Florida quarterback Emory Jones bulls way into end zone.
Florida’s Malik Davis puts the game away by scoring on a 25-yard run with 52 seconds remaining.
History nearly repeats
Dropped pass on fourth-and-five ends
Vandy’s hopes of rallying from 17 down
GAINESVILLE, Fla. —
B-Dawg rallied from being down 31-0 to win at The Swamp during his NCAA 2007 stint at Vanderbilt, so he wasn’t going to become unglued over a paltry 24-7 deficit.
The Commodores battled back to within three points with 4:25 left in the game and had the ball in the final two minutes with a chance to lead, but couldn’t close the deal in a 38-28 loss to the 24th-ranked Gators on Nov. 8, 2021.
The comeback from 31-0 down on Nov. 12, 2012 in NCAA 2007 was B-Dawg’s greatest in any video game. The difference between that Vanderbilt team and this one was that those Commodores were in their seventh season under B-Dawg and were ranked 13th in the country. This Vanderbilt team is ahead of schedule, but doesn’t quite possess the talent as its predecessor.
For instance, most of the receivers at Vanderbilt seven years into the NCAA 2007 dynasty wouldn’t have dropped a key fourth-and-five pass like Will Sheppard did with 1:00 on the clock to end the Commodores’ comeback hopes. That was the seventh drop of the game by Vanderbilt.
Two plays later, Florida put the game away when Malik Davis broke off a 25-yard touchdown run with 52 seconds to go.
“There are no moral victories,” B-Dawg said. “This is a game we had no business winning, but it’s a game we could’ve won. We had the ball and had the momentum, but a sack and a dropped pass were killers.”
Receiver Amir Abdur-Rahman caught two touchdown passes less than two minutes apart in the fourth quarter to get the Commodores within striking distance.
Strong safety Max Worship stopped running back Dameon Pierce for no gain on third-and-eight with 2:10 left to give Vanderbilt a shot to at least tie the game.
The Commodores started at their own 20-yard line with 2:04 remaining, but immediately went into reverse when Zachary Carter got his third sack of the game. After an incompletion and a 16-yard completion, Sheppard dropped a fourth-and-five slant.
“Drops were an issue for my guys at Air Force when I first got there,” B-Dawg said. “Once we recruited guys who could hang on to the ball, we were unstoppable. We’re doing OK for a team that drops so many passes.”
If Vanderbilt harbored any delusions of coming back from 10 points down following Davis’ touchdown run, those were wiped away when Trey Dean picked off a pass with 34 seconds left.
Amir Abdur-Rahman caught two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to get
Vanderbilt back in the game.
| VANDERBILT COMMODORES at FLORIDA GATORS |
| Nov. 8, 2021 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Vanderbilt Commodores (6-4) | 7 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 28 |
| #24 Florida Gators (6-3) | 7 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
| Team Stats Comparison |
| VAN | FLA |
| Total Offense | 406 | 425 |
| Rushing Yards | 28-88 | 33-173 |
| Passing Yards | 318 | 252 |
| First Downs | 21 | 14 |
| Punt Return Yards | 50 | 32 |
| Kick Return Yards | 147 | 21 |
| Total Yards | 603 | 478 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 0 |
| 3rd Down Conversion | 6-17 | 4-12 |
| 4th Down Conversion | 3-4 | 0-0 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 1-2 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 4-4-0 | 3-2-1 |
| Penalties | 3-38 | 1-10 |
| Possession Time | 19:11 | 16:49 |
| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | VAN | FLA |
| 5:23 | (VAN) B. Bresnahan 3 pass from M. Wright (J. Bulovas kick) | 7 | 0 |
| 3:39 | (FLA) E. Jones 8 run (C. Howard kick) | 7 | 7 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | VAN | FLA |
| 4:21 | (FLA) T. Whittemore 94 pass from E. Jones (C. Howard kick) | 7 | 14 |
| 1:35 | (FLA) C. Howard 24 field goal | 7 | 17 |
| :12 | (FLA) J. Shorter 29 pass from E. Jones (C. Howard kick) | 7 | 24 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | VAN | FLA |
| 6:20 | (FLA) E. Jones 1 run (C. Howard kick) | 7 | 31 |
| 1:25 | (VAN) R. Davis 2 run (R. Davis run) | 15 | 31 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | VAN | FLA |
| 6:11 | (VAN) A. Abdur-Rahman 11 pass from M. Wright (run failed) | 21 | 31 |
| 4:25 | (VAN) A. Abdur-Rahman 2 pass from M. Wright (J. Bulovas kick) | 28 | 31 |
| :52 | (FLA) M. Davis 25 run (C. Howard kick) | 28 | 38 |
