Florida Gators
Vanderbilt
Here's the Kicker: Gators' Escape Act Locks Up Atlanta
Saturday, November 7, 2015 | Football, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Jim McElwain tried. Over and over, he talked about Vanderbilt's defense as a formidable force heading into Florida's homecoming date at The Swamp. How many actually bought into it -- whether inside the locker room or out -- really didn't matter late in the fourth quarter Saturday.
Next to nothing had gone right for the Gators, who trailed the heavy-underdog Commodores by one point inside of three minutes. And now McElwain had to rely -- of all things -- on a struggling field-goal kicker to rescue UF's season.
"When you're on a championship run -- and let's call it what it is: we are on a championship run -- sometimes there are games like this," McElwain said after watching his team survive a horrific (and uncharacteristic) four-turnover afternoon by the offense. "And champions figure out ways to win."
Austin Hardin, replaced by a student body walk-on in midseason, piped a 43-yard field goal with 2:22 remaining to give the No. 11 Gators a numbing 9-7 win over the Commodores that wrapped the program's first Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title in six years in front of 90,000 freaking-out fans at The Swamp.
The Commodores had a chance to win the game, but the Florida defense -- outstanding on the day except for one play -- halted Vandy quarterback Johnny McCrary on downs with 36 seconds left after a fourth-down completion fell short of the mark at his own 45.
The Gators (8-1, 6-1) are going to Atlanta for the SEC title game for the first time since 2009 and will likely play a West Division champ expected to come from the trio of Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss.
“It's a great feeling," senior defensive lineman Jon Bullard said. "We're going to celebrate tonight with the fellas, but we're going to come in Monday. It's no good to just get that one win.”
Not when everything -- yes, everything -- is still in play for this team, regardless of what Saturday looked like. Florida remains in the College Football Playoff conversation and still has its SEC regular-season finale next week at South Carolina, followed by home games against Florida Atlantic and Florida State before the league championship game Dec. 5 at the Georgia Dome.
"It means everything, especially for a team that hasn't been able to do this in a while," junior defensive end Bryan Cox Jr. said. "We definitely feel good about that.”
"It's great," sophomore quarterback Treon Harris said. "But we have a lot of work to do to get better."
Harris and a struggling offense shook off 57 minutes of sub-par productivity by going 20 yards in five plays -- moving from Vandy's 45 to the 25 after a shanked Commodores punt -- before facing a fourth-and-inches.
Only a championship was on the line.
Walk-on Neil MacInnes began the game as UF's kicker, having won the much-ballyhooed open student-body tryout two weeks ago after the Gators lost Jorge Powell to a knee injury and Hardin could not find the middle of the uprights. MacInnes, whose last field goal came as a senior at Tampa Chamberlain High, missed his only kick of the day -- an extra-point attempt on the game's third possession -- and McElwain turned to Hardin, who was 3-for-7 for the season, having missed his last three.
"We had a plan," McElwain said. "Austin was going to kick the longer ones."
Florida had not made a field goal since Oct. 3 against Ole Miss (and Hardin had not made once since Sept. 12 against East Carolina), but now needed a 45-yarder to save its season. And to repeat, only a championship was on the line.
Hardin pounded the ball through the uprights, dead solid perfect, as Florida Field went wild.
From there, the defense finished the comeback.
"Close ball game," Vandy coach Derek Mason said. "I want to give credit where credit is due. The University of Florida … they ended up playing to win. Coach McElwain's team competed for 60 minutes, four quarters, and we found ourselves on the other side of a victory."
It could easily have gone the other way.
The Gators were held to just 258 total yards, but limited the Commodores to 175. Harris finished 12 of 24 for 158 yards, with junior wideout Demarcus Robinson good for nine catches and 109 yards, including two huge catches for 15 yards on the final drive to get UF in field-goal range. Vandy's McCrary was just 3-for-14 for 30 yards, but did not turn the ball over.
No one on the Commodores did.
That and a splendid, ball-hawking defensive display kept Vandy not only in the game, but in control of it the better part of the day.
Tailback Ralph Webb (22 carries, 118 yards) dashed 74 yards for a touchdown with 48 seconds left in the first half to stun the crowd and give the Commodores (3-6, 1-4) a 7-6 lead, the difference being Tommy Openshaw's made point-after.
Webb, a senior from Gainesville High, scored after Vandy's defense intercepted Harris on a fourth-and-1 attempt, turning the Gators away for the fifth time in the opening six drives, all of which entered Commodores territory but netted only six points.
The trend continued into the third period, as UF's three possessions netted nine plays for minus-18 yards, including a running play by tailback Jordan Scarlett that lost 15 yards. All three of those possessions started near midfield; the first two at the Vandy 46 and 47, the third at the UF 48.
The Gators actually mounted a promising drive in the fourth period, getting a trio of first downs before wideout Robinson fumbled after dancing with a reception to the Vandy 12.
“We just said keep your head up, we're going to get it back and punch one in," Harris said.
That was UF's fourth and final turnover of the game -- thankfully -- after the Gators came into the game having coughed up the ball just once in the previous five. Florida started the game ranked first in the SEC in turnover ratio at plus-13, but they went minus-4 in this one.
But they got the ball back. And punched it in, as promised.
After Vandy worked for a couple first downs, Florida's defense forced a punt from the Commodores' 33 that came off the side of Tommy Openshaw's foot and went just 12 yards, landing in UF's bench area. Five plays and two first downs set up the decisive fourth down. No one would have blamed the Gators for going it, but no one would have been surprised if Vandy's defense had stopped them again.
Instead, McElwain showed faith in his kicker.
“Man, you never know how a field goal will go," sophomore slotback Brandon Powell said. "I was kind of nervous. I didn't want to watch."
Added junior defensive end Alex McCalister: "I had a towel over my head, just praying ... I knew he was going to make it."
There you have it.
Junior tailback Kelvin Taylor's 3-yard touchdown run gave Florida a 6-0 lead just over six minutes into the game. The score was Taylor's 11th rushing TD of the season and capped a six-play, 41-yard drive set up by freshman Antonio Callaway's 29-yard punt return. One play after Harris ran for a first down on third-and-six from the Vandy 13, Taylor took a handoff and sprinted untouched to the left.
MacInnes pushed the PAT wide right.
Florida could easily put up more points in the first half, but three turnovers in the second period -- one by freshman CeCe Jefferson after a converted fake field goal pass, plus a fumble and interception by Harris -- killed two drives deep in Vandy territory.
That was kind of the tone for the day.
Or rather 57-plus minutes.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of those players and how excited I am for Gators everywhere, as we keep moving forward on this journey," McElwain said. "Now we can talk and talk and talk about all the mistakes, all the what-ifs and all the whys, but at the end of the day there was a group of guys in that locker room that gave everything they had for this university and the state of Florida to win that ballgame."
And a division championship.
