Gator Football Shocked By Commodores

The Florida Gator football team (6-5, 3-5) was stunned by the Vanderbilt Commodores (5-6, 2-5) 31-24 31-24 in Nashville on Saturday. This is the Gators’ first loss to Vanderbilt since 2013.

Final from Nashville. #GoGators | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/CMQ32SGAVM

— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) November 19, 2022

Daejon Reynolds’ Career Day Against the Commodores

Although the Gators lost on Saturday to the Commodores, Gator wide receiver Daejon Reynolds had a career day in Nashville. He only had 79 yards on the season as a whole, but he racked up 165 yards and two touchdowns on eight catches against the Commodores.

Of his 165 yards, 74 of them came on one catch.

https://twitter.com/GatorsFB/status/1594053543597469696

Self-Inflicted Mistakes Come Back to Haunt Florida

In the first half, the offense could not get anything going. It only converted one third-down on six attempts. Additionally, its identity has been strongly tied to the run game. However, they only ran the ball for 17 yards in the half. For the Gator offense, the only two scores came from Adam Mihalek’s two field goals.

The defense only allowed seven points in the first two quarters. Though, it could have been less if not for two penalties on two different third downs that led to a score.

Shortly after came even more costly mistakes. First, the defense dropped a potential pick-six. Then, on a punt return Jason Marshall Jr. dropped the ball and Vanderbilt recovered it in the end zone to put themselves up 14-6.

The second half started well for Florida on the first drive. They came out of half and worked their way down the field for a touchdown bringing the game to within two points. However, more mistakes cost them the chance to take the lead. Another costly penalty on third down resulted in an eventual Vanderbilt touchdown. And on the ensuing possession, a Florida receiver dropped a pass that would be intercepted by the defense that led to another score for the Commodore offense.

The Gators tried making it close late with a touchdown catch from Daejon Reynolds to bring them within seven. They even got the ball back with 46 seconds left in the game to tie it. Unfortunately for the Gators, they needed more time as the clock would expire before they were able to score again.

Quarterback Anthony Richardson carried the load offensively in this game with the nonexistent running game from Florida. He completed 25 of his 42 pass attempts for 400 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Despite the outings from Richardson and Reynolds, the Gators, overall, could not stop hurting themselves in this game whether it was on offense, defense or special teams. In the end, they lost 31-24 to the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Next up is the final regular season game of the season in Tallahassee against FSU on Friday night.