NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Urban Meyer was worried coming into the game.
An 11:21 (CDT) kickoff in 40-degree weather with a potential Southeastern Conference championship play-in game seven days away could have left the Gators sleeping at the wheel in Nashville.
“I was very concerned about that,” Meyer said. “I’m turning into a Florida guy not liking that cold weather very much. I saw their faces at the hotel at 7 in the morning.”
But Florida (6-3, 4-3 SEC) put all of Meyer’s concerns to rest and lit up the scoreboard
early and often to set up a showdown with South Carolina next week and blow past Vanderbilt 55-14 on Saturday.
The Gators and the Commodores (2-7, 1-5 SEC) started slow as they combined for 10 possessions and six punts in the first quarter, but that changed — at least for Florida.
UF exploded with 34 points in the second quarter ignited by a pair of blocked punts from Chris Rainey, who played in his second game after a five-game suspension, that set up two touchdowns.
Rainey also scored himself. He caught a 40-yard pass in the end zone with a Vanderbilt cornerback draped all over him to put UF up 21-0.
“Like I told you all last week and I’ve told you all year long, he’s the best player on our team,” senior Mike Pouncey said. “He shows it week in and week out and we’re just glad to have him back.”
Florida also received some unexpected help under center from freshman Jordan Reed, who threw a career-high 19 passes Saturday. On his first pass of the game he rocked forward as if he was going to run the ball, but quickly began to drop back and threw a 31-yard strike to Deonte Thompson for a touchdown — the first touchdown pass for UF in five games.
“[Reed is] a freak athlete,” Meyer said. “You can see what a dynamic runner he is. He’s got a nice arm. But we don’t have that big runner and he gives us that.”
Reed has lined up at tight end for most of the season, but he used his athleticism to run for a team-high 84 yards on 16 attempts against Vanderbilt.
The Gators’ 34 points in the second quarter is more than they have scored in four whole games this season.
UF came out of the locker room for the second half with a 41-0 lead and a bland offense, but it didn’t matter.
The defense held Vanderbilt to 109 total yards and put up a touchdown of its own off a 45-yard fumble return from defensive tackle Terron Sanders.
The Gators have strung two wins together since stumbling into a three-game losing streak. Now UF has just one more thing on its to-do list before achieving its goal of earning a trip to Atlanta: beat South Carolina.
“I like the look. … It’s real clear what the focus is,” Meyer said. “It’s championship week in Gainesville.”
