Billy Gonzales told Jaden Baugh to get down when he reached open field late in the fourth quarter.
Florida football was up two scores on Florida State. A first down clinched the win.
The sophomore running back wasn’t about to do that in the best performance of his life against his team’s most hated rival.
“I’m like, ‘Coach, don’t do me like that.’” Baugh said after Florida’s 40-21 win over FSU on Nov. 29. “We don’t like them guys.”
Jadan “Baughed” out vs. the Seminoles and delivered a historic performance in the win. He rushed for 266 yards on 38 carries and rewrote the Gators’ record book. His yardage total blasted the sophomore record and ranks second all-time behind Emmitt Smith’s 316 yards vs. New Mexico in 1989.
Florida football’s Jadan Baugh running with greatness
Baugh said he can’t wrap his head around being in the same category as Smith – the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. He enjoyed the moment Saturday and was spotted in the fourth quarter smiling with fans and holding a sign reading “Run the Baugh.”
Coming into Saturday, Baugh stood 96 yards away from 1,000. Gonzales said he told coaches during the week that, regardless of result, they needed to get Baugh over 1,000 yards for the season. Two years ago, Ricky Pearsall ended the year 35 yards short of 1,000. That eats at Gonzales every day, he said, and he wanted to avoid a similar fate.
“We talked about being able to feed him in the offense,” Gonzales said. “In order for us to win, we had to run the ball. We had to put the ball behind the offensive line.”
The coach’s assessment is right, and Florida football fans figured that the entire season. They clamored all season for Billy Napier and later Gonzales to “Run the Baugh.”
Every time Baugh exceeded 20 carries, Florida won. Every time he surpassed 100 yards, Florida won. He did both Saturday and moved into No. 7 all-time for rushing yards in a season with 1,170 yards. He shattered Errict Rhett’s sophomore record of 1,109, set in 1991.
Baugh never struggled to gain yards, even in limited opportunities. He averaged at least 3.8 yards per carry in every game this season.
Baugh gained 31 of UF’s 50 yards on its opening drive, which ended with a Trey Smack field goal. He knew pregame the workload he expected, and he still anticipated success. That realization came on Sunday.
“Going into the facility understanding everything, just focusing on a mission, understanding we still have a mission to finish out the season,” Baugh said.
Offensive lineman Jake Slaughter proclaimed Baugh ran like “someone jumped him on the sideline.”
Receiver to records in two years
Two years ago, Baugh didn’t play running back at Columbia High School outside of Atlanta. How does a receiver and linebacker orchestrate one of the best seasons in program history? Against a brutal schedule.
Baugh worked hard in the weight room. Prior to the season, teammates raved about Baugh’s strength. Strength and Conditioning Coach Tyler Miles confirmed he is, pound-for-pound, the strongest player on the team.
That’s how a 19-year-old Baugh withstood 38 carries in the final of 12 games.
“Getting my body ready for games like this, a season like we had,” Baugh said. “I just feel like being able to be as strong as I am, it helps me going through the season.”
It also makes a performance like this unsurprising for his teammates.
“Easy day at the ballpark having a guy like him,” QB DJ Lagway said. “He comes in every single day and works. I’m so excited for him and his future. It’s going to be great.”
All that surprised Caleb Banks was the speed of Baugh reaching 1,000. It happened in the second quarter.
“I could see in his eyes before the game that I knew he was going to get it,” Banks said. “I knew he was going to run his ass off.”
Florida football, Jadan Baugh enter offseason full of uncertainty
Baugh enters the offseason as Florida’s most prized possession – likely even more than Lagway. That means every other college football program will try to seize him in the portal and take advantage of the Gators’ uncertainty.
Baugh affirmed his own uncertainty as he didn’t exactly commit to the Gators postgame.
“It was more finishing the season, being with my guys. We’ve been here since day one. Being with Coach Napier, him bringing us in, putting trust into me, the guys that are around me,” Baugh said. “I know that helped me in a situation to just enjoy the moment.”
Baugh said he chooses to go through life focused on the present, not the future.
“Just enjoying everything that’s in front of me, I feel like that’s the way to go,” Baugh said.
Still, the RB knows coaches were watching and salivating over the potential of coaching him.
“I always try to go out and play my hardest because you never know who is watching,” Baugh said. “I was taught when I was a little kid coming all the way up. Leaving a great impression, first impression is your last impression.”
Baugh certainly left a great final impression for the Gator nation. If he’s back in The Swamp next September, a massive junior season is in store.
Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1. Read his coverage of the Gators’ national championship basketball season in “CHOMP-IONS!” — a hardcover coffee-table collector’s book from The Sun. Details at Florida.ChampsBook.com
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football vs FSU sees Jadan Baugh rewrite records, reach immorality
Reporting by Noah Ram, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
