Sumrall Skeptical of Point Spread as No. 4 Ole Miss Visits Florida

The unbeaten Gators are 3½-point favorites against No. 4 Mississippi on Saturday at Florida Field, a line Jon Sumrall finds hard to believe.

No. 21 Florida (3-0, 1-0 SEC) is a 3½-point favorite over No. 4 Mississippi (3-0, 1-0) for Saturday's Southeastern Conference matchup at Florida Field. The line opened at 1½ and has moved further toward the home team.

Coach Jon Sumrall made light of the spread on Monday, questioning whether his Gators should be picked against a team ranked in the top five. He pointed to Ole Miss's resume, which includes wins over then-No. 16 Louisville in Nashville and then-No. 7 LSU at home last week, with quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and receiver Deuce Alexander leading the offense.

Florida opened with wins over Florida Atlantic and Campbell before a 44-39 shootout victory at Auburn put the program in the AP Top 25 for only the second time in three years. Sumrall told his players that Week 4 rankings mean nothing and warned that praise can quickly turn into criticism. Defensive end Jayden Woods echoed that message, saying blocking out positive noise is as important as ignoring negativity.

The Gators have not beaten a top-five team since a 38-10 win over then-No. 3 Ole Miss in 2015, when the Rebels were 6½-point favorites. Florida's home form has been a factor in the line: the Gators have beaten five ranked teams in Gainesville over the past four years, including Utah, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Texas. Sumrall added that he expects the home crowd to make Florida Field a difficult environment for a big game.