The Florida Gators picked up their fourth win of the season as they shutout the Vanderbilt Commodores 42-0 in the Swamp. It was Florida’s first shutout of the season but it wasn’t their best showing of the season. We go to the three takeaways from Florida-Vanderbilt.
The Gators have yet to play a full four quarters and it’s not only frustrating their fans; Florida head coach Dan Mullen was not satisfied with his team’s performance. Mullen voiced his displeasure about the way his team played during the halftime report and also was seen very angry on the sidelines.
One thing that should make Mullen a little bit happier was his quarterback’s performance. Emory Jones had a career game in the passing game. Jones could have definitely played better but he looked solid against the Commodores defense.
On defensive side, Florida struggled getting off the field in the first half but had a really dominant second half. They forced two turnovers and also kept the Commodores off the scoreboard. Both of Florida’s safety had big games last Saturday against Vanderbilt.
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Dan Mullen Shows Emotions
After the Kentucky loss, many people questioned Dan Mullen’s will to win. The Florida head coach did not show much emotions two weekends ago and was even caught smiling at the end of the game walking up to Kentucky’s head coach.
That picture of Mullen smiling after a very disappointing loss really rubbed Gators fans the wrong way. Many even questioned how badly he wants to build a winner in Gainesville. Mullen must have heard the criticism he was receiving but he had a complete 180 last Saturday.
Mullen was clearly frustrated by the way his team played in the first half of the Vanderbilt game. Even though Florida was up 21-0 at halftime, he wanted his quarterbacks to play better and thought his defense was awful. The Gators looked much better in the second half and will need to keep that same energy heading into Death Valley this Saturday.
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Emory Jones Has Career Game Through The Air
After a sluggish performance against Kentucky, Emory Jones looked much better as a passer against the Commodores. Jones completed 14 out of 22 yards for 273 yards, four touchdowns and an interception.
Jones set career-high numbers with 273 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. The redshirt-junior’s previous career-high in passing yards was 209 yards against Tennessee. It’s also the same game in which he had the most passing touchdowns. Jones threw two touchdowns in the game against the Volunteers.
Now, Jones had a pretty solid passing performance against Vanderbilt but it could have been better. Jones had missed a wide open Rick Wells that would have been an easy touchdown but overthrew him. The drive still ended in a touchdown but an SEC quarterback needs to hit that wide open receiver ten out of ten times. Overall, a solid performance by Jones but there’s room for improvement.
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Florida’s Safeties Have Strong Performance
Both of Florida’s starting safeties had very impressive performances against the Vanderbilt offense. Sophomore Rashad Torrence II led the Gators in tackles last Saturday. Torrence had fifteen tackles including five solo tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Trey Dean III had seven tackles including two pass breakups and also picked up his first interception of the season. Torrence and Dean have been very solid contributor to the Gators defense all season but this was probably their best games this season.
The Gators secondary has played very well for most of the season and some of the secondary’s success this season is due to their safeties. Florida should also get their All-American cornerback Kaiir Elam back this week.
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