Florida escaped utter embarrassment at the hands of Vanderbilt on Saturday, and fans have no one to thank more than Commodores linebacker Archie Barnes.
You may not remember Barnes’ performance in The Swamp — he had just four tackles — but he was responsible for the hit on John Brantley that knocked the quarterback out of the game in the fourth quarter.
If not for that hit, and subsequent bruise to Brantley’s throwing arm, Florida loses to Vanderbilt for the first time in 20 years, and the Gators fall below the .500 mark for the first time since a 1-2 start in 1992.
Prior to that play, Florida’s offense was in a familiar situation, once again struggling to move the ball following a strong start to the game.
After taking a 17-0 lead into the half, the Gators managed just 59 yards of offense in three possessions before Brantley’s injury. Florida had a pair of five-play drives that ended in punts and a 10-play drive that resulted in a field goal.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt’s offense was getting into a groove. The Commodores had already tacked on two second-half touchdowns, and the Gators’ defense showed no signs of slowing them down.
But then Brantley got hurt and freshman Jacoby Brissett took over.
Florida, pinned at its own 6-yard line, needed to do something to stave off a pesky Vandy team.
The Gators stuck to the ground attack, gaining 18 yards before the game’s biggest play.
On third and 7, Brissett took the snap from center Sam Robey, rolled to his right to evade two defenders and heaved a pass down the sideline to a well-covered Frankie Hammond.
Flag.
Vandy’s Sean Richardson committed pass interference, and we all know what happened next: Jeff Demps broke safety Kenny Ladler’s ankles and put Florida up by an insurmountable two scores.
Hindsight being 20/20, Brissett’s play was smart. Teammates have praised him for it, even.
“I was ecstatic,” guard Kyle Koehne said. “He did a great job making people miss and keeping the play alive.”
But in actuality, the play was far from smart.
It was a forced throw, one that freshmen tend to make, and one a veteran like Brantley wouldn’t think to attempt in that situation. Brantley, assuming he would have been able to evade a pass rush on a bum ankle, likely would have thrown the ball away.
Florida would have had to punt. Vandy, in all likelihood, would have scored the go-ahead touchdown. And the Gators would have had to cope with the stigma of a 4-5 record and a loss at the hands of the Commodores.
But Florida didn’t lose, because Brissett was in the game to make that “heads-up” play — and Gators fans can thank Archie Barnes for that.
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.
