Goin' back to Vandy: A B-Dawg dual NCAA '14/NCAA '07 flashback dynasty

[BDawg35]

2023/2008 SEASONS - GAME 5


Vanderbilt senior strong safety Jack Barton scored two third-quarter touchdowns on defense. He took an
interception (top) 21 yards to the house after running back a fumble (bottom) 72 yards for a score.


Vanderbilt’s Quincy Skinner grabs the game-winning 6-yard touchdown pass with 22 seconds left in the game.

Pleasant surprise
Two defensive scores by Barton reverses
Vanderbilt’s fortune in comeback victory

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Sometimes, a game feels like a hopeless cause, but you keep plugging away because you’ve already invested too much time in it.

And every once in a while, a game that seemed lost turns into an unexpected “W.”

Credit senior strong safety Jack Barton for bringing the Commodores back from the dead in a 36-33 victory over Missouri on Sept. 23, 2023.

Vanderbilt trailed 23-7 at halftime, allowing points on all five of Missouri’s first-half possessions. It didn’t help that the Tigers would begin the second half on offense.

But then Barton put his name in the record book for a stunning reversal of fortune that altered the complexion of the game.

Barton had a 72-yard scoop-and-score on a rare CPU fumble 1 minute and 5 seconds into the second half, then jumped a route against a blitz and took a short pass 21 yards for a touchdown with 48 seconds left in the third quarter.

It’s only the second time that a B-Dawg player has scored two defensive touchdowns in the same quarter. Air Force’s Halatoa Tai had two touchdowns on fumble returns in the second quarter against New Mexico on Nov. 4, 2023 in NCAA 2014. It’s only the 10th time a B-Dawg player has scored two defensive touchdowns at any point during a game since he began keeping records in NCAA 2004.

“We had nothing going,” B-Dawg said. “This very much felt like a game we had no business winning. Jack Barton was having none of that. If he doesn’t step up and make those two plays, we are looking at not only a loss, but a very ugly loss. Their quarterback was in full-on robo-QB mode except for that third quarter.”

Connor Bazelak set a Missouri single-game passing record with 540 yards on 48-for-60 passing. Because the Commodores were able to stiffen up on defense in the red zone, he had only two touchdown passes. The Tigers had two touchdowns and four field goals on six red zone visits.

After Barton’s second touchdown cut the deficit to 23-21 entering the fourth quarter, Vanderbilt took its first lead on an 8-yard pass from Mike Wright to Logan Kyle with 4:43 left in the game.

Bazelak countered that quickly by firing a 76-yard touchdown pass to Mookie Cooper 25 seconds later.

The Vanderbilt defense came up a critical stop to stay within striking distance when, after Missouri had first-and-goal at the 6-yard line, middle linebacker Ethan Carr blew up a third-down run by Michael Cox for a 3-yard loss with 1:37 left. Missouri settled for a 23-yard Harrison Mevis field goal to go up by four points.

The Commodores got the ball at their own 25-yard line with 1:31 remaining. A 38-yard pass to Quincy Skinner jump-started the winning drive. On third-and-four, Skinner caught a 6-yard pass with 22 seconds left for the go-ahead touchdown to complete a six-play drive.

Missouri had one final play from the Vanderbilt 47-yard line after a 22-yard pass to Chad Beard. With the Commodores rushing only four defenders, Devin Lee broke through for the game-ending sack.


Devin Lee (55) sacked Missouri quarterback Connor Bazelak to end the game.

MISSOURI TIGERS at VANDERBILT COMMODORES
Sept. 23, 2023	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Missouri Tigers (3-2)	7	16	0	10	33
Vanderbilt Commodores (3-2)	7	0	14	15	36

Team Stats Comparison
	MIZZ	VAN
Total Offense	588	421
Rushing Yards	25-48	26-121
Passing Yards	540	300
First Downs	29	23
Punt Return Yards	0	0
Kick Return Yards	80	137
Total Yards	668	558
Turnovers	2	3
3rd Down Conversion	5-12	8-14
4th Down Conversion	1-2	0-3
2-Point Conversion	0-0	1-1
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	6-2-4	4-3-0
Penalties	4-34	2-30
Possession Time	16:50	19:10

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		MIZZ	VAN
3:55	(MIZZ) A. Fontaine 6 pass from C. Bazelak (H. Mevis kick)	7	0
:34	(VAN) L. Kyle 6 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		MIZZ	VAN
6:19	(MIZZ) H. Mevis 22 field goal	10	7
1:46	(MIZZ) H. Mevis 35 field goal	13	7
:25	(MIZZ) C. Bazelak 8 run (H. Mevis kick)	20	7
:00	(MIZZ) H. Mevis 32 field goal	23	7
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		MIZZ	VAN
7:55	(VAN) J. Barton 72 fumble return (G. Mitchell kick)	23	14
:48	(VAN) J. Barton 21 interception return (G. Mitchell kick)	23	21
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		MIZZ	VAN
4:43	(VAN) L. Kyle 8 pass from M. Wright (R. Griffin run)	23	29
4:18	(MIZZ) M. Cooper 76 pass from C. Bazelak (H. Mevis kick)	30	29
1:35	(MIZZ) H. Mevis 23 field goal	33	29
:22	(VAN) Q. Skinner 6 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	33	36

VANDERBILT COMMODORES PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Mike Wright 26/43 300 3 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Rocko Griffin 14 108 7.7 0 James Ziglor 1 10 10.0 0 Mike Wright 11 3 0.2 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Logan Kyle 6 72 12.0 2 Michael Johnson 6 56 9.3 0 Quincy Skinner 5 89 17.8 1 Will Sheppard 4 50 12.5 0 Rocko Griffin 4 27 6.8 0 John Johnson 1 6 6.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Bradley Ashmore 0 1 James Brooks 0 2 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Ethan Barr 12 2 0 0 Anfernee Orji 11 3 1 0 John Howse 9 1 0 0 Jack Barton 6 0 0 1 Tyson Russell 5 0 0 0 Michael Spencer 5 1 0 0 De'Rickey Wright 4 2 0 0 Chase Lloyd 3 0 0 0 Nate Clifton 3 1 0 0 Marlen Sewell 2 0 0 0 Kevo Wesley 2 0 0 0 Alan Wright 2 0 0 0 Kasey Davidson 1 1 0 0 Terion Sugick 1 1 0 0 Devin Lee 1 1 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Greg Mitchell 0/0 4/4 4 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Robert Hayden 2 72 36.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 5 137 27.4 34 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Team 0 0 0.0 0

MISSOURI TIGERS PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Connor Bazelak 48/60 540 2 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Michael Cox 12 33 2.7 0 Connor Bazelak 11 17 1.5 1 Elijah Young 2 -2 -1.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Mookie Cooper 10 170 17.0 1 Dominic Lovett 9 66 7.3 0 J.J. Hester 6 83 13.8 0 Michael Cox 6 7 1.1 0 Chad Beard 4 40 10.0 0 Curtis Concepcion 3 65 21.7 0 Chance Luper 3 38 12.7 0 Elijah Young 3 34 11.3 0 T.J. Sanders 2 23 11.5 0 Austin Fontaine 2 14 7.0 1 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Luke Griffin 0 1 Drake Heismeyer 0 1 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Jaylon Carlies 10 1 0 0 Dameon Wilson 7 1 0 1 Daylan Carnell 6 0 0 1 Chris Shearin 5 1 0 0 Daniel Robledo 4 4 1 0 Zach Lovett 4 0 0 0 Matthew Fellows 4 1 1 0 Ennis Rakestraw 3 0 0 0 Realus George 2 1 1 0 Johnny Walker 1 0 0 0 Davion Sistrunk 1 0 0 0 Ish Burdine 1 0 0 0 Arden Walker 1 0 0 0 Mekhi Wingo 1 0 0 0 Kris Abrams-Draine 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Harrison Mevis 4/6 3/3 15 35 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Shedrick Whitlock 0 0 0.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Elijah Young 4 80 20.0 26 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Team 0 0 0.0 0

Bobby Jordan’s 62-yard interception return (left) got Oregon back in the game, but a blocked
extra point by Brandon Holmes (right) gave Vanderbilt back some momentum.

QUACK, INDEED!
Stellar defensive effort by Vanderbilt
produces huge 24-12 win over Oregon

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — It was a moment perfectly suited for NCAA 2007 momentum to step in and rob B-Dawg’s Vanderbilt Commodores of a victory.

Vanderbilt took a 10-0 lead late into the third quarter at Oregon, but a 62-yard interception return by Bobby Jordan suddenly breathed life into the struggling Ducks.

It helped that defensive tackle Brandon Holmes blocked the ensuing extra point, but at 10-6 with 2:30 left in the third quarter, there was plenty of time for things to unravel for the 55th-ranked Commodores.

What followed was a gut-check drive that showed this team might be starting to develop the heart and character that is so emblematic of B-Dawg’s teams.

Vanderbilt responded to adversity by moving 64 yards in 11 plays, scoring on a 2-yard run by quarterback Mackenzi Adams. Vanderbilt tacked on another touchdown midway through the fourth quarter and went on to one of its biggest victories in three seasons under B-Dawg, a 24-12 decision over the 32nd-ranked Ducks on Oct. 4, 2008.

“This may have been the most exciting game we’ve played so far and I think it’s our most impressive victory,” B-Dawg said. “Yeah, we beat Florida and Georgia last year, but let’s be real, we did it with watered-down sliders. These are the same sliders that were in play when we got thrashed by Tennessee last season and by Auburn and Mississippi this season. I can look myself in the mirror and say we gave the CPU an honest chance to compete, but that we were just the better team on this day.”

Oregon had only 24 yards on 14 carries in the first half and only 126 yards of total offense. The Ducks’ offense was stuck in the mud pretty much all day long before Jordan got them right back in the game. The pick came on one of the few deep shots Vanderbilt took all day, with Adams overthrowing Earl Bennett and Jordan catching the ball with his back to the Vanderbilt end zone. Bennett fell while diving for the ball, Jordan spun around and got that magical forcefield lane down the right sideline, the phenomenon that prevents the human-controlled team from closing the gap on the sideline, no matter how long the play takes to develop.

