Image Credit: UAA
Three highly impactful adjustments are coming to the No. 24 Florida Gators’ game-day roster ahead of Saturday night’s meeting with the Oklahoma Sooners. None are more important than the Gators reportedly preparing to start sophomore quarterback Tramell Jones Jr., who led Florida to an upset win at Texas three weeks ago.
Jones completed 18 of 25 passes for 172 yards with an interception and a rushing touchdown last week in a loss to Georgia. Two weeks prior, he threw for 155 yards and two scores, adding 41 yards rushing, as the Gators toppled the Longhorns to pick up their second ranked win of the season.
Junior QB Aaron Philo started the season on fire, throwing for more than 500 yards with five touchdowns passing and two rushing against non-Power Four competition before remaining strong in Florida’s first two SEC wins of the season, getting the program off to a 4-0 start under head coach Jon Sumrall.
However, once sophomore wide receiver Vernell Brown III went down with a knee injury and opponents started selling out to stop junior running back Jadan Baugh, Philo’s play fell off. Last week, he threw arguably one of the worst interceptions in program history while panicking against the Bulldogs, leading Sumrall to pull him in the first quarter for Jones.
Philo, a Georgia Tech transfer who joined the program alongside offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner, opened the season as starter largely because he was better at managing the game at the line of scrimmage and had a tighter grip on the scheme, according to Sumrall.
However, eight weeks into the 2026 season, with Florida having an outside chance at a College Football Playoff berth and most of its ranked opponents in the rearview mirror (four, one remaining), Sumrall is going with the signal caller who has looked game when on the field, and whose legs may reopen rushing lanes for Baugh.
Brown was listed as doubtful when the Gators released their first weekly SEC injury report on Wednesday night. Despite being probable most of the week going into the Georgia game, he was downgraded twice to game-time decision before kickoff and ultimately did not play. Brown has not seen the field since Sept. 26 while dealing with a nagging injury. While he has been cleared by trainers, he has not felt right running on the knee, and as such, he has yet to return to the field.
While Baugh may be the Gators’ best offensive player, Brown is a legitimate game-breaker with four touchdowns on the season, including two in the return game. He had explosive plays in each of the four games he played before getting hurt.
“He wants to play. He’s doing everything he can to play. He’s pissed off he can’t play, and he’s doing everything in his power to play,” Sumrall said of Brown on Monday, expressing his frustration not only with the injury but with the sentiment from some that Brown may not be trying his all to return to the field.
“It’s a real injury that we thought we were on the other side of that he had a setback last week. It sucks. It freakin’ sucks for him. It sucks for the team because he helps out team be better. He wants to play. He’s doing everything in his power to play football. I don’t know what else to say.”
Florida also announced Wednesday that sophomore defensive lineman Jeremiah McCloud is suspended for the Oklahoma game over conduct detrimental to the team. UF says it will reevaluate McCloud’s status on the roster after the contest.
Senior wide receiver Bailey Stockton and fifth-year defensive lineman Emmanuel Oyebadejo are both questionable but expected to play, while senior linebacker Jaden Robinson leads three other players who will miss the game.
The Sooners have 10 players listed as either doubtful or out on their injury report.
