Vanderbilt Football beat the Florida Gators, 31-24. Despite the loss, Anthony Richardson ended up with 400 yards on 25 completions. Additionally, he had 3 touchdowns. This was Vandy’s second straight SEC victory, which is impressive for Clark Lea’s squad.
The game started out with a three-and-out from Vandy. Florida was able to get a drive going despite early penalties. They got into the red zone, but couldn’t finish and had to settle for three. Vandy was able to get a drive until they fumbled near mid-field, as Will Sheppard couldn’t control the ball after catching it from Mike Wright.
They lucked out with the fumble, as the Gators went three and out. The Commodores finally got things going with Ray Davis’s legs. They scored their first touchdown of the day through a solid running attack.
Florida would respond with a drive of its own but couldn’t get into the red zone and had to settle for three. Vandy went three and out, then the best touchdown of the year happened.
Florida muffed the punt and the long snapper for Vandy picked it up in the endzone. That’s right, Wesley Schelling, the long snapper, hustled down the field and got a touchdown (with the aid of a muffed punt). Florida wouldn’t be able to make up for their mistake and had to punt the ball into the half after three plays.
The Gators came out storming in the second half. With the rushing duo of Trevor Etienne and Montrell Johnson, as well as some solid passing plays from Anthony Richardson, Florida scored a touchdown on their opening second-half drive. They would fail the two-point conversion to tie the game, but still things were looking up.
Vanderbilt Football would quickly respond with a touchdown of their own behind Mike Wright’s passes and Ray Davis’s rushes. On the next possession, Anthony Richardson threw an interception after leading the Gators to a TD on the earlier drive.
Vandy would score a touchdown on the next play and took a 28-12 lead. Florida couldn’t help themselves and had to punt after three plays on their drive. With the fourth quarter looming, the Gators’ defense showed up for the offense and got a three and out from Vandy.
Anthony Richardson and the rest of the offense would use this, and on the second play of the drive, have a 74-yard pass to Daejon Reynolds for a score. Vandy would respond and get into the near red zone. Mike Wright would throw an interception that kept the Gators in it with 6 minutes. Yes, they were down by two possession but they had a shot.
Florida wouldn’t be able to get anything done on the next drive, as they couldn’t even get a first down. Vandy would use this good field position in the red zone to get a field goal after not being able to get into the endzone.
Anthony Richardson would quickly cook a drive to lead the Gators down the field for a TD. With less than 3 minutes, the Gators were only down by one score. Things would look even better after Vandy had to punt the ball after three plays.
The Gators had 46 seconds to go 91 yards to tie the game and send it into overtime. The final drive never really had enough time to get going. While Anthony Richardson did find Thai Chiaokhiao-Bowman for a 34 yard pass, they were just simply out of time.
Vanderbilt Football beats Florida for second consecutive win
The Gators would lose and Vanderbilt Football would win its second straight SEC game. This was an achievement that hasn’t happened in years for the Commodores. Vandy certainly has a year to be proud. of Clark Lea has this program going in the right direction. I really wish they won the game against Missouri because then they would be bowl eligible.
With AJ Swann only being a freshman, things only look bright in Nashville. All that being said, I don’t think they will beat Tennessee next week. While it will be an amazing story if they did, I don’t think they have the offensive capability to keep up with them. Still, Lea has this program heading in the right direction.
I am really disappointed in the Gators. Like I have said previously, this has been a weird year for the Gators. The offense looked amazing against South Carolina, but this week they lost because the offense wasn’t able to take advantage of opportunities among other things.
Florida will probably not beat Florida State. Florida State has actually been pretty good this year. It definitely wouldn’t surprise if Anthony Richardson has something in his sleeve, in his potentially last game as a Florida Gator. This season has been weird for the Gators, but can they make it even weirder by beating an 8-win Seminoles team in their rivalry game?