The Commodores have quite a tall order in front of them today as they visit the top-ranked Florida Gators (8-0, 6-0 Southeastern Conference), winners of a nation-best 18 in a row dating to last season. The game will begin at 6:15 CDT and will be televised on ESPN2.
Vanderbilt (2-7, 0-5) has not defeated Florida since 1988 and trails the all-time series 30-9-2. The Gators blew the Commodores out last season at Vanderbilt Stadium, scoring six touchdowns in their first seven possessions before putting in their back-ups in a 42-14 victory.
The Commodores lost any small hopes of returning to a bowl game this season when they received their most lopsided defeat of the season last week in a 56-31 battering at the hands of 11th-ranked Georgia Tech.
Spikes out: Florida middle linebacker Brandon Spikes elected to remove himself from any game action against Vanderbilt after controversy surrounded head coach Urban Meyer's decision to sit him for one half when the defensive standout was shown trying to gouge a Georgia player's eyes out last week.
The defensive standout said he didn't want to be a distraction to his teammates and asked to be suspended for the entire game. Spikes was caught trying to gouge out Bulldog running back's Washaun Ealey's eyes during Florida's 41-17 victory that clinched the Gators a spot in the SEC Championship game.
Click here to read the story.
Adams back in the line of fire: Vanderbilt redshirt senior quarterback Mackenzi Adams, for the third year in a row, will make his first start of the season on the road against a top-10 opponent.
His first career start came in a 17-6 win over then-No. 6 South Carolina in 2007, and last year he replaced Chris Nickson to start against then-No. 10 Georgia in a 24-14 loss.
In those two games, he threw four touchdown passes against three interceptions.
Adams is making his 10th career start. Since winning his first two, he has lost seven in a row.
Tebow taking care of business: Senior quarterback Tim Tebow, after struggling with two pick-sixes thrown in a 29-19 victory over Mississippi State, was his usual self in the Gators' dismantling of Georgia, throwing two touchdown passes and rushing for two more.
He has annihilated the Commodores the past two years, completing 34-44 passes for 452 yards and six touchdowns against one interception, while also rushing for four touchdowns.
Swamped: Vanderbilt has not won in Gainesville since 1945, the first time the Gators and Commodores met.
Other than in 2005, the infamous 49-42 double overtime loss where Earl Bennett was questionably flagged for excessive celebration to take away a game-winning two-point conversion attempt at the end of regulation, Vanderbilt has got it handed to them in the Swamp.
Florida has averaged 51 points a game the last four times they've met in Gainesville. Along with Alabama and LSU, the Gators are one of three teams Bobby Johnson has yet to defeat during his tenure in Nashville.
