Florida Gators

Gators Win Ugly; 13-6 Over Vanderbilt

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Deja vu all over again.

Another year, another nail biter. Another week, another terrible second half. Saturday afternoon the No. 23 Florida Gators (4-1, 2-1 SEC) defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores (2-3, 0-2 SEC) 13-6. Florida has now come away victorious 25 out of its past 26 outings with Vanderbilt.

The Gator offense came out flat as they were forced to punt on four consecutive series to open the game. They finally broke through and scored the first points of the game with a 4-yard touchdown run by running back Jordan Scarlett with 6:27 left in the second quarter. Up until that point, the Gators had 54 yards of TOTAL offense.

That’s pretty bad.

The Commodores answered back with a 12-play, 56-yard drive that ended with a 38-yard field goal by Tommy Openshaw to make the score 7-3 with 2:13 remaining in the second quarter.

The Gators extended their lead to 10-3 right before halftime thanks to freshman kicker, Eddy Pineiro, who nailed a 42-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter.

Oct 1, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Florida Gators running back Jordan Scarlett (25) runs for a short gain during the second half against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Vanderbilt Stadium. Florida won 13-6. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

After back to back punts from the Commodores and the Gators, it was Vanderbilt who scored first in the second half with another Tommy Openshaw field goal. From 27 yards out, the kicker split the uprights making the score 10-6.

No other scoring would ensue until the fourth quarter. Jordan Scarlett, who barely touched the ball after his TD run, finally got some touches early in the fourth quarter. On the Gators’ final scoring drive of the game, he rushed for 35 yards which set up an Eddy Pineiro 26-yard field goal to put the Gators up 13-6.

Vanderbilt had a chance to drive down the field and potentially tie the game with a little over a minute to go, but back-up quarterback Wade Freebeck threw an interception that was deflected by Florida linebacker Jarrad Davis and ended up in the hands of Nick Washington, which sealed the ugly win for the Orange and Blue.

The Florida Gators return home next weekend as they welcome the LSU-‘Les’ Tigers to the Swamp for another noon kick off on Saturday.