South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Gators slog through win over Vanderbilt
Florida easily gets past Vanderbilt on the road to remain on track for SEC East Division title
Florida quarterback Kyle Trask was not at his best at Vanderbilt. Neither were the sixth-ranked Gators.
Yet a less-than-inspired and rarely scintillating 38-17 win Saturday in Nashville did not discourage coach Dan Mullen or his players.
Playing football amid a pandemic can put things in perspective for a quarterback with Heisman hopes and a team with national championship dreams.
Trask and the Gators remain in the hunt for both coveted pieces of hardware seven games into a season unlike no other. Most players and programs across the nation would be so lucky.
“You see around college football, your game can get canceled out of nowhere,” Trask said. “Every chance that we have to play on Saturdays is another opportunity. … it’s a blessing just to be out there and able to play.
“We really have to make the most of our opportunities that are given to us.”
The Gators did fully capitalize on their chances against the winless Commodores (0-7).
Florida erased two early deficits against an overmatched opponent and eventually pulled away
behind another big day from Trask and playmaking receiver Kadarius Toney. Trask finished with 383 passing yards and three touchdowns while Toney totaled 191 all-purpose yards.
Yet the Gators too often were lackluster on both sides of the football.
“It was that way all day offensively and defensively, kind of a good then bad, good then bad,” Mullen said. “It was kind of just a ho-hum performance for us — if that’s the best way to put it, which we can’t do if we want to be a great team. We can’t do that.”
An uncharacteristically slow start on offense and continued defensive lapses conspired for the Gators’ least-impressive first half in 2020.
Trask was able to salvage the game’s first 30 minutes in fewer than two while generating some momentum for Mullen’s sluggish squad.
With the game tied 10-10 late in the half, Trask asserted himself and showed why he is receiving strong consideration for the Heisman, the sport’s top individual award.
During a seven-play, 85-yard march that spanned just 1:45, Trask completed all five of his throws for
83 yards. Senior receiver Trevon Grimes completed the drive with a leaping 34-yard catch requiring every inch of his 6-foot-5 frame and vertical leap to come down with the football.
“He got up there pretty high and he made a great catch,” Trask said.
The Gators’ attack produced its share of highlights en route to its ninth consecutive game with at least 35 points, a school record.
Toney alone had several memorable plays, including a 27-yard touchdown to knot the game at
7-7 and a 36-yard catch to put the Gators on the Vanderbilt 15 during the opening drive of the second half.
Five plays after Toney’s catch, Dameon Pierce’s 1-yard touchdown run finally put UF in command, leading 24-10.
But Pierce’s two-yard pick-up earlier in the drive on fourth-andone from the Gators 34 might have been the play of the game. Mullen’s bold call could have backfired, but the powerful 5-foot-10, 215-pound fought through contact to pick up two yards and keep alive the pivotal drive.
“That’s why they pay you the big bucks, I guess,” Mullen joked of the play call.
Touchdowns to end the first half and begin the second half effectively ended the Commodores’ designs for an upset.
“You have a 14-point swing really without them really threatening,” Mullen said. “That’s something you want to be able to do throughout the course of the game.”
The Gators, though, were unable to get completely comfortable most of the day due to another shaky outing by Todd Grantham’s defense.
“We have to clean it up, especially where we want to go, you know, SEC championship, national championship ,” sophomore cornerback Kaiir Elam said.
For the second straight week, the talented Elam was the victim of the opposing team’s first touchdown. Promising Vanderbilt freshman quarterback Ken Seals capped a clinical 11-play, 75-yard opening drive with a touchdown to Chris Pierce while blanketed by Elam.
Seals opened the game 10-of-11 passing and led his team to leads of 7-0 and 10-7. Seals’ 58-yard touchdown throw to Pierce late in the third quarter trimmed Florida’s lead to 31-17.
The Commodores finished Saturday with 406 yards, 60 above their season average.
Mullen, though, did not single out a defense that has soured fans all season.
“We had breakdowns on both sides of the ball that were at times disappointing,” he said.
In the end, though, Mullen was all smiles.
Two of the best teams in Florida football history, after all, barely escaped Vanderbilt with a win.
Time will tell whether Mullen’s squad reaches the heights of the school’s 1996 and 2006 squads, two of the program’s three national title teams and winners of one-possession games in Nashville those seasons.
Mullen does know a win is worth celebrating, more than ever in 2020.
“I’m going to put it this way: I’ve got a smile on my face. I do,” he said. “You never take a win for granted. It’s hard to win football games. You’re playing a 10-game SEC schedule. I’m fired up. I was really proud of how our guys actually played today.
“We stubbed our toe along the way and we still come out with a 21-point victory.”