“I was scared we were going to blow this one after just a tremendous effort,” B-Dawg said. “Fortunately, Oregon never got to plus-five momentum on that play and we felt a little better about things after Holmes blocked that kick.”

Adams scored on a 2-yard sneak on Vanderbilt’s next drive with 7:34 left in the game, then hit Alex Washington with a 5-yard scoring strike with 4:27 left in the game.

The Ducks’ offense got its only points of the day when Terrell Jackson ran 38 yards for a touchdown against a Quarters Cover-3 defense, a play the CPU would never have tried had a blitz or spy play been called. Oregon could have gotten within 10 points, but a 2-point pass was broken up by cornerback Josh Allen. It was the first time in six tries that Vanderbilt had stopped a 2-point conversion in this dynasty’s history.

Jackson’s run accounted for most of Oregon’s 56 rushing yards on 18 attempts. Vanderbilt is allowing an average of only 47 rushing yards in its three victories, but has yielded an average of 271 in its two losses.

“Hey, here’s some brilliant analysis to put in your newspapers tomorrow: Stopping the run is a big key for us,” B-Dawg told reporters.

It also helps when Vanderbilt can run the ball. Jared Hawkins ran 21 times for 120 yards, giving him a 100-yard performance in all three victories. He’s been held to 46 and 57 yards in the two losses.

A gratifying part of this victory was that the Commodores got only three catches for 42 yards from Bennett. It was Bennett’s lowest total yardage in his last 17 games, but spreading 13 completions among seven different receivers gave the Commodores the kind of balance they’ll need once Bennett moves on.

“The day is coming, very soon now, that we’ll have to win games with Earl Bennett as a crutch,” B-Dawg said. “It’s great to see we can beat a quality team with some of our other guys coming up big.”

Adams took an absolute beating, getting sacked seven times.

PLAYAZ OF DA GAME
Mackenzi Adams, Vanderbilt; Bobby Jordan, Oregon

VANDERBILT 24, OREGON 12
First quarter
VANDY: Adams 1 run (Hahnfeldt kick), 3:32
Second quarter
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 35 field goal, 7:14
Third quarter
OREGON: Jordan 62 interception return (Holmes blocks kick), 2:30
Fourth quarter
VANDY: Adams 2 run (Hahnfeldt kick), 7:34
VANDY: Washington 5 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), 4:27
OREGON: Jackson 38 run (pass failed), 3:37

[size=4][b]VANDERBILT         7    3    0   14    —   24
OREGON             0    0    6    6    —   12[/b][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#C8AE13]VANDERBILT COMMODORES STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING          Cmp  Att   Yds  TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Mackenzi Adams    13   27   159   1    1   20

[B]RUSHING          Att  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Jared Hawkins     21  120   5.7   0   16
Gaston Miller      7   41   5.9   0   16
Brad Allen         4   11   2.8   0    4
Clint Turner       3   -3  -1.0   0    2
Mackenzi Adams    15  -20  -1.3   2   14
[B]TOTALS            50  149   3.0   2   16[/B]

[B]RECEIVING        Rec  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Bryant Anderson    3   42  14.0   0   16
Earl Bennett       3   42  14.0   0   20
George Smith       2   28  14.0   0   20
Alex Washington    2   21  10.5   1   16
Justin Wheeler     1    9   9.0   0    9
Jake Bradford      1    9   9.0   0    9
Jared Hawkins      1    8   8.0   0    8
[B]TOTALS            13  159  12.2   1   20[/B]

[B]DEFENSE          Tkl  TFL   Sk  Int[/b]
Jared Fagan        4    0    0    0
Steven Stone       4    1    1    0
Quavian Lewis      4    0    0    0
Bryan Kelly        3    0    0    0
Kikko Logan        3    1    0    0
Josh Allen         3    0    0    0
Broderick Stewart  3    1    1    0
Chris Johnson      3    1    0    0
Greg Billinger     2    0    0    0
D.J. Moore         2    0    0    0
Alan Strong        1    0    0    0
Teriall Brannon    1    0    0    0
Reshard Langford   1    0    0    0
Matt Bubis         1    0    0    0
George Smith       1    0    0    0
Brandon Holmes     1    0    0    0
Joel Caldwell      1    0    0    0
Ryan Hamilton      1    0    0    1
Earl Bennett       1    0    0    0
[B]TOTALS            40    4    2    1[/B][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#05560E]OREGON DUCKS STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING          Cmp  Att   Yds  TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Cody Kempt        14   27   198   0    1   34

[B]RUSHING          Att  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Terrell Jackson    9   56   6.2   1   38
Jonathan Stewart   2    4   2.0   0    4
Cody Kempt         7   -4  -0.6   0    3
[B]TOTALS            18   56   3.1   1   38[/B]

[B]RECEIVING        Rec  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Antwaun Harris     4   55  13.8   0   19
Jaison Williams    3   46  15.3   0   34
Kevin Webb         3   28   9.3   0   15
Jonathan Stewart   2   32  16.0   0   21
Brandon Bair       1   29  29.0   0   29
Thomas Lloyd       1    8   8.0   0    8
[B]TOTALS            14  198  14.1   0   34[/B]

[B]TEAM STATISTICS  VAN    ORE[/b]
Total offense    308    254
Rushing          149     56
Passing          159    198
First downs       20      9
3rd down        7-16   3-11
4th down         1-1    0-1
Turnovers          3      2
Penalties        0-0    0-0
Possession     21:19  10:41[/size]

WEEK 5 RESULTS
VANDERBILT 24, Oregon 12
Tennessee 31, Auburn 28
South Carolina 28, Mississippi 16
Florida 49, Kentucky 17
LSU 42, Mississippi State 21
Arkansas 31, Alabama 30

PLAYAZ OF DA WEEK
Offense — P.J. Irvin, Alabama (25 carries, 218 yards, 3 TD; 3 catches, 34 yards, 1 TD)
Defense — Freddie Fairchild, Arkansas (8 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 int., 1 FF)




JEVAN SNEAD, Texas, QB, Jr.
STATS: 110-for-156, 1,531 yards, 24 TD, 4 int.

CHRIS WELLS, Ohio State, HB, Jr.
STATS: 126 carries, 778 yards, 8 TD; 5 catches, 99 yards, 1 TD

MARK SANCHEZ, USC, QB, r-Jr.
STATS: 79-for-112, 1,359 yards, 16 TD, 1 int.

CURTIS WRIGHT, Michigan, QB, r-Fr.
STATS: 106-for-160, 1,250 yards, 17 TD, 6 int.

L.A. REED, Texas Tech, WR, r-Sr.
STATS: 42 catches, 580 yards, 6 TD

[ZSmit88]

Re: 2023/2008 SEASONS - GAME 5

Mico McSwain! Dude I hate when the game gets completely out of hand in the fourth.. makes us coaches look incompetent ��

…Also, a sack to end that last one!? Must have felt good. Those last second plays always have me holding my breath, especially once the ball is launched in the air - feels like an eternity and the whole time I’m second guessing my play. These games are too fun, can’t make it up lol

[BDawg35]

Re: 2023/2008 SEASONS - GAME 5

Mico McSwain! Dude I hate when the game gets completely out of hand in the fourth.. makes us coaches look incompetent

…Also, a sack to end that last one!? Must have felt good. Those last second plays always have me holding my breath, especially once the ball is launched in the air - feels like an eternity and the whole time I’m second guessing my play. These games are too fun, can’t make it up lol

It seems like I get a lot of sacks on the final play of a half or the game. The CPU has to wait a little longer to let the routes develop down the field and I have time to get to the quarterback. It's fun! It feels like I'm actually made the sack myself. It's payback for all the garbage the CPU QB gets away with for the rest of the game.

[bh446066]

Re: Goin' back to Vandy: A B-Dawg dual NCAA '14/NCAA '07 flashback dynasty

I needed a cold shower after reading that!

I've been playing the game a ton. I've never been further behind in posting than I am right now. I'm going to try to chip away and see if I ever get caught up. Thanks for your support. The dynasty forums seems so much more dead than they were back in the day, so that probably has something to do with my lack of interest in posting.

Well, I think the dynasty boards would be much more active if they'd RELEASE A NEW GAME!!! Looking very much forward to next summer. Hopefully it doesn't suck.

I actually remember reading the PS2 Vandy writeup "Quack Indeed" Loving the member berries

[BDawg35]

Re: Goin' back to Vandy: A B-Dawg dual NCAA '14/NCAA '07 flashback dynasty

Well, I think the dynasty boards would be much more active if they'd RELEASE A NEW GAME!!! Looking very much forward to next summer. Hopefully it doesn't suck.

I actually remember reading the PS2 Vandy writeup "Quack Indeed" Loving the member berries

A new game would be awesome! Hoping we get one next year and, yes, that it doesn't suck. Hopefully it's not some generic nonsense.

Man, you go back a LONG ways if you remember that write-up. I vaguely remember writing that headline. As I take this trip back in time, I try to remember actually playing the games or writing the reports. Some memories come back more vividly than others.

[BDawg35]

2023/2008 SEASONS - GAME 6


Vanderbilt freshman Michael Johnson hauls in the winning 16-yard touchdown pass with six seconds.


Vanderbilt defensive end Michael Spencer sacks Texas A&M quarterback Haynes King to end the game.

BEAT THE CLOCK
Vanderbilt scores touchdown with
6 seconds left to beat Texas A&M

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — One of these days, B-Dawg really needs to learn how to use the spike button.

It would certainly help preserve precious seconds during two-minute drills when running a play hastily could run extra time, at best, or turn into a disaster, at worst.

