The first half was bonkers, but the Gators recovered from a 21-3 early deficit to cover a 9.5-point spread.
The No. 14 Florida Gators won at Vanderbilt on Saturday, 37-27. The final score wasn’t memorable, but this game was comfortably one of the oddest of 2018 so far.
Florida stretched a winning streak against Vandy to five games, but that doesn’t nearly tell the story of how dominant UF’s been in the series. The Gators have now won 27 of their last 28 against the Commodores going back to the start of that run in 1989.
Here’s a quick rundown of really weird things that happened.
1. Vanderbilt’s Joejuan Williams intercepted a Feleipe Franks pass at the Vanderbilt 2-yard line, where the Vandy DB was clearly down. That didn’t stop him from getting up and running 98 yards for an apparent touchdown, before a video review overturned the TD call on the field:
QB Feleipe Franks se fait intercepter dans la red zone des Commodores par DB Joejuan Williams ! Quel gâchis pour les Gators qui pouvaient prendre l'avantage. pic.twitter.com/1JbwHujhYC
— TBP College Football (@thebluepennant) October 13, 2018
Williams’ commitment to the bit was laudable anyway.
2. This completely absurd fumble sequence happened:
HOT POTATO! pic.twitter.com/WoL2Gd2Pd2
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) October 13, 2018
The end result of that: Florida losing possession after a Franks fumble and a miniature game of soccer involving both teams, a momentary ruling by the refs that the Dores didn’t recover the loose ball in bounds, and a whole lot of confusion.
3. The teams had a big dustup on the field, which included Dan Mullen and Derek Mason screaming at each other, while UF defensive coordinator Todd Grantham piled on ...
Following a targeting call on the Gators, Florida's Dan Mullen and Vanderbilt's Derek Mason exchanged words. pic.twitter.com/ZhTimyBWdj
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) October 13, 2018
... and the two teams’ sidelines got progressively closer to each other:
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This was the second time in 2018 that Mason’s been in a testy situation with an opposing coach. He had post-game-week press conference fireworks with Brian Kelly after Vandy’s loss to Notre Dame, with both coaches accusing the other of BAD FOOTBALL. Mason also told Kelly, through the media, to “come see me” if he was mad about Vandy.
4. Both entire benches got unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and a second unsportsmanlike foul on Florida linebacker Vosean Joseph led to his ejection.
The Gators also lost linebacker James Houston IV to a targeting penalty after he laid a crack-back block that started the whole thing. Mullen was furious on his way to the locker room and blamed the game’s officials for letting things spiral out of control:
Dan Mullen ain't happy pic.twitter.com/TUkLbGVnIG
— Sam Cooper (@SamDCooper) October 13, 2018
5. That whole first half broke ESPN.
WTH is “hlaftime”, @ESPNCFB?@edsbs@RedditCFBpic.twitter.com/zMldI9t857
— David Vincent Gagne (@davidgagne) October 13, 2018
Understandable, given the circumstances.
6. Vanderbilt kicker Ryley Guay missed a 25-yard field goal in the third quarter. Then, in the fourth, he flushed one from 53 yards.
7. Oh, and Florida — which had trailed 21-3 with two and a half minutes left in the second quarter — still covered a 9.5-point spread. The comfortable margin is maybe the only thing that isn’t weird about this game, in retrospect. Florida played Vandy, and Florida won. Evan McPherson’s 43-yard field goal in the last minute was the difference in the Gators covering.