For the second straight week, the Vanderbilt football Commodores went into a well-known, difficult environment and emptied the place out by midway through the 4th quarter. It was a game that was a bit difficult to enjoy until the 4th quarter because any seasoned Vanderbilt fan just knew that something was going to go wrong against the South Carolina Gamecocks. A Diego Pavia interception in the end zone up 21-7 with 1:11 left in the 3rd quarter felt like it could be that moment. Then the defense forced a turnover on downs right at midfield before the offense moved down for a 51-yard FG attempt with 9:31 to play. It was another prime opportunity for the Chicken Curse to crow into life, but Brock Taylor nailed the kick. The Gamecocks would turn the ball over on their final 3 drives and another Commodore TD meant the 31-7 victory would snap the 16-game losing streak to the Game Penises.
This may seem like a wet blanket comment, but I did mention repeatedly in last weeks edition that South Carolina was off to a slow start on the season. They also had their chances early in the game that were snuffed out and lost starting QB LaNorris Sellers to injury late in the first half. This was a win at the then-#11 team in the country in an environment that is inarguably one of the most intense and energetic stadiums in college football at night, especially for not being one of the super massive 100,000+ seaters.
Advertisement
Maybe this is cowardice, but I am not quite confident enough to declare that there is anything we Know Well yet, sooooo
Lessons We Are Learning
Tre Richardson had a less explosive day but was still effective in the framework of the offense. He had 4 catches for 34 yards and 1 carry for 4 yards. One of them was a third down conversion. In a game where 2 players had 4 catches and 2 more had 3 receptions, he was as “heavily” used as much as anyone. The speedster also neeearly broke the opening kickoff for a TD. Pavia missed him on a couple deep balls where he was in behind the defense, too.
The big story of the offense is the offensive line though. They are moving dudes around. South Carolina’s star pass rusher Dylan Stewart was so frustrated that he got ejected for slapping Pavia and also had a weak but obviously late and cheap roughing the passer penalty. Late in the 3rd quarter or early in the 4th quarter, ESPN put up a graphic that Vanderbilt was averaging 9.5 yards per carry. Overall, Vanderbilt running backs averaged 4.8 YPC. It does drop to 2.7 YPC without Jamezell Lassiter’s 44-yard run. The big key is that there were only 5 TFLs and just 1 was a sack. They should have no problems the next 2 weeks if they are as good as they appear to be.
Advertisement
The RBs were, as a whole, slightly less explosive this week as seen by the lower YPC. However, Lassiter had his 44-yard TD, and Sedrick Alexander had a 15-yard carry along with a pair of 8-yard carries. Another pair of important runs came from Kayleb Barnett (11 yards) and Richie Hoskins (15 yards). With the step up in competition, I would say this was a good showing. Again, today and next week should offer chances to rip off some more chunk plays.
Jamezell Lassiter is jumping out almost every time he touches the ball. His only carries are for 35 and 44 yards with both going to paydirt. He has 2 catches for 26 and 11 yards, but even the 11 yarder was a shovel pass where he juked 3 defenders for a first down on 3rd down that kept Vanderbilt’s second TD drive alive. The walk-on is electric in his second season on campus after not appearing in a game last season. No, I do not expect him to be a consistent producer that gets 4+ carries a game because his size limits both the wear he can handle and his blocking ability, which is paramnount to success for backs in this offense.
Lessons for Further Study
Will the penalties be an all-season struggle? Vanderbilt was a little better at South Carolina with just 5 penalties for 55 yards. They have had 23 penalties accepted for 192 yards on the season. They need to be cleaned up even more. This offense and defense need to stay on schedule to succeed. As the schedule gets to the Alabama, LSU, Missouri, Texas, and Auburn stretch, they will need to avoid drawing the laundry because there will surely be some questionable calls.
Advertisement
Another thing to keep in mind for clean up is Pavia’s interceptions and other decisions. He has thrown 2 bad interceptions, both on plays where offensive penalties drew flags that may have “tricked” him into thinking he had a free play. The other play that did not hurt Vanderbilt was a really bad decision to attempt a pitch while being tackled with a defender’s arms across his arms. A turnover there while tied 7-7 would have been disaster. He makes a lot of late pitch decisions that pull defenders and leave the pitch man wide open, but that one was not a play he can afford to make. The team being at 3 turnovers through 3 games is not terrible, but, again, it was an area where Vanderbilt was elite last year that hid other deficiencies.
