By Tiffany Williams –
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Campbell struck first and briefly put Florida on its heels Friday night, but the Gators responded with an avalanche of points, including two punt-return touchdowns by Vernell Brown III, to turn a competitive opening quarter into a 52-3 rout at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Florida improved to 2-0 while Campbell fell to 2-1. The Gators led 10-3 after the opening quarter before scoring 35 unanswered points in the second to take a commanding 45-3 advantage into halftime. Florida added one more touchdown in the third quarter and neither team scored in the fourth. The game was played before 88,863 fans in Gainesville.
Campbell could hardly have scripted a better opening possession. After Florida won the toss and deferred, Kamden Sixkiller immediately attacked downfield, finding Stevie Keener for 24 yards to the Campbell 49. JJ Cowan followed with seven yards before Sixkiller went back to Keener for a 33-yard completion that moved the Camels all the way to the Florida 11.
Cowan gained four yards to the 7, but consecutive Sixkiller incompletions stalled the drive. A false-start penalty pushed Campbell back another five yards before Alex Crabb connected on a 29-yard field goal. The seven-play, 63-yard opening possession gave Campbell a 3-0 lead with 12:18 remaining in the first quarter.
Florida answered immediately.
Starting at its own 44, Aaron Philo completed a seven-yard pass to Luke Harpring before Jadan Baugh converted fourth-and-one with a six-yard run. Philo then found Dallas Wilson for 11 yards, and after Baugh lost a yard, Philo connected with Bailey Stockton for 24 yards to the Campbell 7.
Baugh carried for four yards before Philo kept the football and ran three yards into the end zone. Patrick Durkin converted the extra point, completing a nine-play, 56-yard drive and putting Florida ahead 7-3 with 8:11 remaining.
Campbell responded with some movement of its own. Sixkiller found Chinua Ezeigbo for 16 yards and Spencer Jones for five, but the drive stalled near midfield. A false start backed Campbell up before Brandon Bowman punted 55 yards for a touchback.
Florida then went 70 yards on nine plays. Philo connected with Brown and Wilson before Baugh ripped off consecutive runs of 16 and 11 yards. Philo followed with a 24-yard completion to Brown that moved the Gators to the Campbell 16.
Campbell’s defense stiffened inside the red zone. Baugh gained five yards and then only one more on third down, forcing Durkin onto the field. His 28-yard field goal with 1:13 remaining gave Florida a 10-3 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.
Then the game changed dramatically.
Campbell’s possession carried into the second quarter, but an incompletion and another false start forced Bowman to punt from his own 24. Brown fielded the kick at the Florida 36 and exploded through Campbell’s coverage for a 64-yard touchdown.
Durkin’s extra point made it 17-3 with 14:38 remaining.
Campbell picked up a first down on its next possession when Cowan ran for eight yards and then three, but Florida’s defense pushed back. LJ McCray dropped Cowan for a one-yard loss before Jayden Woods and Jeramiah McCloud combined to sack Sixkiller for seven yards.
Bowman punted again.
Brown struck again.
This time Brown took the punt at the Florida 30 and raced 70 yards for his second return touchdown in a span of just 3:25. Durkin’s extra point made it 24-3 with 11:13 remaining. Brown had turned two Campbell punts into 134 return yards and two touchdowns before Florida’s offense had even taken a snap in the second quarter.
The collapse continued for Campbell.
Sixkiller completed passes to Jones and Jyron Waiters to move the Camels to their own 38. Jon Gullette then carried up the middle, lost two yards and fumbled. Myles Graham forced it and Aaron Chiles recovered at the Campbell 36.
Florida needed only two plays to capitalize.
Duke Clark lost four yards on first down, but Philo erased it immediately. On second-and-14, he connected deep over the middle with Wilson for a 40-yard touchdown. Durkin’s extra point made it 31-3 with 9:06 remaining.
Campbell went three-and-out, and Brown nearly broke another punt return, taking Bowman’s kick 58 yards before a Florida holding penalty brought the football back.
It merely delayed the Gators.
Florida took possession at its own 15 and methodically marched 85 yards. Philo found Kahleil Jackson for nine yards, TJ Abrams for seven and Harpring for 22. He later connected with Stockton for 11 and Jackson for 10 before finding Brown for a 14-yard touchdown.
Durkin made the extra point, and Florida’s advantage had ballooned to 38-3 with 3:30 remaining.
After another Campbell three-and-out, Brown returned the punt 37 yards to the Campbell 44. Florida again took advantage of the field position.
Evan Pryor gained four yards before an offside penalty against Campbell helped Florida convert a third down. Philo then found Wilson for 30 yards to the Campbell 4. Two Baugh carries finished the possession, including his two-yard touchdown with 20 seconds remaining.
