If you’re trying to figure out what Ole Miss has to stop first on Saturday, there’s no mystery.
It’s Jadan Baugh. Everything Florida does on offense flows through him, and the numbers make that clear long before you get to the film.
Florida has rushed for 738 yards through three games, averaging 246 per game at roughly 6 yards per carry. Baugh alone has 458 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s topped 135 rushing yards in all three games.
Auburn came in last week allowing only 76.5 rushing yards per game. Florida ran for 243. Baugh had 162 and three touchdowns.
Ole Miss has allowed 159 rushing yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry. Louisville ran for 162. Charlotte ran for 143. LSU ran for 172.
Some of that is quarterback run game, not tailbacks pounding them. Lincoln Kienholz ran for 69 against Louisville. Sam Leavitt ran for 63 for LSU. But Florida presents a different problem. Baugh is more dangerous than any traditional running back Ole Miss has faced this season.
Pete Golding didn’t hide what stands out about Florida’s offense.
“Number one, it’s the quarterback and how comfortable he’s playing, really managing the offense and making really good decisions. He reminds me of a coach’s kid on tape. He’s tough as nails, really smart and you can tell he has everybody calm down and relax. He has a really good demeanor,” Golding said. “Obviously, the running back, who we’ve played against before, is an elite player and one of the best backs in the country.”
Golding’s description of offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner’s offense is even more telling.
“Buster’s versatility with personnel and offense, he has always done an unbelievable job of forming you, shifting and motioning to create matchups to run the football. He’s very innovative,” he said.
That’s the challenge. Florida isn’t just lining up and running inside zone 30 times.
The Gators shift the strength of the formation. They motion receivers and tight ends. They create split‑flow and misdirection. They force linebackers to adjust gaps right before the snap. They make safeties fit the run from different locations. And then they play‑action off the same picture.
Golding explained how that compares to Louisville.
“There are some similarities week in and week out,” Golding explained. “There’s probably a little more stretch generated with the bend‑back component of this one and a little more split. They’re probably more gap‑oriented than Louisville was, but there are a lot of similarities once you get to certain run games.”
Then he got to the part Ole Miss defenders will hear all week.
“It’s one thing when you have a stationary picture and you know the tells,” he said. “It’s another when they start in FIB, shift to unbalanced, then motion and run the same play. It’s the same play, but to our guys it doesn’t look the same. That’s what this week is. It’s the circus, and you have to survive the circus to get the ball snapped and still be able to do your job.”
Survive the circus. That’s the assignment.
The biggest danger is eye discipline. Ole Miss can’t have linebackers chasing motion while Baugh cuts underneath it. If Florida gets defenders moving laterally before the handoff, Baugh is explosive enough to turn a crease into 30 or 50 yards. He already has touchdown runs of 61, 75, 33 and 53 yards this season.
That’s why success for Ole Miss doesn’t mean holding Baugh to 60 yards. A more realistic goal is preventing the explosive run and forcing Florida to repeatedly earn four or five yards.
That’s where Ole Miss can create negative plays. Florida committed 16 penalties for 138 yards at Auburn. If the Rebels can pair a tackle for loss or a false start with solid early‑down defense, Florida’s offense becomes much less comfortable.
Everything Florida does is designed to make defenders hesitate. Everything Ole Miss must do is designed to keep Baugh from turning hesitation into points.
Stop the explosives. Survive the circus. And start with Jadan Baugh.
