Vanderbilt and Complacency

[Gator Narrator]

It’s not an off week, Gator Faithful!

Vanderbilt, while no powerhouse, is coming to the Swamp to try and beat the Gators.  While unlikely, events are culminating to make this game interesting.  They have the SEC best kickoff return man, we’re at home for the first time in weeks, we just wrapped up the SEC East and Brandon Spikes won’t play because he deliberately poked a Georgia player in the eye.  Complacency may be rampant this week.  Let’s talk some football…

Here’s what you need to know about Vandy…Warren Norman is their entire offense.  He’s returned four kickoffs for TDs and has had three others on long runs during the game.  While the KO number is impressive, the rushing TDs…not so much.  None the less, he is the majority of the offense of a not very good Vandy team.  Our special teams do tend to be special, but if they get complacent, he will make the Gators pay.  Mackenzi Adams is starting at QB for the Commodores this week, which was a surprise to me because I didn’t know they were playing with a completely different QB all season.  See…even guys who write about the Gators can get complacent.  Fact of the matter is this, when you least expect it, Vandy could make life difficult for us.  We will still win, but a win by 10 points is not near as impressive as a win by 30 over a team that is oh for the SEC this year.  They’ve got nothing to lose.  Now, having said that, they have no vertical passing game and even if Norman gets two kickoffs for a TD, they’re going to need more than 14 points to beat us and their defense won’t be able to stop us the entire game.  Just isn’t happening.  In fact, I’m hoping the Gators use last week’s game as a springboard to start opening up the offense more.  May be play a few guys on the depth chart (John Brantley, anyone?) and get some people out there for game.  experience.  I always refer to the 1996 National Champion Gator team that needed a late 4th quarter TD to put a stingy Vandy team away.  That team (averaging 46 points a game) only scored 24 at Vanderbilt that day.  Complacency happens.  On any Saturday this season, Vandy shouldn’t beat us.  However, this is the Saturday we are playing them and they’ve got nothing what so ever to lose.

We’re still gonna win.  I think our game last week opened up some eyes that if we do not turn the ball over and call some other number besides Tebow’s that we can’t be stopped on offense.  It probably also helps that we scored four of our five TDs outside the red zone.  It makes it easy not to worry about red zone scoring if you score well before you get there.  Somewhere in some alternate universe I should be the master of the obvious.  The zero turnovers were also key.  That would be a nice trend to continue.  With Herschel’s record broken, I hope we see a majority of carries by our running backs in coming weeks.  Tebow and company still do not look that smooth on option pitches, but this will be a good game to work on that.  I doubt Chris Rainey will play much since he bruised his shoulder, but Demps (around the corners) and Moody (up the middle) should be sufficient to run over the Commodores.  It’s also funny that by spreading the ball to other receivers, you totally get the defense off guard.  That, more than anything, was the best thing we did last week.  So….Brandon Spikes.  He got caught on TV and is paying a big price, both personally and professionally.  Things happen at the bottom of a pile.  He got caught.  His season won’t be the same.  Neither will ours.  We look like the Miami teams of the 80’s and the FSU teams of the 90’s...and we will be reminded of it constantly.  That’s not great company (other than winning percentages) to be associated.  People will downplay it in the coming weeks to a degree, but it will be brought up at the SECCG and subsequent bowl game with a vengeance.  Whatever.  It happened and we will have to deal with it.  Dealing with it by putting on a massive defensive showing this Saturday would be great.  Our defense is starting to look like it is having fun on the field.  That is huge.  Our offense is showing signs, but not there yet.  It’s been a challenging season, but let’s face it, it’s great to be a Florida Gator.  Florida 42  Vanderbilt 3.  I’m hoping for serious playing time by Brantley and all the backups in the second half and I'm not sure we need a huge lead to see him in there.  I'm also hoping for a kickoff returned for a TD by our own Brandon James.  Join your local Gator Club this week where Victory is best served with Gators!  ‘Nuff said.

Go Gators!
Patrick Hayden
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