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Florida Football: In good news, Vanderbilt doesn’t have Ray Davis this year

By Benjamin Henderson

Sep 16, 2023; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators linebacker Scooby Williams (17) and linebacker Shemar James (6) celebrates against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second quarter at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 16, 2023; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators linebacker Scooby Williams (17) and linebacker Shemar James (6) celebrates against the Tennessee Volunteers during the second quarter at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Earlier this week, when talking about the state of Florida football, Billy Napier got a little bit testy when asked about the Gators’ struggle against Vanderbilt last season.

“This is 2023”

He’s not wrong, and while the overarching narrative of consistency will continue to hang over this program until otherwise, the Gators can at least take solace that the running back that shredded Florida last year in Nashville can’t hurt them anymore this year.

Florida Football: Ray of Sunshine

Perhaps while watching on Saturday as the Gators were shredded by running back Ray Davis, you thought, “Where have I heard that name before?”

Well, time to open up a memory we have all tried to flush away as Ray Davis transferred to Kentucky in the offseason from Vanderbilt. Last season against Florida, Davis ran the ball 30 times for 122 yards as the Gators faceplanted in Nashville.

So since it is, in fact, 2023, and Florida no longer has to worry about Davis, let’s take a look at what this year’s edition of the Vanderbilt Commodores do on offense.

Vanderbilt has scored at least 20 points in every game this season, something the Gators can’t claim at all. The Commodores do have a competent offensive tackle with Gunnar Hansen, but he is far from perfect and has allowed 14 pressures in six games this season. By contrast, for as much as it has felt like Damieon George has struggled at times, he has only allowed eight pressures this season.

They have employed a rotating cast at QB, with AJ Swann and Ken Seals getting playing time. Both are listed as options for Saturday on Vanderbilt’s depth chart.

And even though Vanderbilt is only 98th in the country in completion percentage at 55.9%, they are still 54th in yards per passing attempt because they are willing to take some downfield shots.

Similar to what we expected before the game from Kentucky, even though Vanderbilt only has a “successful play” 45% of the time, they are gaining an expected value of 1.2 points per successful play, top 20 in the country.

By comparison, Florida football is only gaining 0.9 points per successful play, bottom 30 in the country.

The main difference between Kentucky and Vanderbilt is that the Commodores legitimately don’t have a rushing attack now that Ray Davis is in Lexington. Vanderbilt is currently averaging 2.7 yards per rush, a number somehow worse than Florida.

Patrick Smith and Sedrick Alexander have split the bulk of the designed runs for Vanderbilt.

So, as long as Florida can contain Smith and Alexander, the Gators need to limit the big plays on the back end, and they will be fine.

But if Vanderbilt gets its running game going, it could turn into a long afternoon once again for Florida football fans.

Next. Florida's running game needs to be better. dark

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