That lack of knowledge didn’t hurt the Vanderbilt coach this time around. He quickly marched his team down the field for a game-winning 16-yard touchdown pass from Mike Wright to freshman sensation Michael Johnson with six seconds left in a 36-32 victory over Texas A&M on Sept. 30, 2023.

The Aggies (0-5) hoped they had secured their first victory of the season when Caden Davis kicked a 39-yard field goal with 1:02 left in the game, putting A&M up 32-29.

A&M had success running the ball and the clock on that drive, so the Commodores had to burn their timeouts. It might have been a different outcome if linebacker Errington Truesdell hadn’t come up with a sack on third-and-seven, forcing the field goal attempt. Otherwise, the Aggies might have bled the clock before kicking the winning field goal.

As it was, Vanderbilt had 1:02 remaining after electing to fair-catch a deep kickoff to save seconds. The Commodores started at their own 25-yard line and had success finding running back Rocko Griffin over the middle for first downs that temporarily stopped the clock. Then were then able to hit receiver Quincy Skinner on wheel routes to the outside to gain yards and get the ball out of bounds.

Johnson had been quiet the entire game and wasn’t utilized on the winning drive until Mike Wright found him on a 16-yard post route with six seconds left out of a Verticals from the Bunch Shotgun formation.

“I didn’t have the guts or the time to get him open on those deep posts until then,” B-Dawg said. “My eyes got really big when I saw how open he was. It was a great job of clock management, though it occurred to me it would’ve helped to know how to spike the ball in this case.”

The winning touchdown pass was Wright’s 60th, breaking the real-life school record of 59 set by Jay Cutler from 2002-05. That record was actually broken by Kyle Shurmur, who had 64 touchdown passes from 2015-18, but it isn’t included in NCAA ’14.

The Aggies got the ball at their own 30-yard line following a kick return that killed four seconds. B-Dawg called the wrong defense, so he intentionally went offside to regroup. He dialed up magic after that, getting a sack from defensive end Michael Spencer to end the game.

It was the sixth sack for the Commodores, two of which were by defensive tackle Devin Lee.


Vanderbilt fullback Andy Wilson ties the game with a 1-yard run with 2:21
left in the game.

VANDERBILT COMMODORES at TEXAS A&M AGGIES
Sept. 30, 2023	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Vanderbilt Commodores (4-2)	8	14	0	14	36
Texas A&M Aggies (0-5)	6	10	10	6	32

Team Stats Comparison
	VAN	TA&M
Total Offense	422	397
Rushing Yards	42-143	34-179
Passing Yards	279	218
First Downs	23	16
Punt Return Yards	22	14
Kick Return Yards	249	154
Total Yards	693	565
Turnovers	2	0
3rd Down Conversion	6-14	5-12
4th Down Conversion	3-4	0-0
2-Point Conversion	2-3	0-1
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	6-5-0	4-1-3
Penalties	2-19	0-0
Possession Time	22:33	13:27

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		VAN	TA&M
3:52	(VAN) R. Griffin 2 run (R. Griffin run)	0	8
3:01	(TA&M) D. Achane 48 run (run failed)	6	8
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		VAN	TA&M
6:30	(VAN) A. Wilson 3 run (run failed)	6	14
4:43	(TA&M) C. Davis 53 field goal	9	14
2:49	(VAN) A. Wilson 1 run (R. Griffin run)	9	22
:08	(TA&M) B. Cupp 6 pass from H. King (C. Davis kick)	16	22
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		VAN	TA&M
6:44	(TA&M) B. Cupp 27 pass from H. King (C. Davis kick)	23	22
2:50	(TA&M) C. Davis 33 field goal	26	22
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		VAN	TA&M
5:18	(TA&M) C. Davis 36 field goal	29	22
2:21	(VAN) A. Wilson 1 run (G. Mitchell kick)	29	29
1:02	(TA&M) C. Davis 39 field goal	32	29
:06	(VAN) M. Johnson 16 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	32	36

VANDERBILT COMMODORES PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Mike Wright 22/32 279 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Rocko Griffin 23 119 5.1 1 Andy Wilson 6 15 2.5 3 James Ziglor 1 7 7.0 0 Michael Johnson 1 3 3.0 0 Mike Wright 11 -1 0.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Quincy Skinner 6 80 13.3 0 Rocko Griffin 5 43 8.6 0 Will Sheppard 4 86 21.5 0 Michael Johnson 4 27 6.8 1 Logan Kyle 2 31 15.5 0 Joel Decoursey 1 12 12.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Rocko Griffin 0 1 Jason Brooks 0 1 Bradley Ashmore 0 1 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Ethan Barr 8 4 1 0 Anfernee Orji 5 0 0 0 De'Rickey Wright 5 1 0 0 Chase Lloyd 5 0 0 0 Tyson Russell 4 0 0 0 Errington Truesdell 4 1 1 0 Marlen Sewell 3 0 0 0 Jack Barton 3 0 0 0 Jeremy Walton 3 0 0 0 John Howse 3 0 0 0 Michael Spencer 3 2 1 0 Michael Mincey 2 1 1 0 John Johnson 2 0 0 0 Devin Lee 2 2 2 0 Michael Johnson 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Greg Mitchell PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Robert Hayden 2 76 38.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 6 249 41.5 68 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 1 22 22.0 22

TEXAS A&M AGGIES PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Haynes King 19/23 218 2 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Devon Achane 20 129 6.4 1 Haynes King 11 43 3.9 0 L.J. Johnson 3 7 2.3 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Baylor Cupp 9 78 8.7 2 Demond Demas 3 61 20.3 0 Chase Lane 3 50 16.7 0 Devon Achane 2 13 6.5 0 Chris Maxwell 1 12 12.0 0 Jim Williams 1 4 4.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Layden Robinson 0 2 Blake Trainor 0 1 Reuben Fatheree 0 1 Josh Bankhead 0 1 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Edgerrin Cooper 10 0 0 0 Antonio Johnson 8 0 0 0 Deyon Bouie 7 0 0 1 Deuce Harmon 6 2 1 0 Tarian Lee 6 0 0 0 Fadil Diggs 5 2 1 0 Shemar Turner 5 0 0 0 Donell Harris 5 2 2 0 Dryden Norwood 3 0 0 0 Tyreek Chappell 2 0 0 0 Devin Price 2 0 0 0 Jaylon Jones 2 0 0 0 Yulkeith Brown 2 0 0 0 Adarious Jones 2 0 0 0 Chris Rutledge 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Caden Davis 4/4 2/2 14 53 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Nik Constantinou 2 100 50.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Moose Muhammad 6 154 25.7 32 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Moose Muhammad 1 14 14.0 14

Keon Humphries (left) turns upfield on an 89-yard interception return (left).
Anthony Dixon (right) scored two touchdowns in the final 4:08.

89-yard interception return key play
as Vandy loses at Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Keon Humphries was 89 yards away from the end zone, but B-Dawg already knew the outcome.

He’s seen this scenario unfold so many times in his three-year stint as Vanderbilt’s coach that he was tempted to just put down the controller, take Bobby Knight’s advice and enjoy the inevitable rape job that was about to take place.

Humprhies got his hands on a tipped ball by fellow Mississippi State defender Keith Fitzhugh with his back to the Vanderbilt end zone, did a pirouette, and raced 89 yards untouched down the left sidelines to give the struggling Bulldogs a huge break with 1:02 left in the second half.

The touchdown gave Mississippi State a 10-7 halftime lead and, even though the Commodores came back to tie the game heading into the final quarter, 46th-ranked Vanderbilt was never in a comfort zone after that and lost 34-20 to the 56th-ranked Bulldogs.

“It was a deep ball and we had plenty of time for everyone else on offense to get back and make a tackle,” B-Dawg said. “But it seems like some magical force — perhaps a new EA “feature” — prevents our guys from closing off the sideline when they can see a guy coming from 35, 40 yards away. We had everything under control at that point. Our defense was playing great, our offense got us 10 points and we were kind of controlling things. I think we just got frustrated after that.”

In just two-and-a-half seasons, the CPU has scored 19 touchdowns on interception returns against Vanderbilt, while the Commodores have only two. The interceptions have been pretty similar: long returns down the sideline with nobody on Vanderbilt seemingly able to get a pursuit angle. The 19 interception returns have gone an average of 59.3 yards. Nearly one-third of the Commodores’ 62 interceptions in this dynasty have been taken the other way for six.

Still, Vanderbilt was able to come back from a 13-7 deficit to tie it 13-all on two field goals by Bryant Hahnfeldt in the third quarter. B-Dawg’s biggest mistake was getting too conservative in the red zone, wasting third-down plays to position the ball in the middle of the field for field goals because he is having an awful time kicking from an angle with the new kicking system.

In fact, he went for it on fourth-and-two late in the first quarter when he was within easy field goal range, because the CPU tackler dragged his ball carrier from the middle of the field all the way to the right hash mark.

“I’d swear that play was intentional,” B-Dawg said. “Maybe an EA feature.”

The Bulldogs’ offense didn’t score a touchdown all day before exploding for three in the final 4:08 of the game.

Shut down all day, Anthony Dixon broke free for touchdown runs of 16 and 78 yards, while Ryan Mason hauled in a 76-yard touchdown pass on play-action on second-and-seven with 2:27 remaining to put Mississippi State up 27-13.

Vanderbilt got within seven points on a 39-yard pass from Mackenzi Adams to Earl Bennett, then got the ball back when Bryant Anderson recovered the onside kick. That good fortune was squandered when B-Dawg hit the wrong button and threw a blind pass that was picked off by Fitzhugh with 1:05 left. Dixon put the game away with a 78-yard run with 55 seconds remaining.

Adams set a dynasty record by throwing for 406 yards, but was only 20-for-42 with two touchdowns and four picks. Bennett had a dynasty-record 12 catches, gaining 293 yards and a touchdown. Running back Jared Hawkins had some success early, even catching a 5-yard touchdown pass, but was stuffed repeatedly the rest of the game and averaged only 2.8 yards a carry with 65 yards on 23 rushes.

