This isn’t the Vandy you’re accustomed to seeing.
When the Commodores take the field Saturday shortly after noon for the Gators’ homecoming game, it won’t be the same Vanderbilt that has lost 20 straight to Florida.
This is a new-look, new-approach Vandy that will be coming to Gainesville.
“It seems like they want it more this year,” Florida defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd said Wednesday.
And if history is any indication, Florida will be in trouble Saturday.
The last two close games between these two schools were in 2002 and 2005. Not shockingly, those seasons were the Gators’ first under new head coaches — Ron Zook in 2002 and Urban Meyer in 2005.
In Zook’s inaugural year, Florida narrowly defeated Vandy, 21-17, in Nashville, Tenn. The Gators needed a fourth-down stop with less than two minutes remaining to clinch the game.
But they shouldn’t have. Despite UF’s five-loss record that season, it was a considerably better team than Vanderbilt.
Florida had the No. 25 total offense and total defense that season, a marked advantage against Vandy’s 110th-ranked offense and 92nd-ranked defense.
The Gators had their share of talent — a former Heisman finalist at quarterback in Rex Grossman, a standout receiver in Taylor Jacobs (who was the school’s last 1,000-yard receiver) and tight end Ben Troupe, just to name a few.
Despite the discrepancies between the two teams, Vanderbilt gave Florida a scare.
The same thing happened in Meyer’s debut season. The then-No. 13 Gators needed two overtimes to escape with a 49-42 win.
That UF team had a mediocre offense (61st in the nation) and an elite defense (ninth in the nation), but it still had a decided advantage against a Vandy squad that boasted an average, Jay Cutler-led offense and a considerably worse defense, with the No. 72 unit.
With seven returners each on offense and defense, including a quarterback in Chris Leak who had two years of experience under his belt as a starter, even that Florida team had personnel that should have handled Vanderbilt.
But still, Vandy pushed Florida to the limit.
So what should you expect this year, when the Gators once again square off against the Commodores with a new coach at the helm?
This Florida team hasn’t shown anything to make us think it will bounce back in this scenario. The Gators have struggled on the field and have been ravaged by injuries. And when players talk to the media, they seem detached when discussing their own team.
Meanwhile, on paper, Vandy matches up with Florida more respectably than it did in 2002 and 2005.
Florida touts the No. 94 offense in America, while Vandy’s also ranks in the bottom fourth of the nation, at No. 106. The Gators have a respectable, 14th-ranked total defense, and the Commodores have the No. 27 total defense.
“It’s not the same old Vanderbilt, that’s for sure,” Commodores offensive tackle Wesley Johnson said this week.
And that should worry Gator Nation, because this isn’t the same old Florida you’re accustomed to, either.
Contact Tom Green at tgreen@alligator.org.
