Gators Travel to Nashville in Matchup With Vanderbilt

The Florida Gators eye their fourth-straight win when they hit the road to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores Saturday at noon. Offense has been the storyline this season, and the Gators (5-1, 5-1) will look to keep that success going as they head to Nashville.

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Florida Looking for Improvement Each Week

It has been quite the season for this Gators football team. Florida has been arguably one of the best offensive squads in the country this season, averaging a mighty 45.8 points per game, which is good for 12th-best nationally and third-best in the SEC.

Additionally, the Gators have perhaps one of the premier quarterbacks in the nation directing this high-flying offense, as well. Redshirt senior Kyle Trask has an FBS-best 28 touchdowns on the year and only three interceptions.

In last week’s game against the Arkansas Razorbacks, Trask continued to make his case for the Heisman Trophy after throwing for over 300 yards and six touchdowns on the way to a 63-35 victory.

Kyle Trask keeps his 🎩 in the ring for Heisman 🐊 pic.twitter.com/gSEzrdQLtw

— ESPN (@espn) November 15, 2020

While Florida has had a lot of success so far this season, there is always room to improve. This is something head coach Dan Mullen continues to stress as his team hits the home stretch.

One side of the ball that has gotten better over the last few games for the Gators is the defense. Sophomore linebacker Mohamoud Diabate said during the last couple of weeks, the energy levels have begun to pick up in practices and in games.

Mullen also believes there has been an improvement with the defense. He feels there is finally some cohesiveness on this side of the football.

Florida looks to have finally found an identity on defense. And with an offense that continues to roll, the sky is the limit for this Gators squad.

The same can not be said, however, for Florida’s opponent on the other side.

Commodores Struggling

It has been a tough season for head coach Derick Mason and his Vanderbilt team. The Commodores (0-6) have yet to find a win this season.

Last week, Vanderbilt played the Kentucky Wildcats in a close contest, but ultimately came up on the short end, 38-35. While Vanderbilt has not seen much success on the year, the Commodores seem to always keep it interesting with the Gators in Nashville.

Mason said coming into Saturday’s game, the attention needs to be on themselves and finding a way to put together a complete performance in every skill position on the field.

Vanderbilt’s defense will face arguably its toughest of the year when it lines up against the high-scoring Florida offense. When asked his thoughts on Trask, Mason said he has some of the similarities of Joe Burrow from last season in terms of being able to get his team out of situations.

While Trask can be a handful in himself for opposing defenses, he also has tons of weapons around him that makes defending this offense even harder for teams. Mason said the Gators are talented at every position and is looking forward to the challenge of trying to slow down their attack.

Saturday’s matchup sees two teams heading in different directions. Can the Commodores make it interesting with Florida when the two teams hit the field? We’ll find out soon enough.