NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The Florida Gators’ biggest challenge now is not tripping on their way to their Southeastern Conference championship showdown with No. 1 Alabama.
The Vanderbilt Commodores? They have only three games left to fulfill the thrilling promise they showed just a month ago.
The Gators, who moved up a spot to No. 3 Sunday, may be in better position on their end after routing Vanderbilt 42-14 on Saturday night to clinch the SEC East title.
“It’s a great accomplishment for our team, but we still have to play South Carolina next week,” Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes said. “We’re not going to overlook anybody. We are turning our focus on South Carolina, and that’s it.”
If the Gators (8-1, 6-1) play like they did against Vanderbilt, South Carolina on Nov. 15, The Citadel and Florida State, they will arrive in Atlanta on Dec. 6 with their plans for a second national championship in three seasons firmly intact.
`I admire the maturity level and attention to detail. This is a tough place to come play and a quality football team with some very good players that at one point was ranked in the top 15 in the country.”
Vanderbilt had been ranked as high as 13th during a five-game winning streak to open the season. The Commodores even had a chance to move into a tie atop the SEC East by beating Florida. Instead, they dropped to 5-4, 3-3 with their fourth straight loss and are still looking for the one victory that will make them bowl eligible for the first time since 1982.
Commodores coach Bobby Johnson sounded frustrated after playing what he called an outstanding team. Florida scored on its first four possessions, intercepted a pass and blocked two punts – all within the first 18 minutes.
“The pressure of trying to be perfect all the time it’s pretty tough, but that’s what you have to do. You have to be realistic. They have more athletes than we do right now. That’s the truth,” Johnson said.
Among those players is Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. He threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more, rolling up a combined 259 yards. He was perfect at the start, completing all five passes and topping his single-game rushing total within the first quarter. He led the Gators on another TD drive to open the second half and didn’t come off the bench after that.
This is the 10th time Florida has won or tied for the SEC East and its ninth trip to the SEC championship game. The Gators are 3-2 against Alabama.
Tebow called winning the SEC East exciting, then gave the one-game cliche.
“Making it to Atlanta for the SEC championship was one of our goals at the beginning of the season, but our goal is to take care of business every Saturday,” he said.
He tossed TD passes to Murphy, Riley Cooper and David Nelson while scoring himself on runs of 26 and 8 yards. Tebow sidestepped defenders before throwing downfield on a 41-yard TD pass to a wide-open Nelson for a 35-0 halftime lead that impressed Johnson.
“He doesn’t get flustered even though he’s getting pressured, people around his ankles, and we just couldn’t tackle him,” Johnson said of Tebow. “He comes out of it and makes big plays, looks like he’s going to be sacked and they throw a touchdown. I think he’s a really outstanding player.”
Florida outgained Vanderbilt 422-264 in a game that only became close when Chris Nickson came off the bench when Mackenzi Adams got a neck stinger. Nickson drove the Commodores 81 and 87 yards and tossed two TD passes.
“Even if they were a little disinterested after that, they were still executed well and our guys fought hard,” Johnson said.
Florida gets a week off before hosting South Carolina and former Gators coach Steve Spurrier.
Vanderbilt visits Kentucky followed by a home game against struggling Tennessee. The Commodores conclude with a visit to Wake Forest.
“We don’t want to lose another game this season,” Vandy safety Ryan Hamilton said. “We are going to try to forget the last four games and start fresh.”
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