South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Down 18, Gators stun Commodores
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Trailing by 18 points and facing their first loss at Vanderbilt since 1988, the No. 14 Florida Gators needed something special.
Coach Dan Mullen’s team would respond by repeating history.
Burned by explosive plays to fall into a 21-3 hole, the Gators made some big plays of their own to reel off 24 consecutive points and rally for a dramatic 37-27 win Saturday at Vanderbilt Stadium.
“Great team win,” Mullen said. “I think this team’s learning a lot of different ways to win games.”
Tailback Jordan Scarlett capped a second-half offensive explosion with a 48-yard touchdown run to help the Gators (6-1, 4-1 SEC) match the largest comeback on the road in program history.
The 2003 Gators trailed by 18 points at Kentucky and won 24-21 behind first-year freshman quarterback Chris Leak.
This time, UF quarterback Feleipe Franks shook off two first-half turnovers, including a fumble Mullen later called “terrible” and that set up a Commodores’ score.
Franks, though, would rebound to finish with a careerhigh 284 passing yards and two touchdowns.
“I was pissed off because I fumbled,” he said.
At the time of the miscue, the
redshirt sophomore and the Gators were out of sorts and on the ropes. Both Franks and this teammates rallied to avoid a major stumble during a game with all the makings of a letdown.
The Gators were sevenpoint favorites and coming off consecutive wins against ranked opponents for the first time since 2012. A bye week and a matchup against rival Georgia looms.
UF had not lost at Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-3) in 30 years but looked like a team looking ahead.
Half of the announced crowd of 31,118 at Vanderbilt Stadium was UF fans, who spent much of the first half in stunned silence as the Commodores raced to a 21-3 lead.
But the Gators fought back during a wild first half featuring big plays, momentum swings and both benches clearing. With UF trailing 21-10, a blindside hit by linebacker James Houston during a punt return left Vanderbilt defensive lineman Dare Odeyingbo flat on his back and in need of medical attention.
An ensuing exchange of obscenities between Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason and UF defensive coordinator Todd Grantham seemed to ignite the chaos. Mason later claimed a UF player yelled at him, and Mullen came to his player’s defense when Mason reacted.
"That's how it started,” Mason said.
Whatever the case, players soon entered the field and coaching staffs mobilized to corral their players to prevent the situation from escalating.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey watched from the press box as the scene unfolded and delayed the game for at least five minutes.
Following the game, Mullen declined to discuss specifics of the incident.
“We’re not going to get into that publicly, at all,” he said. “Derek’s a great, really close friend of mine. And I think, on our sideline, UF running back Jordan Scarlett runs 48 yards for a touchdown in the second half Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
we’ve got to make sure we’re cleaner in that situation and he probably thinks the same thing.”
Following the nearmelee, the momentum clearly would shift in the Gators’ favor.
“That kinda motivated us, especially coach [Nick] Savage and all the strength coaches,” receiver Van Jefferson said. “They were turning us up.”
A 25-yard field goal by Evan McPherson to end the half chipped away at Vanderbilt’s lead.
The Commodores soon collapsed. The turning point arrived courtesy of Mullen’s trademark trickery.
A fake punt on fourthand-three from the UF 37 led to an 18-yard run by Tommy Townsend. Three plays later, Franks found Jefferson for a 38-yard touchdown to cut the Commodores’ lead to 21-20.
“We needed some momentum, and it seemed like a good time to call it,” Mullen said of the fake.
Townsend, a redshirt junior from Orlando, said he never had run a fake punt prior to Saturday and would not soon forget the moment.
“It was really exciting,” Townsend. “I can’t wait to go back and the see the film and just watch the play.”
Behind Franks, big plays and a bruising run game, the Gators ended the day with a season-high 577 yards. Tailbacks Lamical Perine and Jordan Scarlett
rushed for 121 and 113 yards, respectively.
“We were tired hearing everybody say other schools got great running backs,” Scarlett said. “We just needed to get he ball in our hands and show the world what was going on.”
Following its fast start, Vanderbilt finished with just 336 yards, including just 138 during the second half.
“No matter what the point deficit is, it doesn’t matter, you just have to keep going out there playing each and every play,” Franks said. “It can be that one play; you never know what play is going to be the difference in the game. You just got to play every play independently; that’s what we did today.”
A winner of five straight games, UF now gets a chance to catch its breath before turning its attention to Georgia.
The Bulldogs are the SEC’s reigning champion and a fierce rival. But Mullen and his Gators continue to show the kind of resilience and resourcefulness that could serve them well again in two weeks.
“I've been in this league long enough, you gotta come out play your Agame, every single week,” Mullen said. “A good team can beat anybody every once in a while. But great teams find a way to do it every single week.
“You’ve got to find a way. You can't slow down.”