NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vernon Hargreaves III was worried about the cold before the game started. His Tampa blood isn’t thick enough for an autumn evening in the Tennessee hills. Thankfully for Florida, its ballhawks flew around and heated the Gators on a chilly evening, charging them to a 34-10 victory against Vanderbilt.
In each of Florida’s three losses, it has had at least three turnovers. But the Gators sang a different tune Saturday night in Music City, procuring four turnovers from the Commodores. On consecutive offensive plays, Florida recovered two of Gainesville native Ralph Webb’s fumbles to generate 10 points, riding that wave to the locker room with a 17-7 lead.
Late in the game, the Gators added two more turnovers. One from Hargreaves, on a play that is exhibit A for why you’ve only got around 18 more times to see him wearing orange and blue before he leaves NCAA bondage to go get paid on Sundays.
The other was an absolute beauty of a one-handed catch by Jalen Tabor, a play coach Will Muschamp quipped he taught the freshman on the second day of practice.
It is a strange thing to write, but a win over Vanderbilt served as payback. Not only because of the mere fact that the Commodores beat the Gators on homecoming last season, but how they went about beating Florida — forcing four turnovers, and winning with only 183 total yards on offense.
It helps to play a bad opponent, but Florida resembled a decent football team Saturday, one that could handle its business at least. It capitalized on opportunities, hit big plays and won going away — leaving little room for doubt.
Certainly four turnovers could point to a win being fluky, but six yards per play and 429 total yards isn’t a fluke. The Gators beat a 0-6 team in conference play like you ask a team to beat an 0-6 team in conference play.
It was night and day from their last win over Georgia. The Gators had 418 yards on the ground out of 445 total in that game. Against the Commodores, they had 429 yards with near perfect balance — 215 through the air, 214 on the ground.
They looked explosive at times, like they were willing to take chances — like Will Muschamp swears they were last weekend; a 48-yard deep ball to Ahmad Fulwood; a 60-yard pass to Quinton Dunbar; a deep pass attempt that fell short at the end of the half instead of the normal conservative folding of the tents heading into the intermission. This was a different Florida, this was a better Florida.
Offensive coordinator Kurt Roper joked on his way out of the stadium that "we completed a forward pass we didn’t take football back any further." A lot of that comes from the spark generated by Harris, and by spark I mean the ability to lead a receiver deep and complete a long pass. They also showed off now-backup Jeff Driskel in a new role, a role more reminiscent of what Blake Bell does at Oklahoma, a role that takes advantage of his legs.
But make no mistake, this team is still powered by defense. It still finds its heat from that side of the ball. Harris looked good, but this team still needs work moving forward to develop an identity and to maintain it consistently, and that may be the hardest part.
Follow Richard Johnson on Twitter @RagjUF
Jalen Tabor records a one-handed interception during Florida's 34-10 win against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
