As No. 7 Utah gets set for an intriguing season opener at Florida, Utes wide receivers coach Chad Bumphis knows all about The Swamp and what it’s like playing in the SEC.
Bumphis is the second all-time leading receiver in Mississippi State history. He led the Bulldogs in receiving in three of his four seasons from 2009-12 and finished with 2,270 career receiving yards.
Bumphis played at The Swamp. And he won.
Naturally, Bumphis offered players advice about what it will be like to play at The Swamp.
“I actually played in The Swamp once. I’m undefeated there and I’d like to keep it that way. I just tell my guys, I know some of the guys on their staff. I played for the last staff,” said Bumphis, who is a native of Tupelo, Mississippi. “I talk to (former Florida) coach (Dan) Mullen once a week. I’m familiar with some of the guys that have been down there.
“My thing is, make them respect us. I played in the SEC and there’s a lot of pride in that league. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to play ball. I think we’ll be ready. The biggest thing is to come out and compete,” he added. “They’re going to be competitive.
“You look at their secondary — they have a lot of talent back there. They’ve got some speed. But so do we. I like our chances. I like the group that we’re going to take into Gainesville. We’ve just got to execute, play our game and we’ll be fine.”
Bumphis acknowledged that Florida poses a huge challenge because of its speed in the secondary.
“We play within our offense and don’t try to do too much. We know who we are as a group. We need to play to our strengths. It’s a new environment,” he said. “(Coach Kyle Whittingham) is doing a really good job of getting us prepared to play down there as far as the crowd noise, which will be a big issue. They’re locked in right now. I think we’ll be ready.”