| VANDERBILT COMMODORES | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Mike Wright | 26/55 | 318 | 3 | 1 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Re'Mahn Davis | 15 | 45 | 3.0 | 1 | | Mike Wright | 12 | 33 | 2.7 | 0 | | Rocko Griffin | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Devin Boddie | 7 | 113 | 16.1 | 0 | | Will Sheppard | 6 | 67 | 11.1 | 0 | | Chris Pierce | 4 | 63 | 15.8 | 0 | | Amir Abdur-Rahman | 4 | 41 | 10.3 | 2 | | Ben Bresnahan | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 1 | | Tyrell Alexander | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | | Brayden Bapst | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | | BLOCKING | PANCAKE | SACK | | Bradley Ashmore | 0 | 3 | | Cole Clemens | 0 | 1 | | DEFENSE | TACK | TFL | SACK | INT | | Ethan Barr | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | Dashaun Jerkins | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | Brayden DeVault-Smith | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Max Worship | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | Gabe Jeudy'Lally | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Nate Clifton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Jaylen Mahoney | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Allan George | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Michael Mincey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Brendon Harris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Michael Owusu | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Elijah McAllister | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Justin Harris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | De'Rickey Wright | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Amir Abdur-Rahman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Joseph Bulovas | 0/0 | 2/2 | 2 | 0 | | PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | IN20 | | Harrison Smith | 7 | 269 | 38.4 | 2 | | KICK RETURN | RET | YDS | AVG | LONG | | James Ziglor | 5 | 147 | 29.4 | 47 | | PUNT RETURN | RET | YDS | AVG | LONG | | James Ziglor | 5 | 50 | 10.0 | 18 |
| | FLORIDA GATORS | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Emory Jones | 18/28 | 252 | 2 | 0 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Dameon Pierce | 19 | 63 | 3.3 | 0 | | Emory Jones | 9 | 58 | 6.4 | 2 | | Malik Davis | 3 | 43 | 14.3 | 1 | | Jacob Copeland | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | | Keon Zipperer | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Justin Shorter | 6 | 73 | 12.1 | 1 | | Trent Whittemore | 4 | 144 | 36.0 | 1 | | Kemore Gamble | 4 | 25 | 6.3 | 0 | | Dameon Pierce | 3 | 1 | 0.3 | 0 | | Rick Wells | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 | | BLOCKING | PANCAKE | SACK | | Team | 0 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | TFL | SACK | INT | | Amari Burney | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | Trey Dean | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | Zachary Carter | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | | Kaiir Elam | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | Rashad Torrence | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | DaQuan Newkirk | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | | Tre'Vez Johnson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Mohamoud Diabate | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Jason Marshall | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | LaCedrick Brunson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Scooby Williams | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Avery Helm | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Brenton Cox | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | | Ethan Pouncey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Gervon Dexter | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Chris Howard | 1/2 | 5/5 | 8 | 24 | | PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | IN20 | | Jeremy Crawshaw | 6 | 276 | 46.0 | 0 | | KICK RETURN | RET | YDS | AVG | LONG | | Jacob Copeland | 1 | 21 | 21.0 | 21 | | PUNT RETURN | RET | YDS | AVG | LONG | | Jacob Copeland | 4 | 32 | 8.0 | 20 |
|
Dallas Baker (left) scores the go-ahead TD for Florida with 11 seconds left in the third quarter. Andre
Caldwell takes a reverse from Jermaine McCollum en route to a 68-yard game-clinching punt return
with 3:08 to go.
CHOMPED!
Gators bite back to beat Vandy
after blowing early 14-0 advantage
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — B-Dawg’s assertion that his team plays its best against better competition could never have been more on-the-money than it’s been the last two weeks.
Just one week after getting dominated in a 31-point blowout against a lowly Duke team, 112th-ranked Vanderbilt was actually leading national power Florida late in the third quarter before the 13th-ranked Gators came back with two big plays to win, 31-20 on Nov. 4, 2006.
Two touchdown passes from Chris Leak to Andre Caldwell gave Florida a 14-0 lead just 2:43 into the game, but the Commodores finally found a way to overcome game momentum as two touchdown passes by Mackenzi Adams and two field goals by Bryant Hahnfeldt had them leading the game by a 20-17 score.
Florida proved to be too powerful to contain, however, as the Gators took a 24-20 lead on a 30-yard pass from Chris Leak to Dallas Baker with 11 seconds left in the third quarter on a third-and-four play. Florida pretty much sealed the victory by using a bit of trickeration, as Jermaine McCollum fielded a punt and gave it to Caldwell on a reverse. Caldwell took off and ran 68 yards for his third touchdown of the day with 3:06 left in the game.
“We have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of,” Vanderbilt coach B-Dawg said. “We had one of the best teams in the country on the ropes for a while there, plus we showed some character by not folding after falling behind 14-0 so quickly. We will grow from this game, fo’ sho’.”