“When you can’t run, there’s only one other option,” B-Dawg said. “It’s great having a receiver like Earl Bennett, but we’re finding out that whenever he has a big game, it’s usually because we’re forced to throw a lot and we’re probably not going to be very successful.”

Vanderbilt is 3-3, but now embarks on the toughest part of its schedule after losing to the two Mississippi schools, games the Commodores need to win if they’re going to have successful seasons.

Next up are games against Georgia, South Carolina and Florida before a possible even matchup at Kentucky. Tennessee will then come calling before the Commodores end their season against a stronger-than-usual Western Michigan team.

“If we don’t find a way to quit turning over the ball, we may not win another game,” B-Dawg said.

PLAYAZ OF DA GAME
Earl Bennett, Vanderbilt; Keon Humphries, Mississippi State

MISSISSIPPI ST. 34, VANDY 20
First quarter
MSU: Howard 38 field goal, 4:50
Second quarter
VANDY: Hawkins 5 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), 6:22
MSU: Humphries 89 interception return (Howard kick), 1:02
Third quarter
MSU: Howard 37 field goal, 5:57
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 25 field goal, 3:21
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 32 field goal, 1:48
Fourth quarter
MSU: Dixon 16 run (Holmes blocked kick), 4:08
MSU: Mason 76 pass from Rutland (Sosebee pass from Rutland), 2:27
VANDY: Bennett 39 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), 1:28
MSU: Dixon 78 run (Howard kick), :55

[size=4][b]VANDERBILT         0    7    6    7    —   20
MISSISSIPPI STATE  3    7    3   21    —   34[/b][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#C8AE13]VANDERBILT COMMODORES STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING          Cmp  Att   Yds  TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Mackenzi Adams    20   42   406   2    4   57

[B]RUSHING          Att  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Jared Hawkins     23   65   2.8   0   11
Mackenzi Adams    11   42   3.8   0   14
Brad Allen         4   12   3.0   0    7
Gaston Miller      3   -1  -0.3   0    3
[B]TOTALS            41  118   2.9   0   14[/B]

[B]RECEIVING        Rec  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Earl Bennett      12  293  24.4   1   57
Bryant Anderson    2   49  24.5   0   39
Jonathan Massey    1   22  22.0   0   22
Alex Washington    1   21  21.0   0   21
George Smith       1   16  16.0   0   16
Jared Hawkins      1    5   5.0   1    5
Jake Bradford      1    3   3.0   0    3
Justin Wheeler     1   -3  -3.0   0    0
[B]TOTALS            20  406  20.3   2   57[/B]

[B]DEFENSE          Tkl  TFL   Sk  Int[/b]
Quavian Lewis      8    2    0    0
Kikko Logan        7    0    0    0
Josh Allen         5    1    0    0
Reshard Langford   5    0    0    0
Greg Billinger     5    0    0    0
Chris Johnson      5    1    0    0
Ryan Hamilton      5    0    0    0
Bryan Kelly        3    0    0    0
D.J. Moore         3    1    0    0
Steven Stone       2    1    1    0
Broderick Stewart  2    1    0    0
George Smith       1    0    0    0
Brad Allen         1    0    0    0
Alan Strong        1    0    0    0
[B]TOTALS            53    7    1    0[/B][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#912434]MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING          Cmp  Att   Yds  TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Tray Rutland      19   29   278   1    0   76

[B]RUSHING          Att  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Anthony Dixon     14  121   8.6   2   78
Major Sosebee      1   29  29.0   0   29
Martin Mathis      4   19   4.8   0    6
Tray Rutland       7    3   0.4   0    3
[B]TOTALS            26  172   6.6   2   78[/B]

[B]RECEIVING        Rec  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Nick Beard         7   68   9.7   0   25
Ryan Mason         4   98  24.5   1   76
Major Sosebee      4   80  20.0   0   31
Aubrey Bell        2   20  10.0   0   19
Anthony Dixon      2   12   6.0   0    7
[B]TOTALS            19  278  14.6   1   76[/B]

[B]TEAM STATISTICS  VAN    MSU[/b]
Total offense    524    450
Rushing          118    172
Passing          406    278
First downs       24     12
3rd down        3-14   5-15
4th down         3-6    1-1
Turnovers          4      2
Penalties       1-15   3-45
Possession     17:45  14:15[/size]

WEEK 6 RESULTS
Mississippi State 34, VANDERBILT 20
Rice 24, Kentucky 19
Auburn 45, Army 7
Florida 38, Mississippi 20
Tennessee 42, South Carolina 17
Georgia 48, Alabama 17

PLAYAZ OF DA WEEK
Offense — Montario Hardesty, Tennessee (13 carries, 95 yards, 3 TD; 3 catches, 100 yards, 1 TD)
Defense — Adam Myers-White, Tennessee (5 tackles, 2 interceptions, 1 TD)

[size=5][b][font=arial]SEC EAST[/font][/b][/size][b][font=arial][/font][/b][font=arial][/font][size=3]
                   [b]SEC     Overall[/b]
                   [b]W   L   W   L    PF    PA[/b]
Georgia            3   0   5   0   244   109
Florida            3   0   4   2   205   130
Tennessee          2   1   5   1   233    88
South Carolina     1   2   4   2   245   175
Kentucky           0   2   1   5    94   215
[b]VANDERBILT[/b]         0   3   3   3   121   183[/size]

[size=5][b][font=arial]SEC WEST[/font][/b][/size][b][font=arial][/font][/b][font=arial][/font][size=3]
                   [b]SEC     Overall[/b]
                   [b]W   L   W   L    PF    PA[/b]
Arkansas           1   0   4   1   170   106
Louisiana State    1   1   4   1   186    80
Auburn             1   1   5   1   261    90
Mississippi State  1   1   3   2   152   124
Alabama            1   2   4   2   230   119
Mississippi        1   2   4   2   176   124[/size]

MARK SANCHEZ, USC, QB, r-Jr.
STATS: 104-for-151, 1,641 yards, 19 TD, 5 int.

L.A. REED, Texas Tech, WR, r-Sr.
STATS: 46 catches, 680 yards, 8 TD

PATRICK WHITE, West Virginia, QB, r-Sr.
STATS: 65-for-93, 806 yards, 14 TD, 3 int.; 62 carries, 462 yards, 5 TD

ANDRE BROWN, North Carolina State, HB, Sr.
STATS: 126 carries, 1,046 yards, 9 TD; 8 catches, 132 yards, 2 TD

JEVAN SNEAD, Texas, QB, Jr.
STATS: 124-for-182, 1,715 yards, 25 TD, 6 in.

[BDawg35]

2023/2008 SEASONS - GAME 7


Vanderbilt’s Tyson Russell picks off a pass that he returned 19 yards for a touchdown.


Vanderbilt linebacker Anfernee Orji forces a fumble after a catch by Georgia’s Kendall Milton.

PICK-ME-UP
Interception for TD provides boost
for Vandy in upset of No. 3 Georgia

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When your offense is struggling, the defense needs to pick up the slack.

“Pick,” being the operative word.

A pick-six by red-shirt sophomore cornerback Tyson Russell was precisely the pick-me-up Vanderbilt needed in a 27-17 upset of third-ranked Georgia on Oct. 14, 2023.

Backup Georgia quarterback Carson Beck, who entered when starter Brock Vandagriff was injured in the second quarter, threw a third-and-nine pass toward the left sideline. Tyson made the interception and had nothing but green grass between himself and the end zone with 3:30 left in the first half, giving Vanderbilt a 14-3 lead.

It was one of three interceptions by the Commodores, typically one of the nation’s worst pass defenses, who still allowed 349 yards through the air.

“You need those difference-making plays to win games like these,” Vanderbilt coach B-Dawg said. “They have the leading defense in the country and we certainly had trouble moving the ball against them. We needed to play a little ‘D’ ourselves or we were gonna get run out of the yard.”

The high-scoring Commodores were held to only two offensive touchdowns, both in a 21-point second quarter. All Vanderbilt managed in the second half were two field goals by Greg Mitchell, whose job appears to be in jeopardy after last week’s commitment from highly rated kicker Zach Hancock.

The pick-six by Russell was one of several impact plays made by the Vanderbilt defense.

With Georgia in second-and-goal from the 1-yard line midway through the first quarter, cornerback John Howse blew up a run for a 3-yard loss and linebacker Ethan Barr tackled Vandagriff for a 4-yard loss on a quarterback keeper. It was on that play that the Bulldogs quarterback was injured for the rest of the half. Georgia had to settle for a field goal.

After being burned for a 17-yard pass by Pierre Ivey on a fake punt, Vanderbilt called a 4-2-5 defense on fourth-and-one and snuffed out a direct snap to Adam Brant with 33 seconds left in the first quarter.

On a completed third-and-14 pass to running back Kendall Milton that would have produced a first down, Vanderbilt linebacker Anfernee Orji laid the wood and forced a fumble with 6:56 left in the second quarter.

It appeared that Vanderbilt got a second pick-six when Marlen Sewell intercepted a pass and went to the house with 4:43 left in the game. However, a clip on the return by Barr gave the Commodores the ball at their own 25. Still, it was a big stop.

The final big play by Vanderbilt’s defense was an interception in the end zone by Howse with 50 seconds remaining in Nickel 9 Velcro, B-Dawg’s defense of choice when the opponent has the ball inside the 15.

The Commodores won, despite a no-show effort by freshman standout Michael Johnson, who had only three catches for nine yards. Two catches were on the first series.

“Georgia has the horses to keep up with Michael,” B-Dawg said. “He just didn’t get open enough for us to throw his way.”

Georgia got more players involved than most CPU offenses, with eight players getting at least one carry, three players throwing at least one pass and 10 players making at least one reception.


John Howse intercepts a pass near the end zone with 50 seconds left to seal
the victory.

