FINAL: Florida 52, Campbell 3

Saturday, September 12

Gainesville, Fla.

5:30 p.m.

Florida Gators

2-0 , 0-0

Campbell

2-1 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Campbell	3	0	0	0	3
Florida	10	35	7	0	52

Chris Harry’s Quick Slant presented by Ticketmaster

Graphic: Scott MacCord/UAA Communications

FINAL: Florida 52, Campbell 3

Saturday, September 12, 2026 | Football, Chris Harry

Box Score

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

What Happened

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – On a steamy, sweaty, soupy night in the "Swamp," Campbell was the soup du jour.

Florida wide receiver feasted Vernell Brown III feasted the most.

Brown, the sophomore, scored three first-half touchdowns, the first two on consecutive punt returns that blew the game open and rocketed the Gators to a 52-3 defeat of the FCS-classified Fighting Camels before the 20th-consecutive sellout Saturday at Spurrier/Florida Field.

The third-generation Gator scored on returns of 64 and 70 yards, then added a 14-yard scoring reception from third-year quarterback Aaron Philo, who had a decent day, as well, in completing 16 of his 21 attempts for 242 yards, accounted for three scores (two passing, one rushing) without a turnover before his night ended late in the third quarter. Junior tailback Jadan Baugh rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns, including a 75-yarder late in the third period when the game was well in hand. UF finished with 514 yards of total offense, while limiting the Camels to 210 yards, with 63 of them coming on their first drive.

Campbell took the opening kickoff and hit a couple big pass plays to reach the UF 7, but had to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Alex Crabb. As far as points, that would be it for the visitors, with the home team scoring the first five times it possessed the ball, plus twice more on Brown's returns, in rolling to a 45-3 halftime lead.

The Gators went ahead for good on Philo's 3-yard QB keeper just shy of six minutes into the game. Florida's second possession ended with a 28-yard Patrick Durkin field goal with just over a minute to go in the opening period to make it 10-3.

Campbell's next drive ended with a Brandon Bowman punt on the sixth play and first of the second quarter. Brown fielded the kick at his 36, broke a couple tackles, raced into the open field and high-fived teammate Bailey Stockton at the 5-yard line before hitting the end zone with the program's first punt return for a touchdown in six years.

Three minutes later, Bowman was back again after a three-and-out possession. Brown fielded this one at his own 30 and again did his thing, this time for 70 yards, becoming the first Gator to return two punts for touchdowns in the same game in 30 years. The lead was 24-3.

While the Camels were gaining just 27 yards on five second-quarter possessions, the Gators finished the period with touchdown marches of 36, 85 and 44 yards. Philo finished the first with a 40-yard scoring strike to Dallas Wilson, the second with a two-handed shovel pass to a motioning Brown, who went 14 yards for the score, and with Baugh scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run with 20 seconds to go before intermission.

The second half was sloppy on both sides, but Baugh gave the home fans something to cheer about with his 75-yard burst that gave him a third consecutive game of at least 100 yards rushing, a first by a UF back in 11 years.

**Vernell Brown III** (1) finishes one of his two punt-return touchdowns Saturday against Campbell.

What it Means

The Gators beat another overmatched opponent and, frankly, did not look as clean and on-point as during their 66-21 bludgeoning of Florida Atlantic in the season opener a week earlier, what with two turnovers and eight penalties. Coach Jon Sumrall found plenty to pick at from the season opener. After watching the Gators score just seven points and gain 188 yards on six possessions after halftime, he'll have more to complain over, as the season is about to get real. Read on.

In the Spotlight

Brown's 173 return yards on four punts set a program record and threatened the single-game performance in SEC history held by Texas A&M's Dustin Harris, who totaled 246 against South Carolina State in 2012. Brown also finished with 43 yards on three receptions, giving him 214 combined yards. Remember, Brown went his entire freshman season with scoring a touchdown. He has four TD through two games in 2026, including two receiving. Baugh, meanwhile, became the seventh UF back to put together three straight 100-yard games and the first since Kelvin Taylor did it in 2015.

Staggering Statistic

The last Gator to return a punt for a touchdown was Kadarius Toney, who took one back 50 yards against Kentucky on Nov. 28, 2020, a run of 68 games. When Brown took the his second Campbell punt back he became the first UF player since Jacquez Green to take back a pair. Green, who also did his on consecutive punts and also against Kentucky, going 66 and 79 in a 65-0 win on Sept. 28, 1996 in what became Florida's first national-championship season.

Up Next

Florida (2-0, 0-0), unbeaten through two games for the first time since 2021, enters league play with a road date at Auburn (1-0, 0-0), marking the Gators' first trip to the Plain since 2011. The Tigers, under new coach Alex Golesh, opened the season with a 17-16 last-second defeat of Baylor at Atlanta, courtesy of a goal-line stop on a two-point conversion. They were 32-point favorites going into Saturday night's home game against Southern Mississippi.

Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu Find his story archives here.