Florida Football: 5 Bold predictions for October

4. The defense pitches a shutout against Vanderbilt

As the offense continues to evolve the Gators’ have left the pressure on their defense to carry the load. They’ve responded by bamboozling all of their opponents but one and kept two of them out of the endzone entirely. What they don’t have, yet, is a shutout.

There’s no likelier opponent to put up a zero than the Vanderbilt Commodores. Since 2015, Vandy has put up a goose egg three times, failing to score against Houston (2015), Texas A&M (2015) and Alabama (2017). The Crimson Tide were dominant, and Florida might not be on that level quite yet, but they’re certainly at least on par with that Houston and Texas A&M squads.

Vanderbilt gave Notre Dame a fight earlier this season, but they only scored 17 points in their potential upset bid. They put up 14 the week later against South Carolina. Five touchdowns against Middle Tennessee, Nevada and Tennessee State are a completely different spectrum of opponents.

The Commodores haven’t played a defense as good as the Gators’. That sets up for tough sledding against one of the nation’s best units.