GEORGIA BULLDOGS at VANDERBILT COMMODORES
Oct. 14, 2023	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#3 Georgia Bulldogs (7-1)	3	7	7	0	17
Vanderbilt Commodores (5-2)	0	21	3	3	27

Team Stats Comparison
	UGA	VAN
Total Offense	417	297
Rushing Yards	28-68	36-131
Passing Yards	349	166
First Downs	18	18
Punt Return Yards	-1	35
Kick Return Yards	107	69
Total Yards	523	401
Turnovers	4	2
3rd Down Conversion	5-15	6-13
4th Down Conversion	3-4	0-0
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-1-1	4-2-2
Penalties	2-10	2-30
Possession Time	13:53	22:07

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		UGA	VAN
3:48	(UGA) A. Goff 25 field goal	3	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		UGA	VAN
8:55	(VAN) R. Griffin 17 run (G. Mitchell kick)	3	7
3:30	(VAN) T. Russell 19 interception return (G. Mitchell kick)	3	14
2:35	(UGA) J. Burton 67 pass from C. Beck (A. Goff kick)	10	14
:15	(VAN) A. Wilson 2 run (G. Mitchell kick)	10	21
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		UGA	VAN
6:59	(UGA) M. Rosemy-Jacksaint 9 pass from B. Vandagriff (A. Goff kick)	17	21
2:21	(VAN) G. Mitchell 31 field goal	17	24
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		UGA	VAN
6:18	(VAN) G. Mitchell 23 field goal	17	27

GEORGIA BULLDOGS PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Brock Vandagriff 16/25 220 1 2 Carson Beck 8/13 112 1 1 Pierre Ivey 1/1 17 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Kendall Milton 6 33 5.5 0 Brock Vandagriff 8 23 2.8 0 Daijun Edwards 9 21 2.3 0 Dominick Blaylock 1 1 1.0 0 Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint 1 -1 -1.0 0 Adam Brant 1 -1 -1.0 0 Jed Bonner 1 -4 -4.0 0 Carson Beck 1 -4 -4.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Kendall Milton 6 31 5.1 0 Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint 5 87 17.4 1 Jermaine Burton 3 92 30.7 0 George Pickens 3 38 12.7 0 Dominick Blaylock 3 59 19.7 0 Kamari Lassiter 1 17 17.0 0 Ladd McConkey 1 10 10.0 0 Darnell Washington 1 8 8.0 0 Daijun Edwards 1 4 4.0 0 Jed Bonner 1 3 3.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Team 0 1 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Smael Mondon 9 2 0 0 Rian Davis 9 0 0 1 Dan Jackson 9 0 0 0 Kelee Ringo 4 1 0 0 David Daniel 4 0 0 0 M.J. Sherman 4 1 1 0 Jalen Carter 3 0 0 0 Jalen Kimber 3 0 0 0 Nyland Green 3 0 0 1 Javon Bullard 3 0 0 0 Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint 2 0 0 0 Nazir Stackhouse 2 2 0 0 Xavian Sorey 2 1 0 0 Raymond Diggs 1 0 0 0 Kamari Lassiter 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Adam Goff 1/1 2/2 5 25 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Pierre Ivey 3 120 40.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Javon Bullard 4 84 21.0 23 Jermaine Burton 1 23 23.0 23 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Javon Bullard 1 -1.0 0 0

VANDERBILT COMMODORES PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Mike Wright 22/29 166 0 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Rocko Griffin 25 80 3.1 1 Mike Wright 7 37 5.2 0 Andy Wilson 4 14 3.5 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Quincy Skinner 5 63 12.6 0 Joel DeCoursey 5 22 4.4 0 Will Sheppard 4 22 5.5 0 Michael Johnson 3 9 3.0 0 Logan Kyle 2 25 12.5 0 Rocko Griffin 2 16 8.0 0 Andy Wilson 1 9 9.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Jason Brooks 0 1 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Ethan Barr 11 2 0 0 Anfernee Orji 8 1 0 0 Chase Lloyd 6 0 0 0 Jack Barton 6 1 0 0 Tyson Russell 6 2 1 1 Marlen Sewell 4 1 0 1 Michael Spencer 3 1 0 0 Devin Lee 3 0 0 0 Kasey Davidson 3 0 0 0 Errington Truesdell 2 0 0 0 John Howse 2 2 0 1 Will Sheppard 2 0 0 0 Nate Clifton 1 1 0 0 Michael Mincey 1 0 0 0 Alan Wright 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Greg Mitchell 2/2 3/3 9 31 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Robert Hayden 4 177 44.3 3 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 2 69 34.5 38 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 3 35 11.7 14

Mackenzi Adams ran for two TD’s and threw for three.

Georgia closes first half in style,
holds on to beat Vanderbilt, 43-38

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — If only …

If only Vanderbilt could wipe away the final 95 seconds of the first half, the Commodores would have sprung an upset of Georgia for the second straight season.

Of course, you can’t do that. College football is a 32-minute game, at least in B-Dawg’s world.

By succumbing to plus-five momentum late in the first half and allowing 17 points in the final 1:35 of the second quarter, the 53rd-ranked Commodores dug themselves into a hole from which they couldn’t climb out in a 43-38 loss to the 11th-ranked Dawgs.

Vanderbilt had two turnovers during that decisive run, a typical occurrence when staring into plus-five mo’ and home-field advantage all in one ugly package. The first turnover was a 7-yard fumble return by Demarcus Dobbs after Mackenzi Adams had the ball come loose on a sack by freshman linebacker Eric Jackson. That touchdown came with 1:27 left in the first half, only eight seconds after a 14-yard scoring strike from Blake Barnes to Kenneth Harris.

An interception thrown by Adams late in the half shouldn’t have resulted in any more points, but of course the Dawgs were able to easily move 67 yards in six plays to get a field goal with two seconds left in the half.

“Again, you feel like you might as well just put down the controller, bend over and take it like a man,” B-Dawg said. “You can set your watch by it. If it’s late in a half and the CPU has plus-five momentum, there is always enough time to give up a few more points before you get safely in the halftime pause screen.”

Other than Georgia’s 20-0 run in the final 2:54 of the first half, Vanderbilt outplayed the Dawgs. The Commodores led 10-7 before that run, fell behind by 27-10 score at halftime, then kept clawing back.

Adams threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to George Smith with 2:18 left to get Vanderbilt within 37-31, but Barnes hit NaDerris Ward for the second time in th egame with 1:59 remaining to put Georgia back up by two scores at 43-31. Adams marched Vanderbilt right back down the field and made it a five-point game with 55 seconds left on an 11-yard fourth-down pass to Earl Bennett.

The ensuing onside kick was recovered by free safety Antavious Coates, who also recovered one following the touchdown by Smith.

“If we can take anything out of this game, it’s what our offense was able to put up 38 points against a great defense like Georgia’s,” B-Dawg said. “We didn’t position ourselves to settle for field goals in the red zone nearly as much as we did in our last game. Hopefully we can keep it going on offense and keep the momentum feature to a dull roar so the CPU doesn’t score at will.”

Adams not only threw for three touchdowns, but ran for two. B-Dawg gave him the green light to run more than usual to avoid a ferocious Georgia pass rush. Adams ran 21 times for 29 yards, with seven sacks factoring into that total.

“After we’re done with the Western Michigan book this year, we’ll definitely be looking into some option books next season when we still have Mackenzi and we start to bring along our fast freshman, Antwan Smith,” B-Dawg said. “Our receiving corps will take a huge graduation hit, so the option may be the way to go next year.”

Bennett caught 10 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns.

PLAYAZ OF DA GAME
Mackenzi Adams, Vanderbilt; Demarcus Dobbs, Georgia

GEORGIA 43, VANDERBILT 38
First quarter
VANDY: Bennett 9 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), 2:32
UGA: Ward 6 pass from Barnes (Hand kick), :44
Second quarter
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 34 field goal, 5:09
UGA: Hand 31 field goal, 2:54
UGA: Harris 14 pass from Barnes (Hand kick), 1:35
UGA: Dobbs 7 fumble return (Hand kick), 1:27
UGA: Hand 20 field goal, :02
Third quarter
VANDY: Adams 1 run (Hahnfeldt kick), 2:44
UGA: Moreno 14 run (Hand kick), 1:12
Fourth quarter
VANDY: Adams 9 run (Hahnfeldt kick), 7:09
UGA: Hand 29 field goal, 4:59
VANDY: G.Smith 3 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), 2:18
UGA: Ward 17 pass from Barnes (pass failed), 1:59
VANDY: Bennett 11 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), :55

[size=4][b]VANDERBILT   7    3    7   21    —   38
GEORGIA      7   20    7    9    —   43[/b][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#C8AE13]VANDERBILT COMMODORES STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING          Cmp  Att   Yds  TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Mackenzi Adams    27   37   325   3    1   53
Jared Funk         2    3    26   0    0   15
[B]TOTALS            29   40   351   3    1   53[/B]

[B]RUSHING          Att  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Jared Hawkins     18   96   5.3   0   20
Mackenzi Adams    21   29   1.4   2   18
Brad Allen         1   14  14.0   0   14
Gaston Miller      4    4   1.0   0    5
[B]TOTALS            44  143   3.3   2   20[/B]

[B]RECEIVING        Rec  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Earl Bennett      10  163  16.3   2   53
George Smith       6   78  13.0   1   23
Bryant Anderson    4   30   7.5   0   14
Jared Hawkins      4    3   0.8   0    4
Alex Washington    3   63  21.0   0   38
Jake Bradford      1   11  11.0   0   11
Justin Wheeler     1    3   3.0   0    3
[B]TOTALS            29  351  12.1   3   53[/B]

