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Florida freshman Jadan Baugh nets national honor for impressive outing vs. Kentucky
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Florida running back Jadan Baugh hadn’t scored a touchdown through the 1st 6 games of his college career, and his 53 yards against Mississippi State last month were the most he had managed going into Week 8 against Kentucky.
Then, on Saturday night in The Swamp, the freshman from Atlanta simply exploded.
Baugh piled up 106 yards on 22 carries and a staggering 5 touchdowns to power the suddenly surging Gators to a 48-20 victory over the Wildcats. He was rewarded for his breakout game on Wednesday morning, as Baugh was named the Shaun Alexander Award Freshman of the Week.
RUN THE BAUGH. 😤
Jadan Baugh has been named the Shaun Alexander Award Freshman of the Week.🔥#GoGators | @1vibesjay pic.twitter.com/EjAOcHxruT
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) October 23, 2024
Baugh got rolling in the 2nd quarter, registering 3 touchdown runs in less than 7 minutes to help the Gators take a 27-13 lead into the locker room. Baugh picked up where he left off in the 2nd half, scoring on a pair of 1-yard TD runs in the 3rd and 4th quarters to finish off by far the best performance of his young career in Gainesville.
He’ll get a chance to rest up this week as the Gators have a bye, then Baugh will get his 1st taste of the Florida-Georgia rivalry in Week 10 as the teams collide in Jacksonville on Nov. 2.
Baugh will get his shot to shine against some of the best teams in the SEC in November, starting with that matchup against the Bulldogs. After that, UF plays Texas, LSU and Ole Miss in that order, so it’ll be interesting to see what Baugh can do the rest of the season after last Saturday’s eye-opening performance.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
