College Sports Wire previews Florida-Vanderbilt matchup ahead of Week 6

Check out what College Sports Wire’s Ryan Haley had to say for Florida’s matchup with Vanderbilt.

There are plenty of battles to watch this week if you’re a fan of the SEC. The saying, “It just means more,” will never cease to be true and will especially be the case with the Week 6 slate of conference football.

College Sports Wire staff writer Ryan Haley broke down the top matchups of the week and included the annual bout between Florida and Vanderbilt, closing out his list.

Here’s what Haley had to say regarding Florida’s next home game.

“I didn’t need a fifth game on this list unless one really jumped out to me, and I considered leaving this one off,” Haley said. “The Commodores aren’t the team that went 5-28 from 2019-2021 anymore, but that doesn’t make them fearsome.

“They have one of the conference’s worst defenses, and they’ve given the ball away 12 times already, one of the worst marks in the nation even adjusting for an extra game. But they beat Florida last year, even with star quarterback Anthony Richardson, and he’s not in Gainesville anymore.

“The Gators impressed in their SEC debut against Tennessee,” Haley continued, “but couldn’t stop a nosebleed on the ground against Kentucky in an upset loss a week ago. Now, Billy Napier has a revenge game and a bounceback game in one, and how the Gators respond will set the tone for later matchups, notably Georgia.”

Florida has a winding path until they take on Georgia later in October. They host Vandy this weekend and then travel north to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks. Both games are winnable, but not if the Gators continue to play the way they did against Kentucky.

The Florida Gators host Vanderbilt on Saturday and will kick off at 4 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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