Florida rolled past Vanderbilt 38-14 on Saturday afternoon in a sold-out Swamp, capping a happy Homecoming weekend for the Gators after a tumultuous week for second year head coach Billy Napier.

While time will tell if Napier’s slow rebuild of the Florida program, which at times appears to be unfurling at a glacial pace, will work, Saturday’s win was a showcase of the reasons for future optimism. Florida’s best players Saturday were almost entirely underclassmen, from freshman tight end Arlis Boardingham (7 receptions, 99 yards, 2 touchdowns) to freshman receiver Tre Wilson (8 receptions, 64 yards, 1 touchdown) to sophomore Shemar James (7 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 3 quarterback pressures).

The win was Napier’s 10th at Florida and 50th as an FBS head coach, making him 1 of just 10 head coaches with 50 or more wins since the start of the 2018 season: Nick Saban (66), Kirby Smart (65), Dabo Swinney (63), Lincoln Riley (60), Luke Fickell (57), Brian Kelly (58), Jim Harbaugh (52), Ryan Day (50) and Josh Heupel (50).

While Napier was rightly pleased with Florida’s performance, which included an outstanding bounce back effort from the Gators’ young defense after a disastrous week at Kentucky, the young head coach was also right to put the win in perspective as Florida readies for a huge road game at South Carolina next week.

“I think (as we get ready to play on the road, where Florida is 1-7 under Napier), we’ve got to keep things in perspective. We have to understand that bigger challenges are ahead, and we’ve got to really– one of the biggest challenges for our team is to go play well on the road. That’s what next for us, and next week presents that challenge and opportunity for us,” Napier said.

As Florida readies for a trip to Columbia, a place that broke Dan Mullen’s back as the Gators’ head coach in 2021, let’s take stock of where Florida is after Week 6.

Player of the Week: Montrell Johnson, RB

This designation could easily go to Boardingham for his breakout game or Wilson for his electric return after being injured early in the Tennessee game, but the right answer is Johnson, who rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown Saturday.

Johnson went over 2,000 career yards in the victory as well, with over 1,000 of those yards coming as a Florida Gator. His performance came on a Saturday where Florida needed it most, playing without star sophomore running back Trevor Etienne, who was absent with a lower body injury. Johnson also hit multiple explosive runs (3), with a long of 34, to average 7.5 yards per carry in the win. He now faces a South Carolina defense that has struggled to stop the run in 2023. Johnson rushed for 161 yards in Florida’s blowout win over the Gamecocks a season ago.

Freshman of the Week: Arlis Boardingham, TE

The redshirt freshman from suburban Los Angeles was only a 3-star recruit, but if you looked closer at the film and physical tools, you saw quickly the type of player Florida would be getting. At 6-3, 240 pounds with 4.6 speed, Boardingham is a mismatch problem coming into his own, and he was all over the field on Saturday against Vanderbilt, hauling in all 7 of his targets for 99 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Boardingham is still learning to play tight end, a frightening thought considering his size, strength and speed, as his coach reminded people on Saturday night.

“Last year we were really high on him, and he got hurt. He’s a kid who hasn’t played tight end. He had been a receiver and a linebacker and a track athlete. So everything we are asking him to do is new, and he’s such a smart kid, but learning a new position is hard,” Napier said. “Mentally learning the system and fundamentally the physical component, all of that was new. But he works so hard and comes from a phenomenal family and is really smart. So you see it happening for him.”

Boardingham now leads Florida in receiving touchdowns (3) and looks to be a bigger piece of the offensive picture as the Gators make the midseason turn.

Biggest concern: Lack of explosive plays in the passing game

Florida remains extremely conservative and horizontal in the passing game, relying on perimeter screens and short hitches to gain short yardage and stay on schedule offensively. That has worked, to an extent, thanks to the accuracy and decision-making of Graham Mertz, who completed 30-36 passes for 254 yards and 3 touchdowns against Vandy.

But Florida continued to struggle mightily with downfield throws Saturday. Mertz’s longest completion covered just 23 yards — 1 of 2 passes that gained 20 yards. The Gators rank last in the SEC with just 6 completions covering 30 or more yards.

Mertz took 3 sacks, 2 of which came on designed deep shots, and he missed a wide open man on another deep ball in the first half. Florida also missed another deep shot on a trick play, when wide receiver Kahleil Jackson tossed an interception on a wide receiver pass. The play likely connects on a better throw, but it’s instructive that the Gators couldn’t even manufacture a pass game explosive off a trick play design.

Florida has playmakers who can make plays in space, especially with the return of freshman star-in-the-making Tre Wilson.

But to maximize the stress these players place on defenses, the Gators have to add an element of verticality to the passing game which continues to be missing in 2023. Florida will not be the better teams remaining on its schedule: No. 1 Georgia, LSU, Missouri and No. 5 Florida State, without being more multiple in the passing game.

Developing trend: Young defense growing up

Florida surrendered 334 yards but held the Commodores to a season-low 14 points and a season-low offensive success rate (42.5%). Two Vanderbilt plays produced 137 of its yards, and one, an 85-yard touchdown pass to Will Sheppard, came on zero coverage where Sheppard clearly grabbed cornerback Jason Marshall Jr.’s facemask but was not called for a penalty as he should have been which would have negated the score.

Napier was proud of how his defense responded to the other explosive they allowed — a 52-yard pitch and catch from Vanderbilt quarterback Ken Seals to Junior Sherrill. After allowing the big play, the Gators came up with a goal-line stand to force a turnover on downs and maintain their narrow first half lead.

Florida’s stand was the last time the game was in jeopardy, and a sign of a young defense growing up. It’s hard to shake off big plays, dig your feet in, and keep playing, but Florida did that on Saturday — a week after failing to meet that mental challenge against Kentucky.

The next test for Florida is playing great defense on the road.

Up next: Oct. 14 at South Carolina (3:30 pm, SEC Network)

The Gators travel to Columbia to meet the Gamecocks in a battle of desperate SEC East teams.

Florida has won just once on the road under Billy Napier, a 2021 rout of Texas A&M in College Station.

Since that game, only 1 of Florida’s road games was truly competitive for four quarters, at Florida State last November. Otherwise, Florida has been put away early by any and all takers on the road, from lowly Vanderbilt (which jumped to a huge first half lead and held on last year) to a ranked Utah team and “a way-too-physical for the Gators” Kentucky team in 2023.

Florida has the most difficult back end schedule in America. They may play 4 ranked teams, and at least 2 of those teams are likely to be ranked in the top 5 (archrivals Georgia and Florida State). Only 2 games (Arkansas, Florida State) come in the friendly confines of The Swamp.

If the Gators want to go to a bowl game in 2023, they’ll need a win Saturday. Otherwise, barring an upset, it is difficult to find a pathway to 6 wins and the extra practices that are so useful to young rosters like Florida’s and only come with bowl eligibility.