Florida football gives fans a semi-sweet Homecoming memory. But a lot of work left | Whitley

Saturday was Florida’s homecoming, with alumni returning to relive the good old days on campus.

Stuff like late-night parties, maybe meeting a future spouse, beating the bejabbers out of Vanderbilt.

The Gators did that last one, though the game didn’t exactly conjure memories of Vandy homecoming past.

Florida won 38-14, but the game didn’t exactly inspire confidence heading into the meat-grinder portion of UF’s schedule. Though I don’t want to downplay the significance of the win.

"There were good things out there," Billy Napier said.

They added up to a bounceback win after Kentucky. Anytime that happens these days, it’s something Florida fans should savor. It’s just hard to have a good taste in your mouth when you don’t easily swat the Commodores back to Nashville.

The combined scores of their last two trips to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was 98-0. Things have obviously changed since 2021, which is why Saturday’s exhibition shouldn’t be measured by traditional Vandy standards.

“We need to come up with solutions,” Billy Napier said beforehand. “We have to be solution oriented. I’m hopeful we can do that.”

Solutions were definitely needed after the 33-14 wipeout at Kentucky. Scoring 38 points showed some progress for an offense that was averaging 19.0 points against FBS opponents.  But anyone hoping to see a more daring approach left the stadium disappointed.

The offense was adequate enough, especially considering it was missing two starting linemen and dynamo runner Trevor Etienne. Montrell Johnson more than made up for that by gaining 135 yards.

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Of course, it was against 111^th-rated defense in the country. If you can’t run on Vandy, you can’t run on anybody.

As for the defense, more solutions are suddenly necessary. A week after getting run over by Kentucky, the Gators struggled far more against Vandy than most expected.

It certainly wasn’t the crisp, slop-free, take-care-of-business performance good teams are supposed to have against overmatched opponents.

The Gators gave up an 85-yard TD pass, though that one comes with a minor asterisk since it appeared Vandy’s Will Sheppard yanked Jason Marshall's helmet down over his face.

That one made it 7-7, and the Commodores followed it with a 52-yard bomb to UF’s 7-yard line. The Gators stuffed Vandy on downs, which was a good thing for anyone in the homecoming spirit.

If the Commodores had scored to make it 14-14 midway through the first half, verbal dissatisfaction would have rained down from 89,432 fans. Not that Napier isn’t getting used to it.

“I would tell you I’m a lot more critical of myself than anybody on the outside,” he said.

Apparently, he wasn’t reading the message boards or spending much time on X/Twitter last week. Napier’s coaching competence was Topic No. 1 as fans offered advice on how to put some life into the offense.

More deep throws! Wider splits by offensive linemen! Get the ball to your speedy playmakers!

“We can talk about all these things until we’re blue in the face,” Napier said. “We want to see actions, and we want to see the right attitude.”

They also want to see Graham Mertz remain alive and healthy. Vandy sacked him three times, including a crunching face-plant on the first play of the second half.

Mertz got up woozily and walked to the sideline. Napier’s coaching life probably flashed before his eyes, but Mertz returned for the next series.

From there, the Gators were content to methodically go about their business. It included those sacks, eight penalties and an interception thrown by Kahleil Jackson on a trick play. It was not exactly the kind of game that conjured old Vandy memories.

But it also wasn’t a repeat of last year’s nightmare in Nashville. If the Commodores had beaten UF at Florida Field and secured their first back-to-back season wins since 1946, the sun would not have risen Sunday morning in Gainesville.

As it was, the Gators got what they needed most — a win. But a trip to South Carolina awaits, then comes Georgia.

Homecoming was a step in the right direction for the Gators, but more solutions are in order. And there’s not much time to start finding them.

David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidEWhitley

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football gets methodical homecoming win over Vanderbilt