Complete humiliation.
Vanderbilt crushed a 22-game losing streak in the series and Florida’s spirit with a decisive 34-17 victory Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. It was the Gators’ first home loss to Vanderbilt since their inaugural meeting in 1945.
Florida has lost four consecutive games for only the second time in the past 25 years.
Those facts will be footnotes to a season that could go down as the program’s worst since the winless 1979 season. Bowl eligibility is now a long shot. The man presiding over this mess, coach Will Muschamp, is under ever-mounting pressure to fix it.
Whether he cares about opinions from the fans, who unleashed plenty of boos Saturday, he sounded like a man who knows his job is at stake.
“I certainly don’t like the product we are putting on the field, and that’s my responsibility,” Muschamp said. “I take full credit for that. That’s on me.
“I’m not asking for anybody to be happy. I’m not asking anybody to give me a pass. This is the real deal. This is the University of Florida. My expectation is higher than anyone sitting in those stands. We’ll get it turned.”
It will be tough to deliver on that promise this season.
Vanderbilt (5-4, 2-4 SEC) went ahead 17-0 early in the second quarter and didn’t let the Gators get closer than 14 points the rest of the way. If Florida (4-5, 3-4) can’t compete against the Commodores, how can it expect to have a chance in next weekend’s visit to No. 12 South Carolina?
As for the meager goal of bowl eligibility, the Gators will need at least one tremendous upset to reach it.
That is a startling reality for players like quarterback Tyler Murphy, who signed with Florida on the heels of Tim Tebow leading the program to the 2006 and ’08 national championships.
“Very shocking,” Murphy said of the way this season has unraveled. “Everyone in that locker room came to Florida to win, and we’re not winning. We know it’s unacceptable, and we’re just going to keep fighting and keep pushing.”
The Gators are two short of the required six victories to become bowl eligible. After the South Carolina trip, they host Georgia Southern and No. 2 Florida State. If they fail to win two of those three, they will miss a bowl game for the first time since 1991 and have their first losing season since going 0-10-1 in ’79.
“We all understand that,” defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard said. “We’ve gotta just go out and fight. We’re gonna do whatever it takes, and hopefully the offense does the same.”
The players also grasp the uncomfortable position in which Muschamp sits. His record is now 22-13 over two-plus season, including 11-2 last season. The previous Florida head coach to be fired, Ron Zook, was 20-13 when Florida announced it was letting him go in October 2004.
Even if Muschamp survives, he might be forced to consider changes to his staff and philosophy. He said he will evaluate all aspects of the program at the end of the season and isn’t interested in input from an angry fan base.
“I’m a lot harder on myself than anyone else is going to be,” he said. “I’m very critical of myself and what I need to do to be better. I don’t need to hear any fan from the outside telling me what we need to do with this football team, I can assure you that.”
Beyond Muschamp, offensive coordinator Brent Pease appears to be in jeopardy as Florida was ranked 104th in the nation in scoring and 111th in yardage going into the Vanderbilt game.
Among all of the noise surrounding the coaching staff, it’s worth noting that the Gators lost their starting quarterback (Jeff Driskel) and top defensive player (defensive tackle Dominique Easley) to season-ending injuries in the first month of the season. Seven other players are out for the year, including three starters.
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