[B]DEFENSE          Tkl  TFL   Sk  Int[/b]
D.J. Moore         8    0    0    0
Quavian Lewis      7    1    0    0
Ryan Hamilton      5    0    0    0
Josh Allen         4    1    0    0
Reshard Langford   4    0    0    1
Bryan Kelly        3    0    0    0
Chris Johnson      3    0    0    0
Alan Strong        2    0    0    0
Broderick Stewart  2    0    0    0
Brandon Holmes     1    0    0    0
Steven Stone       1    0    0    0
Bryant Hahnfeldt   1    0    0    0
Brad Allen         1    0    0    0
Teriall Brannon    1    0    0    0
Brandon Bryant     1    0    0    0
Patrick Benoist    1    0    0    0
Eric Hensley       1    0    0    0
Jared Fagan        1    0    0    0
Kikko Logan        1    1    1    0
[B]TOTALS            48    3    1    1[/B][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#C82941]GEORGIA BULLDOGS STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING          Cmp  Att   Yds  TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Blake Barnes      26   35   328   3    1   37

[B]RUSHING          Att  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Knowshon Moreno   17  133   7.8   1   18
Blake Barnes       6   10   1.7   0   13
B.Southerland      3    9   3.0   0    4
[B]TOTALS            26  152   5.8   1   18[/B]

[B]RECEIVING        Rec  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Mohamed Massaquoi  8   84  10.5   0   18
Demiko Goodman     6  136  22.7   0   37
NaDerris Ward      6   35   5.8   2   17
Michael Moore      2   40  20.0   0   20
Kenneth Harris     2   27  13.5   1   14
B.Southerland      1   11  11.0   0   11
Knowshon Moreno    1   -5  -5.0   0    0
[B]TOTALS            26  328  12.6   3   37[/B]

[B]TEAM STATISTICS  VAN    UGA[/b]
Total offense    471    480
Rushing          143    152
Passing          328    328
First downs       29     24
3rd down        6-13   4-10
4th down         3-3    0-0
Turnovers          2      1
Penalties        1-5    0-0
Possession     18:36  13:24[/size]

WEEK 8 RESULTS
Georgia 43, VANDERBILT 38
Tennessee 61, Army 0
Arkansas 49, Florida 43
South Carolina 38, LSU 26
Auburn 16, Mississippi State 15
Alabama 34, Mississippi 19

PLAYAZ OF DA WEEK
Offense — Ja’Kouri Williams, Tennessee (25 carries, 157 yards, 3 TD)
Defense — Demarcus Dobbs, Georgia (4 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FR, 1 TD)

[size=5][b][font=arial]SEC EAST[/font][/b][/size][b][font=arial][/font][/b][font=arial][/font][size=3]
                   [b]SEC     Overall[/b]
                   [b]W   L   W   L    PF    PA[/b]
Georgia            4   1   6   1   301   175
Florida            4   1   5   3   276   203
Tennessee          3   1   7   1   322   102
South Carolina     3   2   6   2   349   229
Kentucky           0   3   1   6   122   281
[b]VANDERBILT[/b]         0   4   3   4   159   226[/size]

[size=5][b][font=arial]SEC WEST[/font][/b][/size][b][font=arial][/font][/b][font=arial][/font][size=3]
                   [b]SEC     Overall[/b]
                   [b]W   L   W   L    PF    PA[/b]
Auburn             3   1   7   1   315   119
Arkansas           2   1   5   2   233   187
Alabama            2   2   6   2   306   159
Mississippi State  1   2   4   3   188   160
Louisiana State    1   3   4   3   236   146
Mississippi        1   3   4   3   195   158[/size]

MARK SANCHEZ, USC, QB, r-Jr.
STATS: 147-for-207, 2,072 yards, 26 TD, 5 int.

ANDRE BROWN, North Carolina State, HB, Sr.
STATS: 163 carries, 1,284 yards, 13 TD; 11 catches, 235 yards, 3 TD

MARLON LUCKY, Nebraska, HB, Sr.
STATS: 99 carries, 805 yards, 12 TD; 15 catches, 266 yards, 6 TD

PATRICK WHITE, West Virginia, QB, r-Sr.
STATS: 93-for-131, 1,097 yards, 18 TD, 4 int.; 100 carries, 707 yards, 10 TD

CURTIS WRIGHT, Michigan, r-Fr.
STATS: 161-for-242, 2,156 yards, 25 TD, 6 int.




FIRST 2008 RANKINGS
1. Florida State (7-0)
2. Ohio State (7-0)
3. USC (6-1)
4. Tennessee (7-1)
5. West Virginia (6-1)
6. Oklahoma (6-1)
7. Louisville (6-0)
8. Penn State (6-1)
9. Nebraska (7-0)
10. Georgia (6-1)
11. Auburn (7-1)
12. Michigan State (6-1)
13. Utah (6-0)
14. Iowa (5-1)
15. Miami (6-2)
16. Georgia Tech (6-2)
17. Michigan (7-1)
18. North Carolina State (7-1)
19. Virginia Tech (7-1)
20. Western Michigan (8-0)
21. Northwestern (5-1)
22. Texas (7-1)
23. Alabama (6-2)
24. Texas Tech (5-2)
25. UCLA (6-1)

[BDawg35]

2023/2008 SEASONS - GAME 8


Vanderbilt defensive end Nate Clifton produces one of his four sacks of South Carolina quarterback Luke Doty.


Vanderbilt’s Marlen Sewell picks off a pass.


Vanderbilt receiver Logan Kyle bowls his way into the end zone.

MAN VS. BOYS
Clifton earns Herbstreit’s praise with
4-sack effort against South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. — If you play NCAA ’14 enough, even nearly 10 years after its release, and there’s bound to be some cool commentary you never heard before.

Kirk Herbstreit dropped a heretofore unheard sound bite to describe the performance of Vanderbilt defensive end Nate Clifton during the 20th-ranked Commodores’ 42-7 beatdown of South Carolina on Oct. 21, 2023.

“He’s like that kid in eighth grade dominating the playground who’s just bigger and faster and stronger than the other kids,” Herbstreit said.

Indeed, Clifton was a man among boys while spearheading the type of defensive effort coach B-Dawg would love to see more often.

All four of Clifton’s tackles were sacks of quarterback Luke Doty. The 89 OVR fifth-year senior boosted his season total of seven sacks among 15 total tackles. The victim of Clifton’s dominance was 84 OVR redshirt junior right tackle Tyshawn Wannamaker, who was “credited” for allowing three of the four sacks.

“We’ve been expecting this kind of performance from Nate,” B-Dawg said. “Having only three sacks in the first seven games was kind of disappointing, but a game like this could be the jump-start he needs to end up with some nice totals by season’s end.”

Clifton’s fourth sack with 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter apparently broke the real-life record of three set by, as the game refers to him, “1984 DE.” A check of Vanderbilt’s actual record books doesn’t show the school record for single-game sacks and no defensive end on the 1984 team had three sacks for the season.

Be that as it may, four sacks is a pretty awesome day.

The game was tied 7-7 when Doty threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Rico Powers with 3:14 left in the first quarter. South Carolina wouldn’t score again against a Vanderbilt defense that usually gives up points in bunches.

“I’m so proud of my defense,” B-Dawg said. “It was nice to play a game in which I didn’t feel like I was grasping at straws trying to come up with something that worked.”

Vanderbilt quarterback Mike Wright was 15-for-18 for 146 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, leading the Commodores to a 28-7 advantage at halftime.

Wright and backup Drew Dickey spread the wealth, as nine Commodores had two catches or more.

Most people don’t brag about their punter in a dynasty report, but some love needs to be shown to Vanderbilt sophomore Robert Hayden. Hayden put all four of his punts inside the 20-yard line while averaging 41.8 net yards. In his last two games, he’s put 7 of 8 punts inside the 20.

Doty had about as bad a game as B-Dawg has seen from a CPU quarterback. While most CPU quarterbacks go into robo-QB mode against his team, Doty was 15-for-27 for 204 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while being sacked five times.


Vanderbilt linebacker Ethan Barr intercepts a pass.

VANDERBILT COMMODORES at SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS
Oct. 21, 2023	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#20 Vanderbilt Commodores (6-2)	7	21	7	7	42
South Carolina Gamecocks (2-6)	7	0	0	0	7

Team Stats Comparison
	VAN	SCAR
Total Offense	402	250
Rushing Yards	39-123	20-46
Passing Yards	279	204
First Downs	24	8
Punt Return Yards	81	0
Kick Return Yards	40	175
Total Yards	523	425
Turnovers	1	2
3rd Down Conversion	10-17	4-13
4th Down Conversion	2-2	0-0
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	6-6-0	1-1-0
Penalties	0-0	2-5
Possession Time	25:23	10:37

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		VAN	SCAR
4:28	(VAN) A. Wilson 4 run (G. Mitchell kick)	7	0
3:14	(SCAR) R. Powers 12 pass from L. Doty (R. Johnson kick)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		VAN	SCAR
8:16	(VAN) M. Johnson 9 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	14	7
4:52	(VAN) W. Sheppard 7 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	21	7
:26	(VAN) L. Kyle 6 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	28	7
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		VAN	SCAR
6:20	(VAN) L. Kyle 14 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	35	7
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		VAN	SCAR
:24	(VAN) J. Ziglor 3 run (G. Mitchell kick)	42	7

