Pat Dooley’s Six Pack: Quick reactions to Florida’s deflating loss at Vanderbilt
Remember all of the positive momentum that Florida had generated with two straight wins and recruiting momentum?
Not so much today.
The Gators gifted Vanderbilt with enough negative plays to last a season and Vandy ended a UF winning streak in Nashville that dated back to Galen Hall being the coach with a 31-24 win.
Florida suffered from dropped passes, a huge special teams blunder, more injuries, Anthony Richardson’s first interception in his last 137 passes and three third-down penalties that gave the Commodores first downs.
Did we leave anything out?
It was ugly and Vanderbilt was able to take advantage to win its second straight game after 26 straight SEC losses.
Florida still had a chance, much like the last time they came to the state of Tennessee, but Richardson’s final pass sailed out of the end zone.
Here’s the Pat Dooley Six Pack of thoughts from today’s game.
It went from bad to worse for the Gators…
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… when Ventrell Miller, the emotional leader of the team, was ejected after a targeting review.
We know what this defense looks like without him and now the Gators will be without him for the first half of Friday night’s game at Florida State. But even Miller had his problems, whiffing on a tackle that led to a touchdown.
Florida had a three-and-out on its first series
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That meant the Gators had stopped opponents on third down on 18 of the last 22 drives after having such an issue with it all season. For the rest of the game, however, Florida allowed Vandy to convert 7 of 12 third downs.
It certainly did not help that the Gators had two personal fouls and a defensive holding call to give the Commodores first downs they didn’t have to earn. On the other hand, Florida was 4-for-15 on third down and the play-calling was a little confusing.
The Gators came out to start the second half with a score…
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… thanks to a fourth-down conversion. But then the defense reverted to the form it showed during the first half of the season. It certainly did not help that Florida had those crucial penalties. But a quarterback who was benched because he couldn’t throw earlier in the year threw three touchdown passes, two of them after Florida pulled within 14-12.
The three penalties to gift Vanderbilt three first downs were unlike anything we’ve seen from this team this season.
Florida coaches didn’t want players to worry about the cold
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And I don’t know if this was why. But there were four big drops in the first half. One of them came when Montrell Johnson was wide open for a touchdown and dropped it. Kamari Wilson dropped what would have been a pick-six.
And then there was Jason Marshall Jr. on the punt flub that gave Vanderbilt free points.
It should be noted that Marshall is the third-team punt returner (and would have been better just letting it go) after Ricky Pearsall joined Xzavier Henderson on the injury list.
And then it was Daejon Reynolds putting a mustard stain on his breakout game by dropping the ball wide open in the end zone. Of course, they ran the same play two plays later and he caught it this time.
Reynolds came out of nowhere to have the game he had…
Nov 19, 2022; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Florida Gators wide receiver Daejon Reynolds (8) completes a pass as he is defended by Vanderbilt Commodores cornerback Tyson Russell (8) during the first half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
… catching eight passes for 165 yards. He came into the game with only three catches on the year, but the Gators lost Ricky Pearsall early in the game and Florida was without two other receivers who have been starters this year.
The youth did show with a penalty in the first half that negated a Montrell Johnson run to the 4-yard line because a receiver did not get up on the line of scrimmage. Another big mistake, because Florida settled for a field goal.
It was a strange first half of offensive football for Florida
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Anthony Richardson rushed the ball zero.point.zero times. Florida ran the ball again up the middle on third-and-8 in plus territory. Richardson ran on the first two carries of the second half, but only once more the rest of the game until he had a late scramble
One of the main culprits in Florida’s loss was the lack of a run game and it is much easier to defend against the run vs. Florida if the quarterback never keeps it.
Richardson finished with 400 passing yards, which is why he is still going to be a first-round pick. But why he refused to pull the ball and run is a mystery.
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