Florida scored more football points than Vanderbilt on Saturday. That’s all you need to know.
In the end, that’s all that matters. We rarely remember how it got done enough to change our minds on anything, just that it got done.
With that, Florida clinches the SEC East, which, by default, puts the Gators one win from at least mild consideration for you to be in the CFB Playoff shakedown, no matter what happens. The glut of unbeatens will work itself out. It always does.
The real issue now for Florida becomes dealing with expectations, which certainly died on the vine for most of these players during the Will Muschamp era. Jim McElwain wasn’t hired with a ton of fanfare, but the ends justify what people expect, and when the ends are wins at Florida, what people expect has its own unique timetable.
Make no mistake, the win over Vandy was “stepping into an outhouse at a music festival in the middle of June when it’s been 90 degrees for the last 5 days”-level gross. If you’ve never been in such a situation, go ahead and ask someone who has.
Florida couldn’t get to 270 total yards. Hell, Vanderbilt couldn’t get to 200. Between the two, the teams were 8 for 31 on third downs. In terms of total net yards, neither hit 25o and Vandy didn’t hit 160.
Want more gross-ness? How about the fact that Vandy averaged 2.5 yards per play, 1.6 less than Florida.
One has to wonder how much Florida can keep this up now that the pressure is squarely on. If you’re McElwain, you’re thrilled you got a win because winning is hard and not guaranteed, plus you get six months’ worth of material to complain about at practice.
To the outsider, one has to wonder if it was simply overlooking a team (indicative of a young team learning how to win) or a squeezing of the actual pressure of winning the SEC East (which would be a little more concerning going forward).
The pressure for the Gators will only increase. When you win in the SEC, no matter how you do it or what people expected of you previously, it comes with the territory. Win out, and it’s a one-game playoff to be in a playoff.
This is how it will be for Florida going forward. This is what winning is like a major program. The Gators can only hope they get used to this. This is what the Florida players came to the school for, adjusted expectations be damned.
McElwain relayed to Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason that the Gators may not have deserved to win, but they did anyway. In sports, it’s better to not deserve and get rather than deserve and not get. That’s the black and white of it.
