What Florida coach Jon Sumrall said about Missouri football before top-10 visit

If Missouri is going to bounce back from its first loss of the year, a top-10 team and a new, still-undefeated head coach stand in the Tigers ' way.

Mizzou football faces undefeated Florida this coming Saturday, Oct. 3 at Memorial Stadium. The Gators , who hired Jon Sumrall from Tulane in the offseason to replace Billy Napier, are on a four-game winning streak to start Sumrall's tenure, including a 52-28 win over Ole Miss this past Saturday that catapulted Florida to the No. 8 ranking in the nation.

The Tigers (3-1, 0-1 SEC) lost to Mississippi State 31-24 in Week 4. Drinkwitz has won both games he's coached against Florida in Columbia, but this looks like a different challenge.

During his weekly press conference Monday in Gainesville, here's what Sumrall said about Missouri ahead of the Gators' visit to Columbia.

On QB Austin Simmons , a one-time Florida commit

Simmons, who is from Miami, lost for the first time as Mizzou's starting quarterback on Saturday, but he made some crucial plays and big throws across the second and third quarters to get Mizzou out of a 14-point hole and give the Tigers the lead going into the final 15 minutes.

Before reclassifying from the Class of 2025 to the 2023 class and flipping to Ole Miss, Simmons was once committed to Florida.

"I've always heard he's really highly intelligent," Sumrall said about Simmons. "He graduated high school young and college super fast. Like, intelligent guy, number one. Big arm, can make all the throws. Good athlete. Yeah, I mean he was the starter a year ago at the last place (Ole Miss) for a reason until he got hurt, and then Drink wouldn't have brought him in if he … hadn't seen enough of him to know he could be an SEC-winning quarterback.

"The guy's got all the physical tools, too. So, I've got a lot of respect for what the kid can be. He's talented."

Sumrall on Mizzou O-Line: 'Best offensive line we've played'

Sumrall had a viral soundbite ahead of the Gators' game against Ole Miss when he was told Florida was the betting favorite over the then-top 10 Rebels. His response: "Who has us favored against these guys? There's a lot of good drugs out there (in Las Vegas), huh?"

He had a tag for that punchline, referencing his time as the head coach at Troy, where he tried to recruit current starting Mizzou right guard Curtis Peagler , who was an in-state recruit from Demopolis, Alabama.

"I mentioned last week that Vegas was on drugs," Sumrall said. "I don't know what I was doing at the time. I thought I had a chance to get this kid at Troy."

Through four games so far this season, Mizzou has the best pass-blocking grade in the country at Pro Football Focus. The Tigers have only allowed 11 pressures on the quarterback, which is the fewest in the SEC.

"It starts up front with them. You look at the offensive line, I think this is the best offensive line we've played. Their left tackle ( Cayden Green ) is a big-time player. … Their O-line is really good."

Sumrall said that Drinkwitz texted him before his press conference telling him, "not to talk about our first interaction," which seemingly came while the two coaches were recruiting the Mobile, Alabama, area while Sumrall was an assistant Tulane and Drinkwitz was an assistant at Arkansas State.

"He's a guy that (I've) always had a good relationship with," Sumrall said.

That means they go back at least 13 years, which means Sumrall — a former defensive assistant — has some familiarity with what Drinkwitz's offenses look like.

"You can still see Drink's influence and what their identity is," Sumrall said. "They're as good of an outside zone running team as anybody in college football. … I think they play the game the way it's meant to be played. A lot of respect for how they play the game, and we've got our work cut out for us to win up front this week."

Don't expect to see Jon Sumrall in downtown Columbia for the homecoming parade on Saturday morning.

He was asked about facing Mizzou in its homecoming game, and whether or not he can use that as a source of motivation for his team.

"I have zero concerns about anybody's homecoming. Our homecoming. I just — it's a football game," Sumrall said. "I do know this, the last four trips we've gone to Missouri, we've lost three of them. So, if we think it's going to be a freaking cakewalk, I don't care if it's homecoming or whatever, we're in for a rude awakening. And, so, we've got to get ready to play a really good football team on the road in a place that's not gone well for us a lot recently — in the most recent history.

"So, I'm really worried about that. I don't care who their homecoming king or queen (is) or any of that."