Florida Gators cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. (3) tackles Vanderbilt Commodores wide receiver Will Sheppard (14) at Steve Spurrier Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL on Saturday, October 7, 2023. Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

Florida CB under fire for awful effort on Vanderbilt touchdown

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated 10/7/23

Jason Marshall Jr. might want to destroy the tape from Saturday’s contest.

The Florida cornerback Marshall went viral for all the wrong reasons during his team’s game against Vanderbilt.

Marshall was matched up one-on-one with Vanderbilt receiver Will Sheppard in the first quarter when he lost Sheppard and gave up a medium-range catch. Instead of running down Sheppard though, Marshall totally quit on the play, turning a modest 15-yard completion into an 85-yard touchdown for Vandy (once Sheppard turned on the jets and scampered for the end zone).

Here is the video of the embarrassing effort by Marshall.

This effort is just sad..

pic.twitter.com/nsJN3cQrXs

— NMD Grant (@NMDgrant) October 7, 2023

It appears that Marshall thought he had been pushed on the play and was anticipating a flag for offensive pass interference. But you always have to do your part by playing through the whistle and can never just leave your fate in the hands of the referees.

Marshall casually jogging after Sheppard as at least three of his Florida teammates put on hotter pursuits wasn’t quite the best look either.

Granted, Marshall’s mental lapse didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things since Florida would run away with the game from the second quarter on to win 38-14.

But Marshall, a former five-star recruit once ranked as the No. 3 cornerback in the nation, simply can’t make those mistakes (especially now that he is a junior). This isn’t the first time either that Florida, despite their respectable 4-2 record, has looked pretty suspect this season.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: