NASHVILLE, Tenn. — So many times throughout the past two-plus seasons, Vanderbilt has been asked to respond to an SEC loss.
Now the tables have turned.
“I don’t know if our approach changes. I would say that morale is little lifted,” Vandy senior tight end Gavin Schoenwald said Tuesday, three days after a 24-21 victory over Kentucky. “I think that’s natural with guys feeling good about the win. I’ve been a little bit surprised with how well we’ve been able to refocus. That was, honestly, something that the captains were talking about as well.
“Obviously we’re coming off the high of a win, but we’ve got to get back to our process that led us to that win, too. It’s easy to come out here and feel good about yourself and just lollygag around – I honestly thought that (today) was one of our better practices in a couple months.”
For the first time since 2019 the Commodores are coming off a league win. They’re also looking for their first SEC winning streak since 2018.
And, perhaps most importantly, Vandy will be looking to keep its postseason hopes alive at 11 a.m. Saturday at FirstBank Stadium when Florida rolls into town. Vandy last won back-to-back SEC games at the of the 2018 regular season and now has the opportunity to recreate that streak thanks to the win in Lexington.
“I’ve been impressed with this team’s ability to respond each week, even though we haven’t been rewarded with results all the time,” Vandy second-year head coach Clark Lea said. “I have a deep respect for our coaching staff who carries that belief every single day—and belief without evidence is something that creates strain.
“But we all know what’s going on in here. We see it every day. We’re around it. We’re connected to it. To be a part of Saturday where our team got over the hump and found a way to win a game? It meant a lot to everyone involved.”
Lea’s squad enjoyed a celebratory weekend thanks to a 24-21, come-from-behind victory at Kentucky on Saturday. Vanderbilt trailed 15-14 with 11:14 to play and then 21-17 with 5:03 to go—a 5:03 which, at this moment, is a program-defining victory.
Quarterback Mike Wright threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Will Sheppard with 32 seconds to go at Kroger Field giving the Commodores the triumph. That now equates to the challenge of Vandy staying just as hungry for victory this week as it had been before topping the Wildcats.
“We’re in mid-November and we’re still out here in full pads hitting good-on-good,” Schoenwald said. “I don’t know if every country in the program is doing that. It’s the constant of getting better. We want to be playing our best ball at the end of the year. We’ve got bigger opponents like Kentucky, Florida and then the Orange Team later in November.
“(The coaches) have a design to that, it’s our job to follow up and I think we’ve done a good job.”
Florida (6-4, 3-4) earned bowl eligibility by virtue of a 38-6 shellacking of South Carolina in Gainesville, Florida, on Saturday. That result came on the heels of a solid, 41-24 victory at Texas A&M on Nov. 5.
The Gators were 4-2 after the second weekend in October and have a win over No. 13 Utah under their belt. First-year head coach Billy Napier has the SEC’s second-best rushing offense and a defensive unit that leads the league in takeaways (21).
Sophomore quarterback Anthony Richardson makes Florida go having totaled 588 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground while throwing for nearly 2,000 yards and completing 11 scoring throws this season.
“We have a good guy in Mike Wright we practice against every day who’s a pretty good runner himself,” Vandy defensive end Elijah McAllister said. “We have a good structure here to keep him in the cage, keep him in the pocket and tackle him. Just got to bring him down just like every other running back, every other quarterback we’ve played.”
Florida is 30-1 in the last 31 meetings against Vanderbilt, has eight in a row in the series and 15 straight in Nashville.
- Vanderbilt has lost 12 consecutive SEC home games.
- Vandy’s 264 points this season and 35 touchdowns are both the most since the 2018 season (370 points, 47 touchdowns).
- Sheppard, a junior, needs three receptions to total 100 for his career.
- Sheppard’s 13 career touchdown receptions is tied for the ninth most in a single Vanderbilt career. Jared Pinkney is eighth with 14.
- Sheppard’s nine touchdown receptions this season is the third-most in a single Vandy season. Carl Parker had 12 in 1987 and Allama Matthews had 14 in 1982.
- Vandy senior punter Matt Hayball ranks fourth nationally (and leads the SEC) with an average punt of 46.3.
- Senior linebacker Anfernee Orji leads the SEC in tackles per game with 9.5, good enough for 22nd nationally.
- Vanderbilt opponents are now 7-for-20 on fourth down this season.
- The Commodores are now 27-for-30 in the red zone this season.
- Vandy trails the all-time series against Florida 10-43-2.
- Vanderbilt’s four wins this season have been against opponents who are a combined 19-23. Its six losses have been against teams a combined 42-18, its remaining games are against teams a combined 15-5 and all 12 of its opponents are currently 76-46.
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.
