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On leg of Hardin, Florida sneaks by Vanderbilt to win SEC East title
An Austin Hardin 43-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter gave Florida a hard-fought 9-7 victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday in Gainesville. As a result, the Gators have clinched the SEC East Division title.
It was an immense struggle for both teams on the offensive side of the ball. Florida turned the ball over four times, and Vanderbilt quarterback Johnny McCrary finished the day 3-of-14 for 31 yards.
The hero was Hardin. Prior to the Vanderbilt game, he accrued a conversion rate below 50 percent (3 for 7) on field-goal attempts in 2015. Hardin was also 14 of 29 in his career before the kick. Head coach Jim McElwain used tryout winner Neil MacInnes -- a dental student -- for an extra-point attempt earlier in the game (which he missed).
With a long field-goal attempt late in the game, McElwain opted for the more experienced option in Hardin.
As such, the kicker stepped up in crunch time and nailed the game-winning kick -- sending the Gators to his hometown of Atlanta. It's the first time since 2009 in which Florida will feature in the conference championship game.
