Great googly moogly: Thoughts on Vandy's SEC WIN over Florida

[BrentVU]

I'm sure you guys have discussed by now the major points of the Commodores' delicious upset win over Florida (31-24)... so many things are running through my mind, but here are 8 or 10...

1. If you're a Florida fan, you look at it and say, the Gators had a horrible day at the office. A snap over the QB's head... a fumbled punt for a touchdown... bailing out Vandy with ill-timed penalties (Vandy had 4 first downs on penalties... a missed extra point and two failed 2-point conversions... and very questionable clock management after burning all your timeouts early. All of that is true; the Gators' feet have several holes where they shot themselves.

But hey, give these Dores a little credit. Last week UF rushed for 374 yards against South Carolina; this week they ran for FORTY-FIVE. Vandy committed to stop the run, and by golly, they did it. If you listened to Taylor in the postgame, he knew EXACTLY where he was supposed to be on those 2-point conversions that he personally broke up.

I give the coaches a lot of credit for the win. Florida, which had been a very disciplined team, kind of looked like they didn't really care to be there in that cold; there was no way to simulate that this week in Gainesville. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, had practiced in the cold on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, and was ready to play in it.

2. OK, Mike Wright is making an argument that he should be the starter, even when Swann gets better. The argument? He is now 4-1 as a starter, vs. Swann's 1-5. Yeah, Wright hasn't faced a Top Ten team yet; Swann has faced three. But the team is responding to Wright's emotional leadership right now. Vs. Florida they used him as more of a "game manager", but the "running QB" threw three TD passes.

3. After South Carolina I said Vandy had two legit SEC stars on defense; Orji and Mahoney. But a new one has emerged the last four weeks: safety C.J. Taylor just keeps making plays. This week? A team-leading ten tackles, and pass breakups on TWO 2-point conversions. And just a sophomore.

4. B.J. Anderson was ejected early with a targeting call, and interestingly, Vandy replaced him with Ja'Dais Richard, a true freshman from Louisiana who's an incredible athlete. Yes, he did get beat over the top once, but he also had a big breakup of a long pass, and (I don't think) gave up any other big passes; not bad for his first meaningful playing time.

5. What's significant about these last two games is the poise the team showed at the end with the game on the line. Last week Vandy gave up an explosive play and lost the lead, but still got a game-winning drive from Wright. This week, Vandy built a 17-point lead but had to hang on for dear life at the end. Vandy fans have seen so many of these types of games end badly; but Lea and the team were able to close these out!

6. If there's any regret I have about Saturday, it's that it couldn't have happened while Dan Mullen and Todd Grantham were still coaching Florida. Pffttt, what a piece of work those two guys were!

7. Ray Davis is my offensive MVP this season; ho hum, another 100-yard game for him. I'm told he is now among the Top Ten all-time rushing on the season. Y'know, he sure could do Vandy a favor by returning next year for a fifth year of eligibility! But it all depends on his matriculation in schoolwork. Hopefully next week someone will ask him his plans.

A few weeks ago I was thinking Will Sheppard might have notions of turning pro after this, his junior season. But now, I don't think so. He's been kind of quiet the last few weeks, as Vandy has transitioned to more of a running team. (Joey Lynch ran the ball 46 times, and threw it only 16.)

8. Billy Napier finished his first SEC season 3-5; that's not going to cut it in Gainesville, Billy. Vanderbilt is now 2-5 SEC.

9. It was the first time Vandy had beaten Florida since Watson Brown busted out the gold jerseys in 1988. And it brought up a flashback to my very first game as a young boy in 1968-- Vandy tied Florida on a crisp fall afternoon. It taught that young boy a lesson he has never forgotten: a lesser-talented team can sometimes beat (or tie) a more-talented team... all it has to do is play better! (And so it was on Saturday.)

10. Finally, I shouldn't say this out loud, but Clark Lea's team can become b***-eligible by beating (some team that likes to wear orange) at home next week. Vanderbilt is on a two-game winning streak; that other team has not only lost two of their last three, but they may have lost their starting QB.

[BrentVU]

BONUS OBSERVATION, NO CHARGE: Omigosh what would have happened if Richardson had completed a Hail Mary on that final play? He NEVER should have been given the opportunity to run that play. SEC refs have had screw-ups before, but that would have been one of epic proportions. Thankfully it didn't affect the outcome.

[FayetteDore]

Great work, as always.

