Jon Sumrall discusses ‘challenging’ Jordan-Hare Stadium environment, facing Auburn QB Byrum Brown
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Florida vs. Auburn won’t be the headliner of Week 3’s college football schedule. For Jon Sumrall, it’s still a great opportunity to start the Gators’ SEC schedule off on the right foot.
The programs haven’t met since 2019, a 24-13 Gators win at the Swamp. Sumrall will be hoping Saturday’s contest at Jordan-Hare Stadium will end with Florida in the win column again.
“They’ve got really good players. It’s going to be a challenging environment as well,” Sumrall told Kevin Neghandi on Thursday’s “SportsCenter”. “That’s always a hard place to play. SEC road games are a lot to handle, and that place is a special place. It’s a challenging home field for them.”
The last time Sumrall faced Alex Golesh was in 2024. Sumrall was at Tulane and Golesh at South Florida when the Green Wave cruised to a 45-10 win in New Orleans. Byrum Brown, who followed Golesh from USF to Auburn in the offseason, suffered a fractured fibula in that one and wouldn’t play again until the Bulls’ bowl game that year.
In 2025, Brown threw for 3,158 yards and 28 touchdowns while running for 1,008 yards and 14 TDs.
“He’s a really talented player, and he’s got a lot of time on task in their system,” Sumrall said. “They do a great job coaching him and preparing him. You can tell he’s really comfortable with what they’re doing. And they’ve got a lot of good players around him, too.
“And so it’s a challenging offense to stop. It always has been.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
