, denying Oklahoma a chance at a national title. It was the most recent national championship game appearance for the Sooners.
The other matchup came in 2020, as Oklahoma defeated Florida 55-20 in the Cotton Bowl. That game was a matchup of two teams that had just missed out on the College Football Playoff that season, and the Sooners dominated to get their first win over the Gators.
However, Venables does have some familiarity with Sumrall, as the two faced off as head coaches during the 2024 season. Sumrall was at Tulane at the time, and he led the Green Wave into Norman for an early-season clash. The Sooners won that game 34-19, fending off a strong performance from Sumrall's squad, which included current Miami quarterback Darian Mensah.
Florida has seen some high highs and some low lows this season, but when they are right, they've proven they can play with anybody. If the Sooners can catch them on an off night, Oklahoma could pull off the upset. Finding an identity on offense to try and move the ball against the UF defense is a must, as is stopping the run game when the Gators have the ball. Gainesville has had a lot of hope in Sumrall's first year, but he and his staff are still building, and OU wants to take advantage.
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Oklahoma may not have anything left to play for besides pride and a bowl berth, but Venables is focused on finishing out the '26 season as best he can. Tense times are afoot in Norman after last weekend's embarrassment and Arbuckle's firing, but four games remain. Winning seven or eight games looks a lot better than winning four, five, or six, and Venables has to keep this team together despite all the preseason goals being off the table in Norman.
How they respond, beginning against Florida, will be closely monitored going forward, especially with the muddy present and future of the program. A tough week inside the Switzer Center, capped by a win, would be a cathartic moment for Venables and Co.
Kickoff for Oklahoma-Florida is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. CT in Gainesville on Saturday on the SEC Network.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Know Your Foe: Oklahoma Sooners at Florida Gators
