Carter's Corner: Five Final Thoughts on Gators vs. Auburn

AUBURN, Ala. — A good friend of mine has a son who enrolled at UF in 2022. The kid's first game was the last-minute win over Utah in the season opener.

A great start to his student fandom.

Of course, no one knew then that Florida's 29-26 upset of the Utes would be as good as it got for those UF students who arrived in 2022 and graduated this past spring. We all know what happened over the next four seasons and why Saturday night's Florida-Auburn game at Jordan-Hare Stadium has Gators fans buzzing like the good old days.

As I left home for the airport on Friday, my wife asked: "Are you excited?"

My standard answer is usually something like, "Yeah, it's always exciting on game day. But it will be a lot more exciting if the Gators return home winners."

Time to go to work‼️ pic.twitter.com/kjf4gvlYuI
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 19, 2026

Life is much more pleasant when you do this and talk to coaches and players reveling in their big moments rather than the downtrodden tone of the past few seasons. But her question sparked deeper thoughts on the drive to the airport.

Mostly, when was the last game that had me thinking of the possibilities as much as this one?

I kept landing on the 2024 season opener at home against Miami. As someone who moved to Florida in the early 1980s and watched the Big Three dominate college football in the 1990s, the Gators playing either Miami or Florida State means more to me.

Some of my favorite memories are watching those three play each other with national championship implications on the line nearly every season. Times change, and so have their fortunes of late.

But when the Gators took the field for a rare matchup with the Hurricanes that day two years ago, I knew what a win could do for the program. Well, we know how that turned out, too.

So here we are — a renewal of the Florida-Auburn rivalry, and both sides are eager to see what happens. In my view, this is the Gators' biggest game since that Miami loss.

Why? Because of the possibilities.

The winner will get a confidence-boosting win that could go a long way toward speeding up the rebuild both programs are working on. Would it guarantee a great season and spot in the College Football Playoff? Um, no.

It's only the third game of the season, and despite the millions of TV talking heads and podcasters and sports writers who often speak with certainty, no one really knows what it all means until the dust settles on the season.

All I know is that if the Gators win, optimism will start to bubble up around Gator Nation in ways we haven't seen in a while.

Those 2022 UF freshmen might even get online tonight trying to find tickets for next week's home game against Ole Miss.

Here are five final thoughts on the matchup:

THE QUARTERBACKS

Yeah, the two most important players on the field are always central to the outcome, but they carry extra significance for me in this one. Florida's Aaron Philo is making his first road start and knows it will be loud. He said earlier this week that making sure his teammates can hear him will be pivotal. If Florida's communication is sound, Philo needs to keep doing what he did in his first two starts. He has directed the offense efficiently, avoided costly turnovers and shown the poise of a silky veteran. As for Auburn's Byrum Brown, the Gators know him well. At least the veterans who faced him a season ago at The Swamp. Brown is big and athletic and beats opponents in classic dual-threat fashion. Brown is too good not to make the occasional play, but the Gators will be pressed to shut down running lanes and keep Brown in the pocket to the best of their ability to avoid a repeat of Brown's final-drive magic in USF's win over the Gators a season ago.

OLD RIVALS

The matchup between first-year coaches Jon Sumrall and Alex Golesh has drawn plenty of attention, and rightfully so. Sumrall was a candidate for the Auburn job before the Gators hired him, and Golesh earned arguably the biggest win of his career when he led USF over the Gators last year. But adding to the hype is the fact that the schools have played only twice in the previous 18 seasons: a 17-6 Florida loss at Auburn in 2011 and a 24-13 Gators win at The Swamp in 2019. That is limited exposure to a once-great rivalry for the latest generation of college football fans. Fortunately, this game will be on the schedule more regularly under the revamped SEC schedule model, and that is a good thing. It's been fun to see the online banter this week as fans of both schools reacquainted themselves through old-fashioned trash talk that they traded annually from 1945-2002.

BETT VS. SKINNER

I still remember clearly the week leading up to last season's Florida-USF game, when Gators defensive tackle Brendan Bett, a transfer from Baylor, met with reporters for the first time. Bett spoke like a polished vet and was an engaging presence in a setting that some players find nerve-wracking. And then late in the game, Bett made a mistake that hurt the Gators on the field and damaged his reputation. He drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty for spitting on then-USF offensive lineman Cole Skinner. A couple of days later, Bett issued a public apology to Skinner and Florida fans for his outburst. In a recent story by Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel, Bett's mother described the fallout and how it affected her son. Bett is back, and when he lines up along the defensive line tonight, he'll be in close quarters with Skinner, a 6-foot-5, 322-pound senior who followed Golesh from USF. Skinner is Auburn's starting right guard and a key piece of the Tigers' front wall. What happens when they tangle up? Will Bett keep his cool? Will Skinner try to get under his skin? The physicality and intensity in the trenches are extreme, so this sidebar is intriguing.

WILSON AND WOODS

Based strictly on physical gifts, Gators receiver Dallas Wilson and edge rusher Jayden Woods have as much upside as any two players in the game. We saw a glimpse of Wilson's dynamic ability in last year's win over Texas, the highlight of the 2025 season for the Gators. You know Vernell Brown III is front and center on Auburn's radar after his performance a week ago against Campbell. Another question is whether former Auburn receiver Eric Singleton Jr. will play, as a high-ankle sprain has kept him sidelined since the first drive of the season. Wilson had five catches for 104 yards and a score last week, overshadowed by Brown's heroics. The Gators have ample talent at receiver, with Bailey Stockton, TJ Abrams and Micah Mays Jr. providing depth, but if Wilson can win his one-on-one battles downfield, Florida's offense is much more dangerous. As for Woods, he garnered as much preseason attention as any UF player for his offseason work in the weight room. Woods has been quiet in the first two games, with nine tackles and 0.5 sacks. They say your best players have to play like your best players in games like these, and if Woods steps up, so do Florida's chances of winning. Sumrall said this week that Woods needs to keep doing what he's been doing, and the results will follow.

THE COACHING

The Gators have given away wins in the past few seasons for little more than poor execution in key moments and late-game strategic failures. That goes back to coaching, which is why Sumrall is now Florida's head coach. Auburn fans are saying the same things about why Golesh is now in charge of the Tigers. When the two squared off in 2024, Sumrall's Tulane team delivered a 45-10 beatdown to Golesh's Bulls. It helped that Darian Mensah was the Green Wave's quarterback. You may have seen Miami's Mensah complete his first 24 passes against Wake Forest on Friday night, finishing 30 of 34 for 220 yards and three touchdowns. He's good. But Sumrall and Golesh have proven they are pretty good, too, which is why they are SEC coaches and preparing for their much-anticipated meeting Saturday night on the Plains. One will have a better night than the other, but win or lose, it's still a long season. People will make a lot of noise about the outcome, and much of the analysis will be overstated. Still, this is why coaching changes and renewed hope get so much attention. These games matter. Yes, I'm excited to see what happens.

Gators Calendar