Every part of Saturday’s game seemed to break the Vanderbilt Commodores’ way before No. 11 Florida rallied to edge out their conference rivals 37-27 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Here are a couple takeaways from the Gators’ win:
Lamical Perine and Jordan Scarlett emerging as key offensive weapons
Plenty of questions surrounded Florida’s offense heading into the season.
But few of them were at the running back position. Lamical Perine and Jordan Scarlett showed why on Saturday.
The duo combined for 234 of the Gators’ 292 yards on the ground and became the first pair of Gators to amass 100 rushing yards since their 2016 performance against Missouri.
Perine had 23 carries on his way to a career-high 121-yard performance, and his 93 receiving yards led the team.
His impact was apparent from the opening quarter despite a plethora of early mistakes made by Florida’s offense.
The Gators found themselves down 7-0 in the first after the Commodores capitalized off quarterback Feleipe Franks’ interception at the Vandy 2-yard line. Florida faced a fourth-and-one on its next drive, and coach Dan Mullen put his trust in his junior tailback.
Perine took the direct snap and smashed through the pile just inches in front of him for a 2-yard pickup.
One of his most impactful moments came on the Gators’ second-quarter touchdown drive.
Perine followed up a 19-yard catch-and-run with a first-and-goal reach over the goal line for the score while being pulled to the ground by two Vanderbilt defenders.
He was back on the field before the end of half to catch a swing pass from Franks, and he turned it into a 63-yard run to set up another Florida field goal.
Perine showed his ability to be the power runner the Gators needed on Saturday, and he made the plays others couldn’t early on.
Scarlett wouldn’t be outdone by Perine’s success against the Commodores.
He had a slow start to the season before putting together 77-yard, 66-yard and 113-yard performances in the three of Florida’s last four weeks. His most recent outing included a score that gave his team its first lead of the game.
At the beginning of the fourth, Franks hit tight end Moral Stephens for a 26-yard gain just before Scarlett burst through a wide hole with no one able to get a finger on him until he had already run across the goal line for the go-ahead score.
Scarlett told reporters after the game that Perine’s and his recent success is a product of them feeding off each other.
“It works hand-in-hand, you know, because we always compete,” he said. “We compete in practice. We compete in the meeting room, weight room. So it just correlates. We come out here and do the same thing. He busts a run. I want to come back and bust a run.”
Gators’ offensive efficiency a product of Mullen’s play calling and trust in players
Florida has found a way to get production from its offense when it has needed it this season, and that’s what made the difference against the Commodores.
Feleipe Franks managed a career-high 284 passing yards, going 19-for-29 with two touchdowns after turning the ball over twice in the first half.
Florida’s offensive front showed spurts of good run blocking, especially on Scarlett’s touchdown run, despite remaining inconsistent with their protection.
And Dan Mullen has shown that he needs just one call at the most critical moments of a game to change the momentum. The double throw from receiver Kadarius Toney to Stephens against Mississippi State indicates Mullen has a nose for crucial situations. It was the Lucas Krull throwback to Franks against then-No. 5 LSU that set up an immediate response to the Tigers’ previous touchdown drive.
Punter Tommy Townsend rushed forward 18 yards on a fake punt Saturday to spark an eventual touchdown pass from Franks to wideout Van Jefferson.
And it’s Mullen’s faith that his players will properly execute each play that’s kept the Gators undefeated since Week 2.
"(Mullen’s) not scared to call big-time plays....Coach Mullen's awesome,” Townsend said. “He has a lot of confidence in me, and I can't thank him enough for that, for giving me the opportunity to run the call.”
Follow Alanis Thames on Twitter @alanisthames or contact him at athames@alligator.org.
Running back Lamical Perine jumps away from a Vanderbilt defender. He compiled 215 total yards in the Gators' 37-27 victory over the Commodores.
