Florida head coach Jon Sumrall has quickly made a mark in his first season.

The Gators are currently 5-2 overall, ranked No. 17 in the AP poll, with two top-10 wins already. While Florida has some work to do, a trip to the College Football Playoff is not out of the question.

But now Sumrall will take on arguably his toughest challenge yet when Florida heads to Atlanta for the ‘World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party’ against No. 3 Georgia.

“We have a new challenge this week in Georgia; they’re really good. They’re a team that you turn the tape on, you don’t see weakness,” Sumrall said. “Usually as a coach, you’re trying to figure out what our team’s strengths and weaknesses. I see a lot of strengths; I don’t see weakness.”

Both teams were off this past week, giving the new Florida coach a little bit more time to dive into his upcoming opponent.

Sumrall said Georgia’s physicality stands out the most. He credits Georgia coach Kirby Smart for instilling a winning culture that he hopes to replicate at Florida

“I have a lot of respect for their weight room work, their physicality, how they prepare, how they practice, how they play. It shows up. It bleeds through the tape when you turn on the tape. They play the game the way it’s supposed to be played, and they’ve done that for a pretty long time now. And so our guys have to understand that we’re fully in an attempt to try to do some things they’ve done here,” Sumrall said. “That’s what we’re working towards in a lot of ways. I think our guys have to understand that’s the nature of this game, and there’s a lot of things that they do that they built into their program over time that I have a tremendous amount of respect for.”

Sumrall did single out a few current Georgia players, including quarterback Gunner Stockton, whom he said the “team is embodied in the quarterback.”

Last season, Stockton made his first appearance in this rivalry game, going 20-of-29 for 223 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Chris Cole really captured Sumrall’s attention.

“We got good inside linebackers here, so I like our guys. But when I reflect back on the linebackers we played, I thought Auburn’s were really good, I thought South Carolina’s were really good,” Sumrall said. “You turn on this tape, and you’re like, oh my gosh, this guy’s really good.”

Sumrall took over a Florida program that hasn’t won eight games in a season since the 2020 campaign. In that time, Georgia has won eight games in every season while bringing home two national championships.

Sumrall wants Florida’s model of roster construction to look similar to the Bulldogs’.

Staying consistent with high school recruiting and player development, while not being so heavy in the portal.

“I actually studied their roster some during the bye week because I do think they’ve been really consistent,” he said. “I looked at their personnel report: previous school, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia. When we can become that is when you, that’s how you create consistency.”