Florida Gators

THE QUICK SLANT
No. 14 Florida 37, Vanderbilt 27   

WHAT HAPPENED: Down by 18 points on the road, the 14th-ranked Gators rallied behind a career-high 284 passing yards by Feleipe Franks, big days from dueling tailbacks Lamical Perine and Jordan Scarlett, and a stout second-half defensive effort for a huge comeback win Saturday over the Commodores at Vanderbilt Stadium. UF, which turned the ball over a season-high three times, trailed 21-3 early in a second quarter that was marred by an ugly verbal back-and-forth between Florida coach Dan Mullen and Vandy coach Derek Mason while the Commodores were tending to an injured player near the UF sidelines. The Gators chipped away at the Commodores' lead behind 24 consecutive points, the biggest coming on a 48-yard touchdown run by Scarlett on the first play of the fourth quarter that gave Florida its first lead at 27-21. A Vandy field goal cut that six-point margin in half, but the Gators put the game basically out of reach on a 9-play, 75-yard drive capped by Franks' 11-yard TD pass to Freddie Swain for a 34-24 lead with 8:07 to go. Franks finished 19 of 29 with two touchdowns and an interception. Perine rushed for a career-high 121 yards and a touchdown to go with 93 yards receiving, with Scarlett adding 113 more with a 48-yard touchdown run, and the Gators rolled up a season-high 576 yards of total offense (with 292 on the ground) while holding the Commodores and QB Kyle Shurmur to just 138 yards and two field goals after halftime. 

WHAT IT MEANS: That's five straight wins for the Gators (and a 3-0 mark on the road), who pending the outcome of the Georgia-LSU game at Baton Rouge later Saturday, could find themselves in a very enviable spot relative to the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division standings. Also, make that 27 wins against Vandy over the previous 28 meetings, dating to 1989, and 14 in a row at Nashville. 
 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Perine, the junior from Mobile, Ala., is carving himself a reputation as not just a reliable all-purpose back, but a really, really productive one. In last week's win over LSU, he had 85 yards and two touchdowns. He totaled 213 yards of total offense against the Commodores and provided one of the biggest plays of the game when, with 20 seconds to play in the half, he turned a simple swing pass into a 63-yard gain down to the Vandy 8. The play led to a short Evan McPherson field goal on the final possession of the half that sent the Gators to the locker room down just one possession and with a bunch of momentum. 

STAGGERING STATISTIC: The Gators had lost 26 consecutive games when trailing by at least 18 points, a streak that dated to Sept. 27, 2003 when Chris Leak and UF stormed from the exact same deficit, 21-3, to beat Kentucky 24-21 at Lexington for what became the biggest road comeback in school history. That memorable rally now has a partner. 

UP NEXT: Florida (6-1, 4-1) has a bye week and will turn its attention to the Oct. 27 clash with No. 2 Georgia (6-0, 4-0) at Jacksonville, a game that help determine the champion of the SEC East, though Kentucky will have a say in that, as well.