I know that you know, but should add the words "in Nashville" in No. 9. There was the win in Gainesville in 2013.

[EagleDore]

UF was so undisciplined today...penalties, mistakes that cost them...Napier will get some big time heat.

The coaches had a good plan. Our D stepped up big today. We stopped the run. We ran. We were a little too conservative at the end offensively. Our guys yet again stepped up when whenthey had to. Glorious.

[VU1970]

I still resent having to miss the 14-14 tie in 1968 because I had to take a language proficiency exam that could not be rescheduled. I finished the test quickly but had to sit there for the duration.

[Johnmn555]

We need to rethink our strategy while in the lead. We basically fell on the ball on our last three possessions, with the exception of one pass, a very ill advised toss into coverage that was intercepted. On defense, our prevent barely slowed them down.

But all of that is for another day, let's bask in the glory of this one. This season looks totally different from what it did just 8 days ago.

[DonYates]

Brent,

You predicted two wins for Vandy in the SEC this season. Let's hope you end up wrong if that turns into three SEC wins next week. A good wrong.

[dore74]

I thought after the pick at our 5 the staff was worried about QB passing. Mike Wright is a hell of a great guy and leader. But he is clearing much more a running than throwing QB. Frankly it should be noted we won with our second string QB (or 1b anyway).
On the other hand by hook or by crook he just plain wins, how do you sit him?
One last thought. Not going into OT via a Hail Mary on that last play after the blown call was so in VU

[historybill]

I can nit-pick about time management, but the coaching staff deserves a huge amount of credit for the way this team played the last two weeks.

Can you imagine the disparity between the recruiting "stars" of the players that were on that field? HA!

I thought we might beat Missouri OR South Carolina. I never thought Vanderbilt would beat Kentucky AND Florida.

Ray Davis is as tough as hell. He's like Derek Henry.

Our offensive line played great.

Wright did make a really bad decision to throw that ball in the fourth quarter, but he made a couple of incredibly good decisions to throw on the run in the game.

Don't think I've ever seen a game where one team scored three touchdowns by NO extra points. That was new.

Let's also remember that a senior starter on our defense was kicked out of the game on the first series because of a bizarre targeting call. The D overcame that!

[alathIN]

We need to rethink our strategy while in the lead. We basically fell on the ball on our last three possessions, with the exception of one pass, a very ill advised toss into coverage that was intercepted. On defense, our prevent barely slowed them down.

But all of that is for another day, let's bask in the glory of this one. This season looks totally different from what it did just 8 days ago.

I agree it's nerve wracking to go totally ground bound with a late lead and play prevent D. But our QB, much as we love him, is prone to inexplicable INTs and our DBs are prone to getting beat deep - the upperclassmen due to marginal speed and the younger guys due to inexperience. I think the coaches see the same issues we do, but they're choosing between two not-great options.

I do think part of this late season improvement we're seeing is the more talented fresh and soph are a little more experienced.

[VU1970]

I have every confidence that Lea and his staff will make the right call on who starts at QB next week. I'm just glad the game actually means something beyond rivalry week (to us, at least; not sure it will mean anything to the visitors).

[vandy05]

We need to rethink our strategy while in the lead. We basically fell on the ball on our last three possessions, with the exception of one pass, a very ill advised toss into coverage that was intercepted. On defense, our prevent barely slowed them down.

But all of that is for another day, let's bask in the glory of this one. This season looks totally different from what it did just 8 days ago.

I agree it's nerve wracking to go totally ground bound with a late lead and play prevent D. But our QB, much as we love him, is prone to inexplicable INTs and our DBs are prone to getting beat deep - the upperclassmen due to marginal speed and the younger guys due to inexperience. I think the coaches see the same issues we do, but they're choosing between two not-great options.

I do think part of this late season improvement we're seeing is the more talented fresh and soph are a little more experienced.

I have a little bit of a different take on this. On one of our final drives we were really smashing them in the run game and Mike threw the interception. We ma have been running the ball a lot, but it was VERY successful. I am generally in favor of mixing things up, but yesterday it didn't seem like there was a need to do that.

[secchamp]

Always enjoy reading your analysis BrentVU. I'm so happy for the players and the staff. I've always liked CCL as a person and felt like he would retirement the program well. I believe this win is huge for recruiting and really turning the corner to a winning season next year. I predicted 5 wins before the season...I really hope I'm wrong!