Here are thoughts on Vanderbilt's 38-14 loss to Florida in Gainesville.

The biggest difference came on third and fourth downs.

Vandy was 1 of 10 on third downs and 0-for-3 on fourth downs, one of which the Commodores momentarily converted before Quincy Skinner fumbled it away. And that’s the recipe of how to lose a game by 24 points even though on a per-play basis, Florida gained 7.0 yards to Vanderbilt’s 6.3 with each team turning it over just once.

You’ve got to come up big in important spots in games like this and Vanderbilt didn’t. A fourth-and-goal incompletion from the Gator 4 resulted in a turnover on downs, and while Quincy Skinner converted a fourth down in Florida territory in the first half, he fumbled the ball away.

Not that it was particularly pretty otherwise.

Vanderbilt gave up 416 yards in the first three quarters (495 for the game) to an offense that had been struggling. Passing accounted for 224 and rushing, 192. The Gators averaged 7.4 yards per play over that stretch and ended the quarter with Treyaun Webb’s 43-yard run.

There were also mindless mistakes.

Junior Sherrill jumped in front of Jayden McGowan and didn’t signal fair catch before catching the ball (McGowan had), starting a drive at the Vandy 6. Sherrill’s going to be a good player and yes, he’s a true freshman, but if you’re in a spot to return kickoffs you need to know the rules and that one’s inexcusable.

Good for Richie Hoskins.

The walk-on caught a 21-yard touchdown with 44 seconds left in the third quarter for his first career scoring catch. Hoskins played hard and played well all through fall camp and it’s good to see a guy like that reap a reward.

I guess Sedrick Alexander is the lead back going forward?

Alexander had eight of the 10 running-back carries and out-gained Patrick Smith, 21 yards to 8.

A roghing-the-passer penalty on Nate Clifton illustrated everything I hate about that rule.

Clifton is probably one of the team’s smarter players and isn’t a guy who’s been penalized a lot in his career. Yet officials threw a flag when Clifton smacked Graham Mertz fractions of a second after Mertz released an incomplete pass, giving Florida a first down at the Vanderbilt 7 and leading to an eventual touchdown in the first half’s final minute.

It wasn’t a dirty play but by the letter of the rule it was roughing the passer. How a 275-pound guy is supposed to stop forward momentum a split second after a quarterback release the ball, I’m not sure, and this is a penalty that defies common sense that bugs me every time I see it.

Adding injury to insult, starting safety Jaylen Mahoney didn’t play, starting safety De’Rickey Wright later left the game with an an apparent foot injury and didn’t return and Martel Hight also didn’t return after a first-half injury.

That’s two wins in the last 32 Southeastern Conference games.

The three SEC losses this year have come by 58 points; none of them have come against teams that were ranked in the preseason, though Kentucky and Missouri were ranked in the lower end of the Top 25 coming into today. Five of last year’s six losses came by double digits.