2012 Florida Football Postgame Notes Florida 31, Vanderbilt 17 October 13, 2012
Team Notes Florida extended its winning streak over Vanderbilt to 22 games dating back to a 24-9 loss in 1988. The Gators now lead the overall series between the Eastern Division rivals, 35-9-2, including 16-7-1 in Nashville. With its 6th victory, Florida (6-0) matched its regular-season win total from last year, when it was 6-6. UF’s 5th SEC win is its most in league play since the 2009 season, when it was 8-0. The Gators now have 4 come-from-behind wins in SEC action: Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU and Vanderbilt. Since 1992, the Gators have the best record away from home (Gainesville / does include Jacksonville games) in SEC games at 69-23 (.750). When Vanderbilt scored on a 10-yard pass from Jordan Rodgers to Jordan Matthews in the first quarter, it was the first touchdown allowed by the Gators since the third quarter at Tennessee on Sept. 15. Florida’s 11-play, 91-yard scoring drive in the second quarter was its longest TD drive by yards this year. The Gators’ scoring drives in the first half were for 91 yards (TD) and 83 yards (FG). After Vanderbilt totaled 88 yards of offense in the first quarter, the Gator defense limited the Commodores to 6 yards in the second quarter (-6 rushing, 12 passing). The Gators controlled the ball for 17:29 in the first half and gained 221 yards on 37 offensive plays. With a field goal block by redshirt senior Earl Okine to end Vanderbilt’s first possession of the third quarter, Florida notched its first blocked field goal since Nov. 5, 2011, against the Commodores by Sharrif Floyd. The Gators have now blocked 7 kicks versus Vanderbilt since 2005 and have 4 total in the last 3 meetings. In head coach Will Muschamp’s tenure, the Orange and Blue has blocked 7 kicks in his 19 games. With a 7-0 scoring advantage, Florida has outscored its opponents by a 44-13 margin this year in the third quarter. When Vanderbilt scored on a 1-yard run by Zac Stacy with 8:57 remaining in the game, it marked the first time that an opponent scored in the fourth quarter versus the Gators in 2012. With a 13-10 edge tonight, Florida holds a 54-10 advantage in the final frame. UF was +1 in turnover margin tonight (fumble recovery) and is now +7 on the season. The Gators were 4-for-4 in the red zone, with one touchdown and three field goals. Florida rushed for 326 yards on 35 carries (9.3 avg.) and tallied three touchdowns, all by Jeff Driskel. The Gator defense had a season-high 9 tackles for 48 yards lost.
Individual Notes Sophomore Jeff Driskel carried 11 times for a career-high 177 yards (16.1 avg.) and tallied three rushing touchdowns for the first time in his career. Driskel’s total of 3 rushing TD was the most by a Florida signal-caller since Trey Burton had 5 against Kentucky in 2010. Driskel’s total of 177 yards rushing was a school record by a Gator quarterback, surpassing the 166 by Tim Tebow on 27 attempts at Ole Miss in 2007. Before tonight, the last time that a Florida quarterback had rushed for over 100 yards was on Nov. 21, 2009, when Tebow rushed seven times for 102 yards against FIU. Driskel had a 37-yard scoring run with 11:27 left in the second quarter, at the time his second-longest run of his career (38 yards vs. Kentucky on Sept. 22). At the time, it was also his second rushing TD of the year and his career. Junior Trey Burton converted the two-point attempt with a run for an 8-7 lead, UF’s first two-point conversion try of the season. It was the first two-pointer made by Gators since Oct. 8, 2011, at LSU, when Chris Rainey had a successful rush. With 92 yards on 7 carries in the first half, Driskel exceeded his previous career high of 81 yards rushing at Tennessee in September. Driskel completed 10 passes in the first half (in 17 attempts) after attempting 12 passes against No. 4 LSU last week. The 10 passes were completed to 9 different Gator receivers. Redshirt senior Caleb Sturgis connected on a 23-yard field goal that gave Florida an 11-7 lead with 10 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Junior Solomon Patton executed a fake punt for a 54-yard gain down to the Vanderbilt 3-yard line on a 4th and 5. His previous long rush was 14 yards against Tennessee in September. Driskel later carried the ball 13 yards into the end zone and Sturgis connected on the extra point to give the Gators an 18-7 advantage with 4:31 left in the third quarter.
Redshirt sophomore Neiron Ball recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter that was caused on a sack by senior Jon Bostic. Sturgis expanded the Gators’ lead to 21-7 with a 29-yard field goal – his fourth time in six games this year with multiple field goals. After the Commodores narrowed the gap to 21-14, redshirt junior Andre Debose ripped off a season-high 60-yard kickoff return. Sturgis delivered his third field goal of the night from 26 yards out to put the Gators on top, 24-14, with 5:22 left in the fourth quarter. He also had three field goals in the win at Tennessee earlier this year. Sturgis is now 11-for-13 on field-goal attempts this season. Vanderbilt pulled to within 24-17 with 2:35 left and Driskel responded with a 70-yard touchdown run on the Gators’ next offensive play. The point-after by Sturgis resulted in a 31-17 score. Freshman Antonio Morrison had a team and career-high 8 tackles (6 of which were solo). Sophomore Kyle Christy had 5 punts for 231 yards – 46.2-yard average – with a long of 54 yards, 3 inside of the 20 and one that resulted in a touchback. Sophomore Marcus Roberson collected his first career sack in the second quarter. Other sacks were by Bostic and senior Josh Evans. Freshman Jonathan Bullard made his second start of the season at defensive end. Redshirt sophomore Ian Silberman made his first career start at left guard on the offensive line. A pair of freshmen wide receivers started today – Raphael Andrades (second career start) and Latroy Pittman (first career start).
Other Tonight’s attendance: 40,350 Game Captains: Junior DB Matt Elam, senior RB Mike Gillislee. redshirt junior OL Jonotthan Harrison, redshirt senior BUCK Lerentee McCray Weather at Kickoff: Mostly cloudy, 77 degrees, winds from the S at 13 mph, gusting to 18 mph, humidity 60 percent