Oct. 13, 2012
The opportunities were there, but at the end of the day there were too many big plays to overcome for the Commodores, who fell 31-17 to No. 4 Florida on Saturday.
Many of Florida’s big plays came on the legs of quarterback Jeff Driskel and the Gators’ special teams. Driskell carried the ball 11 times for 177 yards, including a back-breaking 70-yard score with 2:20 to play. Driskel also scored on runs of 37 and 13 yards. On special teams, the Gators executed a two-point conversion, carried the ball 54 yards on a fake punt, blocked a field-goal attempt and had a kick return go for 60 yards.
“We played hard all night long, but we gave up big plays in critical times,” Vanderbilt Head Coach James Franklin said. “We did not adjust well to the quarterback running game. They have a really good running back, you load the box up, they catch you overcompensating and the quarterback pulls the ball out and he can run, and now he has a huge run on you down the sidelines.”
The plays all resulted in big momentum swings for the Gators.
After the Gators’ scored their first touchdown of the game on a 37-yard carry by Driskel to pull within one, they caught Vanderbilt off guard by going for a two-point conversion, which they executed to take an 8-7 lead.
Vanderbilt trailed 11-7 at the half and took the opening possession of the third quarter to the Florida 7-yard line before a penalty and sack made the Commodores settle for a 44-yard field goal attempt by Carey Spear. The kick, however, was blocked. Adding to the disappointment of the drive, Zac Stacy had a touchdown run called back on a holding penalty against Jordan Matthews earlier in the possession.
On Florida’s next possession, it executed a fake punt with a 54-yard gain, which resulted in a 13-yard touchdown run by Driskel. Suddenly, the Gators led 18-7.
“The quarterback was way faster than we expected,” defensive back Andre Hal said of Driskel. “I didn’t think he was that fast. They’re a pretty good team and they have speed everywhere – the receiver position, the running back position, and the quarterback position. We knew they had speed, we knew they’d come with speed, so it didn’t catch us off guard, but I think the quarterback did.”
Florida’s next big play did not come until the fourth quarter following a touchdown run by Stacy that pulled the Commodores within seven, 14-7, with 8:57 to play. Andre Debose took a kickoff by Spear and returned it 60 yards down the right sideline to the Vanderbilt 37. The play would result in the Florida field goal.
“Special teams, I didn’t think we played well on that all night long,” Franklin said. “We are not blocking well to give our returners a chance and we had two plays early on where they went for a two-point conversion in a hurry-up situation on a fake field-goal formation and we weren’t lined up fast enough. And then we had another play on a punt after we stopped them on third down and we (didn’t) cover the guy out wide and (then) they had numbers and angles on us.”
The Commodores would drive back down the field on the next possession and kick a 22-yard field goal to pull within seven, again, 24-17, with 2:35 to play. But after a seven-yard kick return by Debose, Driskel hit the home run on the very next play as he went 70 yards for a touchdown.
“I think we put so much emphasis on stopping the running back that they would ride that running back down the side and we’d overcompensate to stop the running back and that left us susceptible for the big run by the quarterback,” Franklin said.
The big plays were damaging and were mostly unmatched by the Commodores, who did not force a Florida turnover.
Statistically, the Commodores performed well on offense and defensively against the Gators’ passing attack. Take out Driskel’s rushing yards and Florida would have gained just 150 yards on the ground to go along with the 77 yards allowed in the passing game. But at the end, there were just too many big plays by Driskel and the Gators’ special teams.
Matthews Has Another Big Game
Another game, another big performance by wide receiver Jordan Matthews. Matthews had his third 100-yard receiving game of the season on Saturday as he hauled in eight passes for 131 yards and one touchdown.
Matthews has become one of the hardest players to cover in the SEC in one-on-one coverage and he proved it again against the Gators, who played Matthews man-to-man all night.
“It feels good,” Matthews said of his performance against man coverage. “That’s basically what the coaches always say, their job is to get you in one-on-one situations and your job is to win. I felt like the offense really got going and were really able to help me maximize those opportunities.”
Third Down Conversions
Heading into the Florida game, Vanderbilt was converting 25 percent of its third down tries and had failed to convert more than 33.3 percent in a given game. Against the Gators, the Commodores had their most success of the season on third down. Vanderbilt connected on 7-of-17 tries, good for 41 percent.
“I thought we had a nice plan to go against their man coverage,” Franklin said. “I thought we threw and caught the ball better. I still think there were some times when we did drop balls that weren’t contested catches that we should have made. I think we had a higher percentage of third and short yardage, which helped us. We were better on first and second down.”
Halfway Point
Vanderbilt’s game Saturday was the halfway point in the regular season. The Commodores have six games remaining, beginning next weekend against Auburn. Based on record and ranking alone, the second half of the schedule is much more favorable than the first half.
Combined, Vanderbilt’s opponents in the first half of the schedule are 28-12 overall, and three opponents are ranked in the top 15. In the second half of the season, the remaining opponents are 12-26 overall and not one is ranked.
Stacy Climbs the Charts
Running back Zac Stacy continues to climb the charts in Vanderbilt’s record book. The senior back finished with 86 yards on 24 carries to go along with one touchdown on Saturday.
With his one touchdown, Stacy tied Marcus Wilson for second in school history with 24 rushing touchdowns. Dean Davison owns the top marks with 26 career rushing touchdowns. Stacy also passed Carl Woods for second all-time in career rushing at Vanderbilt.
Stacy now has 2,501 yards on the ground; compared with 2,490 by Woods. Frank Mordica is the school record holder with 2,632 yards gained.
Snedeker Recognized
Vanderbilt graduate Brandt Snedeker was honored on the field during the second quarter of Saturday’s game. Snedeker, who won the FedEx Cup and participated in the Ryder Cup, is a regular at Vanderbilt’s football games, but was in attendance for the first time this season following his extended golf season.
Snedeker received a standing ovation from the sold out crowd after his long list of honors was read.
“I haven’t had many of those standing ovations in a while,” Snedeker said, “so to have that one out there in front of people I know and I’ve been a part of for the last 15 years since I’ve been at Vanderbilt, and I’ve been a Nashvillian my whole life, to have them do that was pretty special.”
Snedeker, whose wife is due with the couple’s second child any day, will play in three more tournaments in 2012.
Commodores End Gators Shutout Streak
Florida entered the game not having allowed a single point in the fourth quarter this season through five games played. That changed on Saturday as the Commodores scored 10 points and were driving for a third score before misfiring on a fourth-down attempt on the team’s final drive.
“Overall, offensively you take the turnovers away, I thought we played pretty well,” Franklin commented. “I thought we were able to move the ball against one of the better defenses in the country.”