VANDERBILT COMMODORES PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Mike Wright 24/30 240 4 1 Drew Dickey 7/9 39 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Rocko Griffin 15 52 34.0 0 James Ziglor 7 21 3.0 1 Mike Wright 7 18 2.5 0 Drew Dickey 1 9 9.0 0 Andy Wilson 4 9 2.3 1 Dylan Betts-Pauley 2 8 4.0 0 Aaron Jones 2 6 3.0 0 Michael Johnson 1 0 0.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Michael Johnson 7 75 10.7 1 Will Sheppard 6 66 11.0 1 Rocko Griffin 4 39 9.8 0 Joel Decoursey 3 39 13.0 0 Logan Kyle 3 28 9.3 2 Quincy Skinner 2 23 11.5 0 Trey Boll 2 9 4.5 0 James Ziglor 2 8 4.0 0 Drew Betts-Pauley 2 -8 -4.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Bradley Ashmore 0 1 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Anfernee Orji 8 0 0 0 Ethan Barr 5 0 0 1 John Howse 5 1 0 0 Nate Clifton 4 4 4 0 Devin Lee 4 2 1 0 Tyson Russell 3 0 0 0 Errington Truesdell 2 0 0 0 Jack Barton 2 0 0 0 Jeremy Walton 2 0 0 0 Marlen Sewell 2 1 0 1 Alan Wright 1 0 0 0 Chase Lloyd 1 0 0 0 Terion Sugick 1 0 0 0 Michael Spencer 1 0 0 0 Skinner/Griffin 1/1 0/0 0/0 0/0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Greg Mitchell 0/0 6/6 6 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Robert Hayden 4 167 41.8 4 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 1 40 40.0 40 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 6 81 13.5 17

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Luke Doty 15/27 204 1 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD JuJu McDowell 10 34 3.4 0 Luke Doty 10 12 1.2 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Frank Green 5 72 14.4 0 Ger-Cari Caldwell 3 82 27.3 0 Rico Powers 3 24 8.0 1 JuJu McDowell 3 21 7.0 0 Eric Shaw 1 5 5.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Tyshawn Wannamaker 0 3 Jondarius Morgan 0 1 Antwan Butler 0 1 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Darryle Ware 11 2 0 0 Debo Williams 11 0 0 0 Tonka Hemingway 8 1 0 0 Jahmar Brown 7 3 0 1 David Spaulding 7 1 0 0 O'Donnell Fortune 7 0 0 0 Cam Smith 6 0 0 0 Josh Sykes 3 2 1 0 Jordan Burch 3 1 0 0 Marcellas Dial 3 0 0 0 David Thomas 2 0 0 0 Traevon Kenion 1 0 0 0 Alex Huntley 1 0 0 0 J.R. Brown 1 0 0 0 Dominick Hill 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Ray Johnson 0/0 1/1 1 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Kai Kroeger 7 336 479 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Ger-Cari Caldwell 7 175 24.9 29 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Team 0 0 0.0 0

Vanderbilt’s only two scores were set up by a 35-yard catch by Justin Wheeler (left)
and a 42-yard run by Gaston Miller (right).

BELIEVE IT!
After allowing 119 points in two meetings,
Vandy shuts down Gamecocks for 10-7 win

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nobody could have seen this one coming.

It’s not so much that 54th-ranked Vanderbilt beat 30th-ranked South Carolina on Nov. 1, 2008 that has the college football world all abuzz, because upsets happen all the time.

No, it’s the final score that caused fans to do a double-take when it crawled across the tickers: Vanderbilt 10, South Carolina 7.

That was not the score after one quarter. Not the score at halftime. Not even the score after three quarters.

That was the final score after 32 hard-fought minutes against a high-powered team that had outscored Vanderbilt 119-48 in the first two meetings in this dynasty.

South Carolina didn’t even score until there were 41 seconds left in the game.

“Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable,” an overjoyed Vanderbilt coach B-Dawg said. “Hands-down, this is the most enjoyable game of NCAA I’ve played vs. the CPU in several years. It’s good to know that it’s possible to still have an old-fashioned defensive battle in the arcade-fest that is the NCAA Football series. Our defense was totally amazing. I have no clue how we were able to hold those guys down like that. Hopefully this will carry over into the rest of the season. The game is so much more enjoyable to play when you’re not mired in the slimepit of plus-five momentum. They never got big mo’ on their side, so it was more of a chess match out there instead of a case of who got an EA gimmick on their side.”

Impact linebacker Quavian Lewis led the defensive charge, making nine tackles, including three for a loss and one sack. South Carolina ran for only 34 yards on 19 carries and put up just 209 yards of total offense. The Gamecocks got 80 of those yards on their only touchdown drive, a 12-play march that culminated on Kenny McKinley’s 9-yard catch with 41 seconds left in the game. Vanderbilt’s Jake Bradford fell on the ensuing onside kick, and the Commodores (4-4) put the game away when Brad Allen ran for a first down with 33 seconds to go.

Vanderbilt’s only two scores were a 2-yard sneak by quarterback Mackenzi Adams with 21 seconds left in the first half and an 18-yard field goal by Bryant Hahnfeldt with 2:35 to go in the game.

Adams’ touchdown capped a 10-play, 87-yard march. The key play was a 35-yard pass from Adams to Justin Wheeler on third-and-12 with 52 seconds left in the half.

The field goal drive was a nine-play, 70-yard drive highlighted by backup halfback Gaston Miller’s 42-yard run to the 1-yard line. The Commodores weren’t able to punch in the touchdown, but B-Dawg was perfectly happy to line up the ball in the middle of the field on third down so Hahnfeldt could kick straight on for the insurance field goal.

“We didn’t put up a ton of points by any means, but we possessed the ball by a 19:43 to 12:17 margin,” B-Dawg said. “If you keep the ball out of their hands, it makes your defense look a whole lot better.”

South Carolina’s Yvan Banag was a freak, making 12 tackles, five for losses and two sacks.

South Carolina (6-2) was missing 85 OVR starting quarterback Cade Thompson, who will be out for five more weeks. Red-shirt freshman Andrew Bobo, who is 82 OVR, was 21-for-33 for 175 yards, one touchdown and one pick. Thompson had thrown three fourth-quarter touchdowns as a backup in the two matchups with Vanderbilt.

PLAYAZ OF DA GAME
Yvan Banag, South Carolina; Quavian Lewis, Vanderbilt

VANDERBILT 10, SOUTH CAROLINA 7
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
VANDY: Adams 2 run (Hahnfeldt kick), :21
Third quarter
No scoring
Fourth quarter
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 18 field goal, 2:35
SC: McKinley 9 pass from Bobo (Succop kick), :41

[size=4][b]SOUTH CAROLINA     0    0    0    7    —    7
VANDERBILT         0    7    0    3    —   10[/b][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#C8AE13]VANDERBILT COMMODORES STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING          Cmp  Att   Yds   TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Mackenzi Adams    19   27   236    0    1   35
Jared Hawkins      0    1     0    0    0    0
[B]TOTALS            19   28   236    0    1   35[/B]

[B]RUSHING          Att  Yds   Avg   TD   Lg[/b]
Jared Hawkins     21   64   3.0    0   17
Gaston Miller      2   46  23.0    0   42
Brad Allen         6   21   3.5    0   10
Mackenzi Adams    12    8   0.7    1   17
Clint Turner       1    0   0.0    0    0
[B]TOTALS            42  139   3.3    1   42[/B]

[B]RECEIVING        Rec  Yds   Avg   TD   Lg[/b]
Earl Bennett       6   87  14.5    0   32
George Smith       3   29   9.7    0   17
Alex Washington    3   26   8.7    0    9
Jared Hawkins      2   31  15.5    0   33
Justin Wheeler     1   35  35.0    0   35
Gaston Miller      1   11  11.0    0   11
Bryant Anderson    1    8   8.0    0    8
Jonathan Massey    1    6   6.0    0    6
Jake Bradford      1    3   3.0    0    3
[B]TOTALS            19  236  12.4    0   35[/B]

[B]DEFENSE          Tkl  TFL   Sk  Int[/b]
Quavian Lewis      9    3    1    0
Bryan Kelly        4    0    0    0
Ryan Hamilton      3    0    0    0
Josh Allen         3    0    0    0
Brent Trice        3    0    0    0
Greg Billinger     3    2    1    0
Broderick Stewart  3    1    1    0
Joel Caldwell      2    0    0    0
Kikko Logan        2    2    0    0
Jared Fagan        2    0    0    0
D.J. Moore         1    1    0    1
Drew Gardner       1    0    0    0
Patrick Benoist    1    0    0    0
Brad Allen         1    0    0    0
Chris Johnson      1    0    0    0
[B]TOTALS            39    9    3    1[/B][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#C2063E]SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING          Cmp  Att   Yds   TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Andrew Bobo       21   33   175    1    1   22

[B]RUSHING          Att  Yds   Avg   TD   Lg[/b]
Mike Davis        15   48   3.2    0   13
Clark Gaston       1    2   2.0    0    2
Andrew Bobo        3  -16  -5.3    0    0
[B]TOTALS            19   34   1.8    0   13[/B]

[B]RECEIVING        Rec  Yds   Avg   TD   Lg[/b]
Freddie Brown      6   30   5.0    0   10
Jared Cook         5   46   9.2    0   12
Kenny McKinley     3   36  12.0    1   15
O.J. Murdock       3   29   9.7    0   19
Mike Davis         2   21  10.5    0   22
Casey Bullock      1   14  14.0    0   14
Clark Gaston       1   -1  -1.0    0    0
[B]TOTALS            21  175   8.3    1   22[/B]

[B]TEAM STATISTICS   SC    VAN[/b]
Total offense    209    375
Rushing           34    139
Passing          175    236
First downs       10     20
3rd down        4-13   6-13
4th down         0-0    0-1
Turnovers          1      3
Penalties       3-30    1-5
Possession     12:17  19:43[/size]

WEEK 9 RESULTS
VANDERBILT 10, South Carolina 7
Georgia 28, Virginia 7
Kentucky 24, Mississippi State 20
Arkansas 27, Mississippi 24
Tennessee 20, Alabama 10
Auburn 40, LSU 35

PLAYAZ OF DA WEEK
Offense — Alfonso Smith, Kentucky (12 carries, 64 yards, 1 TD; 2 catches, 69 yards, 1 TD)
Defense — Patrick Trahan, Auburn (3 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 int., 1 TD)

[BDawg35]

2023/2008 SEASONS - GAME 9


Will Sheppard’s 30-yard catch to the 1-yard line set up Vanderbilt’s final touchdown, which proved to be necessary.


Vanderbilt freshman Michael Johnson grabs a 9-yard touchdown pass.

