Florida over comes a poor first half to defeat Vandy 34-17

Posted 7:19PM on Saturday 6th November 2004 ( 20 years ago )

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) The Florida Gators are emotionally worn out from their own personal soap opera. Luckily, they ran into the one Southeastern Conference team that can't beat them no matter how much the Gators helped them. Chris Leak ran for a touchdown and threw for two more, and Florida snapped a two-game losing streak by beating Vanderbilt 34-17 Saturday for its 14th straight victory in this series despite four turnovers within the first 25 minutes. The Gators (5-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) gave coach Ron Zook his first victory since being fired on Oct. 25, and they avoided losing a third straight game for the first time since the end of the 1999 season. ``We are out of gas, but we are not going to stop and cancel games,'' Zook said. ``Our players have learned more about life and more about toughness. They learned more about the game of football than ever. All you can do is keep going and keep doing that.'' Leak was 22-of-29 for 307 yards, and Ciatrick Fason ran 26 times for 170 yards and a touchdown as Florida outgained Vandy 500-372 in total offense despite the Commodores holding the ball for 34 minutes. But the Gators couldn't have started the game with less emotion, losing three fumbles with an interception after having lost four fumbles combined through the first eight games. They hurt themselves repeatedly with 12 penalties for 108 yards, once even erasing a touchdown with a personal foul. ``We're drained because of all the extra stuff going on around here,'' Florida receiver O.J. Small said. ``Physically, we're right where we want to be.'' Luckily, Florida was playing Vanderbilt (2-7, 1-5), which converted those turnovers into 17 points but couldn't get into the end zone on its own. The Commodores' best chance to beat Florida for the first time since 1988 came when they drove from their own 7 to the Gators 10 trailing 24-17. But Vanderbilt bogged down, and Patrick Johnson missed a 38-yard field goal short into a brisk wind. Vanderbilt had one final chance to score in the final seconds only to turn the ball over on downs at the Florida 5. ``It's disappointing for us every time we lose,'' Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said. ``It was an opportunity for us to make a statement.'' Leak put Florida up for good by shaking off the penalty that erased his 11-yard TD pass to Chad Jackson by finding Tate Casey on the next play for a 26-yard TD with 11:36 left in the third quarter. Leak padded the lead with a 35-yarder to Dallas Baker in the fourth. ``Chris is going to do whatever he can,'' Zook said. ``He is a winner and a warrior. He's a guy who's going to be better next year than he is this year, and he's going to win a lot of football games at Florida.'' Just not for Zook, the coach Leak credited with keeping the exhausted Gators from panicking by pointing out their mistakes at halftime. ``It's an emotional for everyone. It's just great to come out of here with a win,'' Leak said. Fason became the seventh Florida running back to top 1,000 yards in a season and the fourth-quickest, doing it in just nine games. Zook was the one who told him that fact in the locker room in a five-minute conversation. ``He's the one that kept me at UF, and he's the one that made me a better player,'' Fason said. Matt Leach added field goals of 49 and 47 yards for Florida. Vanderbilt led 17-14 at halftime despite losing starting quarterback Jay Cutler at the end of its first drive. He sprained his right ankle when sacked by Marcus Thomas, who had two sacks. Bright only threw three passes, completing only one for 8 yards, in the first half. Moses Osemwegie fell on a fumble after Kevin Joyce sacked Leak and knocked the ball loose in the end zone for a 10-0 lead. Norval McKenzie scored his first TD of the season on a 19-yard run, making it 17-7 midway through the second quarter. Leak completed his first 10 passes, and he almost single-handedly kept the Gators in the game by setting up their first TD and diving over for a 2-yard TD himself just before halftime. But in a play that symbolized Florida's troubles, a Leak pass into the wind to Andre Caldwell bounced off the receiver's hands and to Vandy cornerback Bill Alford at the Commodores' 7 for the Gators' fourth turnover.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/11/147952