An enormous reason why Vanderbilt (2-8) was able to hang around against Florida (7-2) was a defense that forced seven fumbles, recovering four of them. Middle linebacker Jonathan Goff led the charge with a beastly performance, forcing four fumbles and setting a dynasty record with 13 tackles. Goff’s tackle total tied the all-time record for a B-Dawg NCAA player. Buffalo’s Mark Graham had 13 against Akron on Sept. 27, 2003 in NCAA 2004, while Jammal Lavin did it twice and Willie McCloud once in B-Dawg’s NCAA 2005 Michigan dynasty.
Goff’s fourth forced fumble gave Vanderbilt a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter, as he jarred the ball loose from running back DeShawn Wynn with 3:59 left in the game. The ball was recovered by Vanderbilt’s Sean Dixon at the Commodores’ 26-yard line.
However, after going three-and-out, the Commodores punted the ball away and Caldwell responded with the touchdown off the trick play to ice it.
“In the interest of full disclosure, we amped up the Human tackle slider to combat the unstoppable CPU run game once it gets game momentum,” B-Dawg said. “What happens when that slider gets too high is your guys become user-stripping fools. That slider was gradually lowered throughout the game to what we hope will be a happy medium. Sliders are always a work in progress, y’know.”
Another record was set with 2:13 left in the game when a catch by Earl Bennett allowed him to break the real-life single-season record of 1,213 yards set by Boo Mitchell in 1988. Bennett, only a sophomore, has 60 catches for 1,215 yards and nine touchdowns.
Leak showed why he’s expected to be one of the top quarterbacks taken in the Madden draft, going 23-for-33 for 284 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The victory enabled Florida to stay atop the Southeastern Conference East Division with a 6-1 record. Tennessee is 4-1 in the SEC and presumably has come catching up to do schedule-wise. The Volunteers need some help from South Carolina next week in Florida’s SEC finale. Florida owns the tie-breaker over Tennessee, having beaten the Vols 42-35 in Week 3, so the Gators need to lose to the Gamecocks and Tennessee needs to win out to go to the SEC Championship Game.
Vandy, meanwhile, has a game at Kentucky to determine which team will finish last in the division. Both teams are 1-5 in the conference.
PLAYAZ OF DA GAME
Andre Caldwell, Florida; Jonathan Goff, Vanderbilt
FLORIDA 31, VANDERBILT 20
First quarter
FLA: Caldwell 6 pass from Leak (Hetland kick), 6:39
FLA: Caldwell 58 pass from Leak (Hetland kick), 5:17
VANDY: White 44 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), 3:33
Second quarter
FLA: Hetland 32 field goal, 6:54
VANDY: Bennett 47 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), 5:17
Third quarter
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 33 field goal, 5:37
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 33 field goal, 1:54
FLA: Baker 30 pass from Leak (Hetland kick), :11
Fourth quarter
FLA: Caldwell 68 punt return (Hetland kick), 3:06
4 Commodores on awards list
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt is having another wretched season on the football field, but the Commodores have had some strong individual performances throughout the 2006 season.
Four of those individuals have gained national attention, making the list of 12 semifinalists on the various awards lists that were released Monday.
The player with the best shot at an award is middle linebacker Jonathan Goff, who is second for the Best Linebacker award, as well as seventh for the Bednarik as Defensive Player of the Year. Goff has 88 tackles, 20 for losses, four sacks, one pick and seven forced fumbles.
Earl Bennett is sixth on the list for best wide receiver, having made 60 catches for 1,215 yards and nine touchdowns.
Reshard Langford is ninth for the Thorpe as the nation’s top defensive back. He has 55 tackles, one for a loss, four interceptions and two forced fumbles. All four of his interceptions came in Vanderbilt’s first four games. He’s gone six games without a pick.
Bryant Hahnfeldt is 11th for the Groza Award, which goes to the top kicker. Hahnfeldt is 12-for-13 on field goals, with a long of 49, and is perfect on 20 extra points.
LEADERS ON LIST OF AWARD SEMIFINALISTS
Maxwell: Jamil Walker, Wisconsin
Bednarik: Steve Octavien, Nebraska; 7. Jonathan Goff, Vanderbilt
Quarterback: Troy Smith, Ohio State
Walker: Jamil Walker, Wisconsin
Wide receiver: Calvin Davis, Iowa; 6. Earl Bennett, Vanderbilt
Tight end: Matt Herian, Nebraska
Offensive lineman: Kirk Barton, Ohio State
Rimington: Doug Datish, Ohio State
Lombardi: Lawrence Wilson, Ohio State
Best Linebacker: Steve Octavien, Nebraska; 2. Jonathan Goff, Vanderbilt
Thorpe: Roderick Rogers, Wisconsin; 9. Reshard Langford, Vanderbilt
Groza: Mason Crosby, Colorado; 11. Bryant Hahnfeldt, Vanderbilt