The Florida Gators had to work for it, but they were able to leave Nashville on Saturday night with a 31-17 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores. Quarterback Jeff Driskel didn't throw the ball particularly well for the Gators, but he ran for 177 yards and scored three touchdowns on the ground to pace the Florida offense, including a 77-yard killshot with 2:35 left to ice the game. Driskel now holds the school record for rushing yards in a game by a QB, eclipsing Tim Tebow's 166 yards vs. Ole Miss in 2007.
Both offenses struggled to find consistency in this game, and neither team was very efficient on third down, including an awful 2-of-11 effort from Florida. However, the Gator defense was able to keep Vanderbilt under wraps for most of the game. Jordan Rodgers put up over 200 yards passing, but many of those yards came at the end of the game with Vanderbilt desperate to score. Zac Stacy had 87 yards and a touchdown, and Wesley Tate contributed 66 yards as well. Jordan Matthews hauled in 131 receiving yards and a touchdown, but there weren't many other contributors in the Vanderbilt passing game.
Box Score Hero: Jeff Driskel was only 11-20 for 77 yards through the air, but he reeled off a school-record 177 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Rankings Ramifications: The Gators should rise to No. 4 with West Virginia losing, and could jump all the way to No. 3 if South Carolina loses to LSU.
Bud did they cover? Florida came into the game as a 9.5-point favorite, so they were able to cover the spread.
What's next?
Florida: 10/20, vs. South Carolina
Vanderbilt: 10/20, vs. Auburn
This story originally appeared on SBNation.com.
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