Schematically, what are the continued evolutions? OC Tim Beck thought the offense was “vanilla” in the rushing game in 2024. I thought it was pretty creative, and this topic may just be out of my grasp. Still, the defense is showing they can be creative and aggressive in ways they were not last year. The prime exhibit was Zaylin Wood’s interception where the NT was dropped into a shallow zone while edge blitzers got all over Sellers. The creativity is a lot of fun to watch and is a big reason opposing teams are struggling so much.
South Carolina was held to 86 yards rushing, including an 11-yard loss on a bad snap, and only averaged 3.0 YPC. Currently, Vanderbilt is 28th in FBS for rushing yards per game against at 100.0 yards allowed per game. They are 37th in yards per carry at 3.3 YPC. They racked up 6 non-sack TFLs against SC. It has been really impressiving watching the DL, which is rotating through a ton of bodies, continually stymie opposing offensive lines and leave RBs with nowhere to go. The linebackers and secondary are getting in to finish the job.
Surprisingly, the pass defense has also held up well, but is that more about the opposing offenses? Kyron Drones for Virginia Tech and LaNorris Sellers for South Carolina are explosive but inconsistent passers. Georgia State’s Ted Hurst is a threat, but the offense in general struggles to gain yards through the air with a mid-pack (76th) 204.5 yards per game that actually beats Vanderbilt’s 202.5. The Commodores are 24th in yards per attempt at 8.8 yards per passing attempt while Georgia State is 97th at 6.2 YPA. Lock down Hurst, which should be Kolbey Taylor’s personal redemption story, and this should be straightforward.
Advertisement
Unlike the giveaways, the increase in takeaways is a great change. Vanderbilt has already forced 7 turnovers and had 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles recovered against South Carolina. The aggressiveness is a big part of the change. I think the improvement of personnel depth is also leading to it along with the general improvements that create more high-pressure situations for opposing offenses.
Is Eli Stowers limited by health, or is it just a situation of spreading the ball around? He has 11 catches for 160 yards this season. Last season, it was 49 catches for 638 yards, so he is right on pace for that, assuming a 13-game season. I think we all expected him to be more involved this season, but he has not needed to be. The big games last season were Georgia State, Alabama, and Ball State, so he showed up when Vanderbilt needed him even if the Georgia State effort was wasted. His limited production is not a concern unless he fails to show up in a game where Vanderbilt needs a spark.
Is the spotlight ever going to get too big? I feel like this could probably be moved up…or kept here all season. Today is the “revenge” game where Vanderbilt needs to put a bad loss to bed whereas week 2 had them as the target for retribution and week 3 was years’ worth of bad juju. Today is simple. You lost to a team you should not have faltered against and need to prove a point. Next week may be the biggest trap with an explosive offense before the bye week then the big statement game in Tuscaloosa. Every new week brings a new situation for a program that has not had expectatons in at least 7 years.
And the biggest question will remain: how healthy can Pavia stay? He continues to be his psycho, lead-blocking self. He will also take any tackler on when he needs to gain important yards. The key is likely not taking big hits in the pocket where he cannot see the shot coming or try to mitigate impact. The OL improving has helped in that regard. Still, fingers crossed.
Advertisement
Overall, my level of certainty about this team is different than years past because the ceiling keeps creeping up. Pre-season, I said 9-3 was “like a 0.5% probability,” but it may be a real possibility (~25%) now. It simply requires Vanderbilt to go 3-3 against Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Missouri, Texas, and Tennesse. It assumes wins over Georgia State, Utah State, and Kentucky.I think that 6-game stretch has 2 some fluxuations in who is a bigger test from preseason, so it may still morph if Texas or LSU can find some offensive footing or Auburn turns back into a pumpkin. Oh, and they cannot afford another stupid game against Georgia State or Utah State.
