Welcome Home: Gators Return to Swamp to Face Vanderbilt
Friday, November 4, 2011 | Football
FLORIDA (4-4, 2-4 SEC) vs. VANDERBILT(4-4, 1-4)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5 – 12:21 PM ET
BEN HILL GRIFFIN STADIUM
GAMEDAY INFORMATION | BROADCAST INFORMATION
Roster | Schedule | Statistics | Pre-Game Notes (.pdf)
Storyline:
The University of Florida football team will return home for the first time since Oct. 1, to face the Vanderbilt Commodores. The game time is set for 12:21pm and will be televised live on the SEC Network. This is the first time all season that the Gators will have a kickoff before 3:30 p.m. ET.
Florida (4-4, 2-4 SEC) is coming off a rough month, dropping all four games in October. The Gators lost to No. 22 Georgia, 24-20, last Saturday in Jacksonville. Vanderbilt (4-4, 1-4) missed a game-tying field goal with eight seconds remaining and lost to No. 10 Arkansas, 31-28, last weekend in Nashville.
The Gators are coming off one of the toughest stretches in school history in the past month. Although Florida's schedule is currently only ranked as the 34th toughest in the country, UF faced four AP Top 25 teams in a row during October, including current No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama.
This week marks the University of Florida's annual Homecoming celebration. The Gators lost to Mississippi State last year, ending a 21-game winning streak in Homecoming games. UF has an all-time record of 63-22-2 in Homecoming games. Florida has faced Vanderbilt 10 times in their Homecoming contest, with an 8-1-1 record. UF last faced the Commodores on Homecoming in 2007, with the Gators winning 49-22.
Setting the Stage:
Florida head coach Will Muschamp confident road map that got him here will lead to more wins in the future writes Scott Carter.
After better than a month away from the Swamp, the Gators are happy to be home, but mindful of a vastly improved Vanderbilt squad.
Despite four straight losses, there's one key message and goal throughout the Gators' locker room – Finish Strong. The Gators vow to get back to work and snap their losing streak.
Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis plans to continue tweaking the Gators' offense until they can get rolling again.
Follow the Gators leading up to kick, during at after the game at GatorZone.com with full coverage from Senior Writer Scott Carter. Follow on twitter @GatorZoneNews and @GatorZoneScott and on Facebook at Facebook.com/FloridaGators.
