Florida Football: 3 takeaways from win over Vanderbilt in Week 12

After a slow start, Florida football cruised to a victory over Vanderbilt on the road on Saturday. The Gators are now one step closer to the playoff.

The last time Dan Mullen and Florida went to Nashville, there were some fireworks between him and Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason. It was much more tame on Saturday.

Florida had a sluggish start, taking a 17-10 lead into halftime but the Gators then extended that to a 21-point advantage in the second half. Kyle Trask had himself yet another great game, throwing three more touchdown passes. He now has the second-most touchdown passes (31) through seven games in FBS history.

In the end, Florida held off a pesky Vanderbilt team to hand the Commodores their seventh loss of the season while improving to 6-1.

What’d we learn from the Gators’ latest win?

3. Florida not playing championship-level defense

When you get a chance to face a lackluster offense like Vanderbilt’s, you have to take advantage and gain some confidence as a defensive unit. Florida didn’t quite do that.

Ken Seals had himself an impressive game through the air, passing for 319 yards and two touchdowns with a pick on 22-of-34 completions.

The main weakness of this Florida team this season has been defense and even though the Gators have fared better on that side of the ball in recent weeks, they took a step back on Saturday afternoon in Nashville.

If the Gators want to win the SEC East and make a trip to the conference title game and the playoff, they need to figure out what issues are plaguing this side of the ball.

Contenders shouldn’t be surrendering over 400 yards to the 0-7 Commodores.