Vanderbilt vs. Florida by the numbers
Vanderbilt (2-4, 0-2) at Florida (3-2, 1-1)
3 p.m. CDT Saturday (SEC Network)
Ben Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida
5 Consecutive games with at least a 70 percent completion rate for Florida QB Graham Mertz. He’s the only Gators player to accomplish that feat in the past two decades. Mertz has completed 110-of-139 passes for 1,220 yards with six TDs and two interceptions in 2023. His completion rate of 79.1 percent is the second-best in the nation.
6 Years since Vanderbilt most recently scored in Gainesville. Since the Commodores’ 38-24 loss on the Gators’ home field in 2017, Florida has beaten visiting Vanderbilt 56-0 in 2019 and 42-0 in 2021 in Gainesville.
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10 Consecutive seasons for Vanderbilt have featured losses in the Commodores’ first three conference games. The most recent season in which Vanderbilt did not have an 0-3 SEC record came in 2012, when Commodores lost their first two league games to South Carolina and Georgia before defeating Missouri 19-15. Vanderbilt has lost to Kentucky and Missouri in its previous two games.
10 Teams have not recovered an opponent’s fumble this season, including three SEC members – Florida, Georgia and Missouri. With one interception in 2023, Florida is tied with Arizona State and UTSA for the fewest takeaways in the nation.
12 Consecutive losses for Vanderbilt in its first SEC road game of the season. The Commodores most recently won their first conference road game in a season in 2010, when they defeated Ole Miss 28-14 in Oxford. Saturday’s game is Vanderbilt’s first conference game on the road of the 2023 season.
13 Victories for Florida and seven victories for Vanderbilt when the teams square off as unranked opponents, which is the case on Saturday.
25 Points per game has been the scoring average for Florida this season, the lowest in the SEC. While the Gators are last in the conference scoring offense, Vanderbilt is last in the SEC in scoring defense, yielding an average of 33.3 points per game.
43 Victories for Florida, 11 victories for Vanderbilt and two ties in the Gators-Commodores series. Vanderbilt has won two of the past 32 meetings with Florida, coming out on top in 2013 and 2022.
68 Years since Vanderbilt won consecutive games against Florida. The Commodores enter Saturday’s contest after scoring a 31-24 victory over Florida last year. In 1952, Vanderbilt defeated the Gators 20-13, then beat them again 21-6 the next time the teams squared off in 1955. Vanderbilt hasn’t beaten Florida in consecutive seasons since 1945 and 1946.
70 Victories, 26 losses and two ties for Florida in its homecoming game. Vanderbilt is serving as the Gators’ homecoming opponent this season.
441 Games have been played by Florida since it was most recently shut out, the longest scoring streak in major-college football history by 57 games. The Gators haven’t been blanked since losing to Auburn 16-0 on Oct. 29, 1988.
11,531 Career punting yards for Vanderbilt P Matthew Hayball. Hayball is the only punter in any of the NCAA’s four divisions of football who has more than 11,000 punting yards. Hayball leads the nation with a 50.9-yard average this season.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.