Durkin converted again, and Florida went to halftime leading 45-3.
The Gators had scored 35 points in the second quarter alone. Brown accounted for three touchdowns during the first half, including the two punt returns, while Florida’s offense repeatedly punished Campbell once the Gators gained favorable field position.
Florida opened the second half with the football but penalties derailed its first possession. Campbell then produced one of its better drives, moving from its own 15 to near midfield before Sixkiller was sacked by McCray and the Camels eventually punted.
Florida moved across midfield on its next possession, but an unnecessary-roughness penalty pushed the Gators backward. Facing fourth-and-14, Alec Clark attempted to run for the first down but gained 13 yards, allowing Campbell to take over at its own 41.
Campbell again could not turn the stop into points. The Camels punted, but Justin Williams muffed the kick at the Florida 16 and Michael Gilliam recovered for Campbell, giving the Camels one of their best scoring opportunities of the night.
Sixkiller immediately found Gullette for 11 yards to the Florida 5.
Campbell could get no closer.
Two incompletions followed, and an unnecessary-roughness penalty against Campbell pushed the football back to the Florida 20. Sixkiller completed a short pass to Jones for only one yard, leaving Crabb to attempt a 36-yard field goal.
The kick missed.
Florida made Campbell pay on the very next possession. Baugh gained five yards on first down. On second-and-five, he broke loose down the right side for a 75-yard touchdown.
Durkin’s extra point with 3:28 remaining in the third quarter made it 52-3.
Baugh’s touchdown completed a dominant night on the ground. He finished with 136 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns, averaging 9.7 yards per attempt. Florida as a team rushed for 214 yards.
With the game decided, Campbell turned to Grayson Harvey at quarterback while Florida later went with Tramell Jones Jr.
Florida’s first possession of the fourth quarter ended in a punt, and Campbell quickly punted it back. Jones then moved the Gators from their own 12 to the 44, completing a 20-yard pass to Abrams and a six-yard throw to Stockton.
Campbell finally created a turnover when Jack Butler intercepted Jones at the Campbell 49 with 10:42 remaining.
Harvey then directed Campbell’s best drive since the opening possession.
Taeshon Martin gained three yards before Harvey ran for 10 and a first down at the Florida 38. Harvey later completed a six-yard pass to Barry Tate and converted fourth-and-two with a 14-yard completion to Chandler Coe, moving Campbell to the Florida 16.
A four-yard completion to Christian Campbell and Martin’s 10-yard run moved the football to the Florida 2.
Campbell appeared positioned to finally reach the end zone, but Florida stopped Martin for one yard. Harvey was then dropped for a one-yard loss.
On third-and-goal from the 2, Martin carried again and reached the 1 before fumbling. Drake Stubbs forced the turnover and Myles Johnson recovered for Florida, returning it three yards to the 4. The play was automatically reviewed and upheld.
Florida used the remaining 4:57 to finish the game.
Clark ran for a first down before Jones completed passes to Abrams, Justin Williams and Micah Mays Jr. Byron Louis added runs of three and 15 yards, and the Gators crossed midfield before the clock expired on the 52-3 victory.
Florida finished with 514 yards of total offense on 62 plays, averaging 8.3 yards per snap. The Gators threw for 300 yards and rushed for 214 while recording 24 first downs. Campbell finished with 210 total yards, including 148 through the air and 62 on the ground.
Philo completed 16 of 21 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Wilson was his leading receiver with five catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. Brown caught three passes for 43 yards and another touchdown in addition to his spectacular work on special teams.
Brown finished with 173 yards on four punt returns, including touchdown returns of 64 and 70 yards. Florida averaged 34.6 yards per punt return and scored twice on special teams.
Sixkiller completed 16 of 30 passes for 127 yards and was sacked twice. Harvey finished 5-of-8 for 21 yards. Keener led Campbell’s receivers with 57 yards on two catches, with both receptions coming on the game’s opening possession. Cowan led the Camels on the ground with 29 yards on seven carries.
Campbell possessed the football for 31:35, more than three minutes longer than Florida, but the Gators’ explosiveness overwhelmed that advantage. Florida averaged 8.3 yards per offensive play compared with Campbell’s 3.3 and turned five punt returns into 173 yards and two touchdowns. The Gators also converted all four of their red-zone opportunities into points, while Campbell scored on only one of its three trips.
What began with Campbell marching 63 yards and taking a 3-0 lead became a Florida runaway. The decisive stretch came in the second quarter, when the Gators scored five touchdowns — two from Brown on punt returns and three from the offense — to transform a seven-point game into a 42-point halftime advantage.