Florida coach Jon Sumrall questions being favored against No. 4 Ole Miss in the Swamp

The Rebels, behind dynamic quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and speedy receiver Deuce Alexander, have quality wins against then-No. 16 Louisville in their opener in Nashville, Tennessee, and against then-No. 7 LSU at home last Saturday.

Florida, meanwhile, handled overmatched Florida Atlantic and lower-division Campbell before winning a shootout at Auburn. The 44-39 victory on the Plains landed Florida in the AP Top 25 for just the second time in three years.

“I did talk to our team about rankings in Week 4 mean nothing,” Sumrall said. “Nobody posts anything up in the building about this year’s team and where you’re ranked in Week 4. Nobody cares.

“And the pats on the back you’re getting? If you go out and lay an egg, they’re going to be the same hands hitting you in the back — and they’re going to have a knife.”

Florida is 3-0 for the first time since 2019, and the team’s 162 points rank fourth in program history through three games. The only years better: 1913, 1994 and 2007.

“It’ll definitely be a good test because it’s easy to block out negative noise, ‘I don’t want to hear that,’” defensive end Jayden Woods said. “But once you hear the praise and the positive noise, it’s easy to want to listen to it and let that come in. But it’s just as important to block that out.”