Watch: Tramell Jones Jr. After His First Start: 'This Is Just the Start'
@GatorsFB's postgame video of Tramell Jones Jr., plus what the sophomore told ABC after leading Florida past No. 7 Texas 27-24 in his first career start.
DUB@TramellJonesJr 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/nu2BuIppNl
— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) October 17, 2026
Video: Florida Gators Football's postgame clip of Tramell Jones Jr. after the win in Austin, via @GatorsFB.
Tramell Jones Jr. found out he'd be making his first career start because Aaron Philo was hurt. He left Austin with a 27-24 win over No. 7 Texas. (As of 5:05 PM ET.)
The sophomore completed 22 of 35 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns, both to tight end Lacota Dippre, with no interceptions, per ESPN's game data. He ran for 41 more yards, and his 9-yard keeper on third-and-7 with 1:44 left forced Texas to burn its last timeout and let Florida kneel it out.
'We stayed resilient'
Florida trailed 17-3 in the second quarter before scoring 24 straight points. Jones told ABC after the game how the Gators turned it around, as reported by Charlie Jones, a UF student journalist with the Gators Sports Network on WRUF, in his game story:
"We stayed resilient," Jones told ABC. "We kept the energy up at halftime. We knew we had mistakes, and we finished in the second half — we closed it out."
And he isn't treating Saturday as a finish line. "It feels great, but this is just the start," Jones said, per WRUF. "It's not over. We've got the bye week to prepare for Georgia and then we're going to Georgia."
A debut for the history books
Jones is the first Florida quarterback to win his starting debut against a top-10 team in a true road game since Jesse Palmer in 1997, WRUF's Charlie Jones noted. Palmer was on the call for Saturday's game.
His coach gave a more measured review. "Well, it wasn't perfect. He knows that," Jon Sumrall said of Jones, per WRUF. "He missed some things, but he battled." More from Sumrall is in our Sumrall postgame story.
Florida (5-2, 3-2 SEC) is off next week before facing Georgia on Oct. 31 in Atlanta.
More: Gators Stun No. 7 Texas in Austin Behind Backup QB Tramell Jones Jr. · Game Day hub
Sources: Florida Gators Football (video), Charlie Jones / WRUF, ESPN game data.
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