Good, Bad and Ugly: What exactly happened against Vanderbilt?
Well folks, Florida football is not supposed to lose to the Vanderbilt Commodores, as anyone who has followed the team since 1989 has only experienced one loss to the private school in Nashville… until Saturday. The Gators traveled up north to the frigid field in central Tennessee and took a punch in the face with a 31-24 loss in their final Southeastern Conference game of the 2022 schedule.
The loss leaves the Gators at 3-5 in SEC play this season — just a game better than last year’s nadir under the outgoing Dan Mullen. Still, the program has already clinched a bowl berth with a 6-5 record and has the Florida State Seminoles up ahead this coming Friday.
The Gators Wire gang convened after the conclusion of the brutal loss to give its collective takes on what they saw on the field in Gainesville on Saturday — except managing editor Adam Dubbin, who was spared the pain due to an internet outage. Take a look below at how the rest of the crew interpreted the outcome of what amounts to an inexcusable loss for Billy Napier’s boys.
David Rosenberg - Assistant Editor
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
GOOD: We should be praising [autotag]Anthony Richardson[/autotag], but let’s not forget about the guys on the other end of his pass attempts. Redshirt freshman [autotag]Daejon Reynolds[/autotag] had a breakout game catching eight of nine targets and leading the team with 165 receiving yards. He only dropped one pass on the afternoon and made up for almost immediately by scoring his second touchdown of the day two plays later.
[autotag]Justin Shorter[/autotag] also broke the 100-yard mark and hauled in eight of nine targets — so he deserves some praise as well. Maybe that feels a bit hollow with the final score being what it is, but you can bet Billy Napier is happy with what his top two receivers were able to produce.
BAD: I won’t pretend that the rushing attack was anything but awful in a game where Florida should have put up at least 200 yards on the ground, but I also can’t let the defense slide after witnessing a massive regression against the run. Florida’s defense has been up-and-down all season, and this was as low as it gets.
Ray Davis might not have been a household name in the SEC when the day started, but everyone should know his name after he put the Commodores on his back with 122 yards and seven first downs. I’m not worried about the run game bouncing back against Florida State, but the defense has me concerned.
UGLY: No need to come up with something original here. Penalties killed any momentum Florida seemed to find on the afternoon, and this is a team that’s been praised for its discipline. That can’t happen in a game that decides whether Florida finishes with a .500 record against the conference or worse.
The goal against Florida State should be to finish the game without seeing a flag, but it will be a lot louder in Tallahassee than it was in Nashville, and Florida’s probably going to struggle.
Pat Dooley - Staff Writer
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
GOOD: I want to say it was Anthony Richardson’s 400-yard performance. But I cannot because of all the passes he missed and his decision-making not to run with the football.
So, I will go with Daejon Reynolds, even though he did drop a touchdown pass in the end zone. He had three catches all year and was pressed into service because of the rash of injuries Florida has suffered and responded with eight catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
BAD: Well, it has to be the running game (unless you want to jump on Billy Napier’s play-calling at times). Certainly, the 18-yard loss on the snap Richardson was not ready for does skew the rushing total, but on the other 20 rushes Florida ran for only 63 yards. Add in the snap snafu and the team that was second in the nation in rushing yards per attempt finished at 2.1 yards per rush.
UGLY: You know, I just wrote something about how Napier was able to get bad penalties out of the game for Florida. And what did they do? Play like a team of undisciplined kids who didn’t want to be there.
Florida’s seven penalties for 80 yards were bad enough, but they had a lot to do with the success of an offense that only had 283 total yards and still scored 31 points. And it would have been worse if Vandy didn’t negate a hold on a kickoff with a penalty of its own.
Sergio De La Espriella - Staff Writer
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
GOOD: Not much to say here. Even in a rebuilding year, even with a first-year head coach, even when your best player gets ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter, losing to Vanderbilt is unacceptable at Florida. I want to take a moment and give credit to Clark Lea. He is the perfect man for the Vanderbilt job, and sitting at 5-6 in his second year is a borderline miracle.
On the Florida side, I’d have to say the “good” would be Anthony Richardson’s multiple NFL-quality throws on fourth down. The last fourth down, not so much. But the ones before that? Those were NFL-quality throws. I’m grasping at straws here.
BAD: The rushing attack that was Florida’s bread and butter over the past month didn’t make the team plane. There were multiple moments where the Gators ran what looked like a read option. Vanderbilt’s players would sell out on the running back, and Anthony Richardson just wouldn’t pull it and take off. After multiple electric performances, where was [autotag]Trevor Etienne[/autotag]? Not sure if he’s hurt (and I don’t want to speculate) but only four touches for nine yards? I get you having to throw the ball in the second half, but come on.
UGLY: If the only time you saw Florida play this season was today, you wouldn’t believe that the Gators are one of the least penalized teams in the nation. The self-inflicted mistakes cost the Gators at least 14 points today, including two drive-saving, third-down calls in the second quarter that saw Vanderbilt eventually score a touchdown.
It’s not looking good with [autotag]Ventrell Miller[/autotag] out for the first half against FSU on Friday. I was able to forgive the Kentucky loss for a multitude of reasons, and I’ll probably cool off in a couple of days, but this loss is unacceptable. Gators fans should remember that as we head into rivalry week.
Tyler Nettuno - Gators Wire alumnus
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
GOOD: As Sergio said, there really were not many positives from this game, but it’s hard to fault Anthony Richardson and the play of the passing game. Richardson had 400 yards and three passing touchdowns, and though he threw an interception, it was a flukey play. But the offense was unbalanced and playing from behind, so it’s hard to feel good about any of that.
BAD: The Gators accounted for just 45 yards on the ground, an uncharacteristically rough day for them. Richardson had just four carries for 25 yards, and the offense just doesn’t function very well when his legs aren’t being utilized. It wasn’t the worst game for the defense, but it gave up a lot of yards on the ground and struggled with tackling. Costly penalties also aided several Vandy drives.
UGLY: Florida lost to Vanderbilt for the first time since 2013, and it was the only loss in Nashville against the Commodores for this program since 1988. Unless the Gators can pull off what would be a significant upset against a legitimately good Florida State team on the road Friday night, this team is looking at a 6-6 finish with losses to Kentucky and Vanderbilt and a winless finish against the rivals.
There’s reason to have hope about what Billy Napier is building, but this is a bad Year 1, and it’s alarming to think this team could have easily missed a bowl if it weren’t for [autotag]Amari Burney[/autotag]’s interception in the end zone in Week 1.
Editor’s note: Tyler is the managing editor of LSU Tigers Wire and a college football staff writer for FTW!
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