Vanderbilt at Florida: A Much-Needed Homecoming for the Gators

After last Saturday’s 33-14 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats, the Florida Gators will be returning to The Swamp for their homecoming game when they take on the 2-4 Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday at 4 PM on SEC Network. 

Florida Gators head coach Billy Napier was blunt in discussing the loss to Kentucky in his press conference Monday. 

“There is no sugarcoating it; we started slow in the game. We took punches, and we contributed to the issues by making mistakes,” Napier said. 

Unsurprisingly, Florida fell out of the top 25 ranking in the Associated Press rankings poll that was released last Sunday afternoon after their loss to Kentucky. 

Florida will be looking to avenge the loss they had against Vanderbilt a season ago when they went up to Nashville and lost 31-24. Vanderbilt has lost four games in a row, allowing 36 or more points in each of those losses, including their 38-21 loss to Missouri last Saturday. 

Dating back to 2017, Vanderbilt has not scored against the Gators when they play in The Swamp. After the performance the Gators’ defense had against Kentucky, it’s not hard to imagine they would like to keep that streak going on Saturday.

Vanderbilt Players to Know About 

QB AJ Swann 

Vanderbilt’s starting QB is AJ Swann, who has thrown for 1,290 yards and 11 touchdowns on the season but has thrown seven interceptions and has been sacked nine times, giving the Gators an opportunity to create some turnovers. 

RBs Patrick Smith and Cedrick Alexander 

Vanderbilt goes with a two-running-back approach on offense by utilizing both Patrick Smith and Sedrick Alexander. Smith has 57 carries for 238 yards and two touchdowns on the season, and Alexander has 44 rushes for 180 yards and three touchdowns on the season. 

Smith and Alexander were bottled up against Missouri, though, as they rushed for just 14 yards total against the Tigers. 

After giving up 280 yards and four touchdowns to Kentucky RB Ray Davis, Florida’s defense will be looking to stop Smith and Alexander every chance they get. 

WR Will Sheppard 

Vanderbilt’s go-to WR is Will Sheppard, who has 32 catches for 443 yards and seven touchdowns on the season. Sheppard has caught five or more passes in four out of the last five games for the Commodores and has caught five touchdowns over that five-game span. Florida’s secondary will definitely be focused on shutting Sheppard down on Saturday.

LB CJ Taylor 

Vanderbilt’s best player on defense is linebacker CJ Taylor, who has 40 total tackles on the season, three sacks, two forced fumbles, and two pass deflections. Given how the Florida offensive line has performed the past few games, accounting for Taylor will be a major priority. 

Billy Napier Will Continue Calling Plays On Offense

When Florida first hired Billy Napier from the University of Louisiana to be the school’s next head coach, he stated confidently in his introductory press conference that he would be calling the plays on offense.

“I’ll be calling the plays here. I think it gives us an advantage, in my opinion,” Napier said.

Through 18 games, Napier’s playcalling is beginning to be questioned by not just the media but by the fanbase as well. Napier responded to a question from a reporter in his Monday press conference about potentially giving up play-calling duties.

“Everything that we do is always being evaluated. I think one of the things that’s challenging as a leader when you have a core responsibility, if there’s things in that area that can be done better, you’ve got to be able to tell yourself the truth, if that makes sense.”

Wholesale changes will never be made midseason, given how the current coaching staff operates, but the pressure is definitely heightening surrounding Napier and him continuing to call the plays on offense.

Keys to Victory for Florida 

Re-Establishing Your Identity 

For the last two weeks, since the Gators upset the Tennessee Volunteers, Florida has gone away from what allowed them to get that upset victory. 

Against Charlotte, Florida lacked the running game they utilized to defeat the Vols, but the defense was stout. 

Against Kentucky, both the offense and defense were outplayed and outmatched, especially the defense. Without a successful running game, Florida’s offense became predictable and easy to dissect, which Kentucky did for all four quarters. 

When the Gators take on Vanderbilt, they need to go back to what has worked for them: running the football efficiently, utilizing different motions pre-snap on offense to confuse the Vanderbilt defenders, and playing stout defense to complement the offense. 

The defense playing as poorly as they did against Kentucky was shocking, to say the least. The plethora of missed tackles against Kentucky RB Ray Davis brought out some PTSD amongst fans that stemmed from the Dan Mullen-Todd Grantham era of Florida football from just a few years ago. 

The defense will certainly be looking to get back on track against the Commodores, who average 274.2 yards passing per game and 97.3 yards rushing per game. 

Keeping QB Graham Mertz Upright and Protected 

Along with their struggles running the football, the Gators’ offensive line struggled to keep QB Graham Mertz protected against Kentucky, allowing three sacks to the Wildcats and constant pressure to Mertz, who often had to scramble outside the pocket to keep plays alive. 

If Graham Mertz has a clean pocket to operate from, he has shown that he can make the throws necessary for the offense to move down the field. That’s not saying that Mertz has made every throw, but with a 79% completion rate, Mertz is definitely playing better than most were willing to give him credit before the 2023 season started. 

Limiting Self-Inflicted Mistakes 

The Gators played poorly against Kentucky, but they didn’t help themselves with the self-inflicted mistakes either. Whether it was penalties or turnovers, Florida has to find a way to limit the self-inflicted mistakes that have plagued them more often than not this season. 

Florida is 30th in the country in turnovers lost, with three fumbles and one interception thrown. 

Vanderbilt is 23rd in the nation in turnovers gained this season, with one fumble recovery and seven interceptions forced. 

Whoever wins the turnover margin battle will win this game.

True Freshman WR Andy Jean Set to Take On Increased Role in Offense 

Losing WR Caleb Douglas to injury against Kentucky is a big blow to the Gators’ offense, as he was the big body receiver who could make contested catches and make catches on deep routes in one-on-one coverage. Napier confirmed in his press conference on Monday that Douglas will be out 4-6 weeks. 

Florida will need to look towards receivers Ricky Pearsall,, true freshman Eugene “Tre” Wilson (if he plays after being a late scratch prior to the start of the Kentucky game), Kahleil Jackson, who’s quietly had a good season thus far for the Gators, and WR Marcus Burke who Napier confirmed would be back for the Gators against Vanderbilt after being out injured since the Utah game. 

The one receiver who will likely take on the biggest role with Douglas being out is true freshman Andy Jean. Jean filled in for Douglas against Kentucky and has appeared sparingly in the last few games. Now, Jean is set to become a mainstay in the offense until Douglas can return.

Napier spoke about Jean and his expanding role in his press conference on Monday. 

“Andy’s role will definitely grow here. It was good to see him be able to execute and to get some experience,” Napier said. 

Going into the 2023 season, the talk in Gainesville was all about the young, talented receivers Florida brought in with the 2023 recruiting class. Those receivers, particularly Jean, will get an opportunity to play significant snaps against Vanderbilt on Saturday.