Jon Sumrall upset about Florida football's 16 penalties in win at Auburn

AUBURN, Ala − Florida football coach Jon Sumrall had reason to celebrate his first SEC win for the Gators as UF outlasted Auburn 44-39 at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The Florida Gators (3-0, 1-0 SEC) could have won the game by a more comfortable margin if not for a flag-filled evening. Overall, UF was penalized 16 times for 138 yards. The number of infractions was one short of the school record set in 1996 against Vanderbilt.

Sumrall didn't sugarcoat how undisciplined UF players have been. A week ago against Campbell, UF was flagged eight times for 95 yards.

"The penalties were out of control," Sumrall said. "I mean, 16 penalties, we won't win another game all year if we do that again. Not one more game. And so I got to get it cleaned up, as a staff got to get it cleaned up, got to play more disciplined. I didn't agree with all of them, but still I'm not gonna let our guys off the hook, that's inexcusable."

Florida had a TD pass by Aaron Philo in the second quarter wiped out by a facemask penalty by left tackle Bryce Lovett, though Duke Clark bailed out the Gators later in the drive with a 20-yard TD. Another critical, but questionable, penalty came late in the first half on a late hit by Cormani McClain on Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown. On the play, Brown scrambled and had one foot in bounds and one out of bounds when McClain body-checked him.

The penalty extended an Auburn drive in the red zone, and the Tigers scored on a 4-yard TD pass from Brown to receiver Keshaun Singleton.

Sumrall said Florida needs to get back to the discipline it showed in its Week 1 win over Florida Atlantic, when UF was penalized just four times in its 66-21 rout of the Owls.

"We had eight last week," Sumrall said. "We had 16 (tonight), so I'm not a mathematician, so four to eight's doubling them, and eight to 16 is doubling them again. If we don't get that fixed and get back to how we were in Week 1, we are about to get absolutely embarrassed when we play high-end SEC teams."

Kevin Brockway is The Gainesville Sun's Florida beat writer. Contact him at kbrockway@gannett.com. Follow him on X @KevinBrockwayG1.