The Florida Gators' defense had a gaping hole up the middle Saturday night, allowing John Mateer and the Sooners to play bully-ball en route to 10 third-down conversions and multiple depleting drives in their 23-7 victory in the Swamp.

Florida’s defensive interior felt incomplete in the painful performance because it was missing their bully, Jeramiah McCloud, after the sophomore starter was suspended ahead of the matchup for
"conduct detrimental to the team." McCloud was dearly missed, with the Gators failing to get off the field and consistently allowing the Sooners to convert in short-yardage situations.

“I thought they did a nice job of staying on schedule, something I talked about us not having done recently and put themselves in more manageable third downs. Their quarterback run game was effective,” Sumrall said of Oklahoma's attack. “... They had answers.”

Despite only 144 yards rushing, the Sooners dominated Florida in the trenches, converting on six of seven third down attempts four yards or shorter. To replace McCloud, Florida ran out five different lineman on the night. None earned a PFF grade over 62.

“Defensively you have to continually respond and in a game like that, their defense outplayed our offense. I thought our defense did some good things, but we got outplayed by their defense,” Sumrall said. “...They found ways to get third-and-shorts, fourth-and-shorts and just convert and keep converting.”

Florida’s failure to compete in the trenches became its demise in a game where points were scarce. The problem may not have a fix either, with McCloud’s future with the program up in the air heading into the week. Sumrall and the former four-star will meet on Sunday as they work toward a more definitive decision. Sumrall will hold his weekly press conference on Monday and is expected to have an update on the situation.

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“I love Jeramiah," Sumrall said after Saturday's loss. "I love every guy on our football team. My heart is for every individual young man on our team. There's certain things, standards, that you have to live by and do to be part of the team. Jeramiah just had a couple things that had occurred that at some point there has to be accountability."

Sumrall added that he is hopeful that McCloud can return for Florida's final three games of the regular season.

"It's going to be more on his mindset than mine because I'm not changing," he said. "We're not going to bend the rules or change the ground rules for anybody.”

With his future uncertain, the Gators' already-struggling unit may have to continue to rely on unproven depth as they look to close out the season strong. Of the options available, true freshman Stive-Bentley Keumajou-Yondui seems to be gaining the most steam, seeing his snaps consistently increase. He played a career-high 14 in McCloud's absence.

‘"He's a high-energy player and he's got twitch inside. He's got strength and twitch and energy, and so it's been good to get again a young guy filtered in there and developing, and continue to see his role expand," defense coordinator Brad White said on Keumajou-Yondui earlier in the year. “... Like any young players, the devil's in the details. The more detailed we can get with him, but he's bright. He picks up things quickly. He wants to be good, and so he'll put the time in. He'll be in the building extra. So he's a young man that obviously didn't get here til late and has been able to pick up the game fast, but the effort and the strength and the twitch is really what's helped him get on the field."

Keumajou-Yondui’s role could continue to grow, as it remains to be seen if McCloud will be back to aid Florida’s interior, with the Gators clearly in need of some solutions to step up after a night that created many questions.