BENT, NOT BROKEN
Vanderbilt makes Mississippi settle
for field goals on trips to red zone

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mississippi racked up 9.6 yards per play against Vanderbilt on Oct. 28, 2023 and seemed to be living in the red zone.

However, that high-octane attack bogged down enough once it got close to the end zone to give Vanderbilt a 35-30 victory.

The Rebels settled for three field goals in five trips to the red zone.

“That made all the difference in this game,” Vanderbilt coach B-Dawg said. “We can’t seem to defend the first 80 yards of the field, but we are tough to score on once you get closer to our end zone.”

Mississippi’s Caden Costa had field goals of 28, 33 and 29 yards.

The Commodores were outscored 14-0 in the third quarter to fall behind 24-21 entering the fourth.

Receiver Logan Kyle, who lost a fumble in the second quarter, atoned for it by catching the go-ahead touchdown pass on a slant on third-and-goal from the 5-yard line with 7:15 left in the game. The touchdown capped a 14-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 4:10.

A third-and-11 screen pass to running back Henry Parrish was stopped inches short of a first down on Mississippi’s next possession. The Rebels chose to punt from their own 35.

“You don’t deserve to win a football game if you’re not man enough to try to push the ball forward a few inches to keep possession,” B-Dawg said.

The Commodores happily took the ball back and scored what proved to be a critical insurance touchdowns, but not without surviving a scare. Running back Rocko Griffin fumbled, but receiver Michael Johnson saved the day by pouncing on the loose ball with 4:23 left in the game.

On the next play, quarterback Mike Wright hit receiver Will Sheppard for a 30-yard pass to the 1-yard line. Griffin took it from there, getting the ball in the end zone without fumbling this time to make it a 35-24 game with 3:33 remaining.

The Rebels kept the heat on, making it a 35-30 game on a 7-yard pass from Kinkead Dent to Qua Davis on fourth-and-three with 2:00 left. Defensive tackle Terion Sugick sacked Dent on the 2-point attempt.

Dylan Betts-Pauley recovered the onside kick and a Vanderbilt running game that struggled all day managed to run out the clock.

Vanderbilt and Florida remain tied atop the Southeastern Conference East Division at 5-0. Florida had a big 42-23 victory over Georgia.


Logan Kyle grabs a 5-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.

MISSISSIPPI REBELS at VANDERBILT COMMODORES
Oct. 28, 2023	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Mississippi Rebels (5-3)	7	3	14	6	30
#17 Vanderbilt Commodores (7-2)	7	14	0	14	35

Team Stats Comparison
	MISS	VAN
Total Offense	468	492
Rushing Yards	23-204	41-126
Passing Yards	264	366
First Downs	16	27
Punt Return Yards	0	34
Kick Return Yards	151	140
Total Yards	619	666
Turnovers	0	1
3rd Down Conversion	3-10	8-14
4th Down Conversion	1-1	3-5
2-Point Conversion	1-2	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	5-2-3	7-5-0
Penalties	1-5	0-0
Possession Time	10:39	25:21

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		MISS	VAN
5:43	(VAN) A. Wilson 2 run (G. Mitchell kick)	0	7
3:18	(MISS) Q. Davis 60 pass from K. Dent (C. Costa kick)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		MISS	VAN
6:40	(VAN) R. Griffin 2 run (G. Mitchell kick)	7	14
5:24	(MISS) C. Costa 28 field goal	10	14
:20	(VAN) M. Johnson 9 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	10	21
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		MISS	VAN
7:18	(MISS) C. Costa 33 field goal	13	21
4:17	(MISS) C. Costa 29 field goal	16	21
2:25	(MISS) J. Jackson 2 pass from K. Dent (L. Knox catch)	24	21
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		MISS	VAN
7:15	(VAN) L. Kyle 5 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	24	28
3:33	(VAN) R. Griffin 1 run (G. Mitchell kick)	24	35
2:00	(MISS) Q. Davis 7 pass from K. Dent (pass failed)	30	35

MISSISSIPPI REBELS PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Kinkead Dent 17/25 268 3 0 Nate Ingram 1/1 -4 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Henry Parrish 6 88 14.7 0 Kinkead Dent 15 69 4.7 0 Qua Davis 1 46 46.0 0 Jadon Jackson 1 1 1.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Qua Davis 7 159 22.7 2 Bralon Brown 3 49 16.3 0 Jadon Jackson 3 34 11.3 1 Henry Parrish 3 9 3.0 0 Randall White 1 13 13.0 0 Luke Knox 1 0 0.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Cedric Melton 0 1 Jeremy James 0 1 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Trey Washington 11 0 0 0 Austin Keys 9 0 0 0 Denatre Prince 6 1 0 0 John Jackson 6 0 0 0 Tysheem Johnson 6 1 0 0 Markevious Brown 5 0 0 0 Isaiah Iton 5 2 0 0 Jamond Gordon 5 2 0 0 Emmanuel Young 4 2 0 0 Demon Clowney 3 1 0 0 Cedric Johnson 3 0 0 0 Kool-Aid McKinstry 3 0 0 0 Ashanti Cistrunk 3 0 0 0 Brandon Mack 1 0 0 0 Doug Vandermeulen 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Caden Costa 3/4 1/1 10 33 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Brannon Henderson 3 128 42.7 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Kentrel Bullock 5 128 25.6 28 Qua Davis 1 23 23.0 23 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Team 0 0 0.0 0

VANDERBILT COMMODORES PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Mike Wright 33/46 366 2 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Rocko Griffin 27 73 2.7 2 Mike Wright 6 42 7.0 0 Andy Wilson 7 9 1.2 1 James Ziglor 1 2 2.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Will Sheppard 8 110 13.8 0 Logan Kyle 6 83 13.8 1 Rocko Griffin 6 50 8.3 0 Quincy Skinner 5 65 13.0 0 Michael Johnson 5 44 8.8 1 Aaron Jones 1 8 8.0 0 Andy Wilson 1 6 6.0 0 Joel Decoursey 1 0 0.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Team 0 0 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Ethan Barr 7 0 0 0 Chase Lloyd 6 2 0 0 Marlen Sewell 4 0 0 0 Tyson Russell 3 1 0 0 Nate Clifton 3 1 1 0 John Howse 3 0 0 0 Jack Barton 3 1 0 0 Kasey Davidson 2 0 0 0 Michael Spencer 2 2 1 0 Terion Sugick 2 1 0 0 Anfernee Orji 2 0 0 0 John Johnson 2 0 0 0 Devin Lee 1 1 0 0 Jeremy Walton 1 0 0 0 Truesdell/Mincey 1/1 0/0 0/0 0/0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Greg Mitchell 0/0 5/5 5 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Robert Hayden 1 40 40.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 5 136 27.2 35 Dylan Betts-Pauley 1 4 4.0 4 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 2 34 17.0 18

Starting halfback suspended 2 games

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt’s running game has blown for the most part in this dynasty.

It’s about to get worse.

Starting halfback Jared Hawkins has been suspended for the next two games for alleged plagiarism.

An internal memo reads: “One of Hawkins’ professors has come to us with concerns about Hawkins’ penchant for plagiarism. This is a no-no for the university and actions will be taken immediately.”

Hawkins, an 82 OVR red-shirt junior, has rushed for 674 yards. The starter for the upcoming games against Florida and Kentucky will be Gaston Miller, who is only 70 OVR.

“I can’t remember ever starting a 70 OVR running back in my life,” B-Dawg said. “I guess I’m not in Ann Arbor anymore, Toto. But, hey, we still have to have some standards around here. Our recruiting rules will have to be relaxed out of necessity, but guys won’t be allowed to screw up once they get on scholarship.”



Florida’s Avery Atkins took both of these interceptions to the barn.

Two interceptions for touchdowns
lead Florida to win over Vandy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — It took only 65 seconds for Florida’s offense to get into the end zone against Vanderbilt.

That was the first and last touchdown scored by the Gators’ offense.

Sounds pretty good for the Commodores, right?

Well, it would have been if it wasn’t for the continued parade of interceptions going the other way for touchdowns against Vanderbilt.

Florida’s Avery Atkins was the latest defensive player to have a career day against the Commodores, taking two interceptions to the house in a 25-13 victory over 41st-ranked Vanderbilt on Nov. 15, 2008.

Vanderbilt led 7-6 after one quarter and was down only 9-7 when Atkins took a pick 37 yards for a touchdown with 18 seconds left in the first half. Atkins made it 19-7 with a 26-yard interception return with 6:59 left in the third quarter.

“We’re absolutely killing ourselves with these interceptions,” Vanderbilt coach B-Dawg said. “Some of them are bad reads, some of them are momentum-induced, some of them are on B.S. tipped balls, some of them are legitimate good plays by the CPU. This has to end and it has to end now. I’m at a loss for how to do it. It might help if I ever replaced the tiny television I’ve been playing on lately. It’s pretty hard to see on that postage stamp that passes as our gaming monitor, but that’s no excuse.”

The Commodores (4-5) have now had 21 interceptions returned for touchdowns against them in 33 games in this dynasty.

Florida scored right away, as Tim Tebow hit Nyan Boateng with a 42-yard touchdown pass just 1:05 into the game. Chris Johnson blocked the extra point, which allowed Vanderbilt to take a 7-6 lead on Mackenzi Adams’ 4-yard pass to tight end Jonathan Massey and Bryant Hahnfeldt’s extra point with 33 seconds left in the first quarter.

A field goal with 1:29 late in the first half gave Florida a 9-7 lead before Atkins had two interceptions for touchdowns in a 1:19 span of the second and third quarters.

Vanderbilt had a chance to get back in the game when Adams hit Bryant Anderson with a 2-yard touchdown pass with 7:16 left in the game, but a 2-point pass that would have made it a seven-point game failed. Adams started the game 16-for-18 for 121 yards and a touchdown before Atkins’ first pick. Adams finished 35-for-49 for 362 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. The completions are a dynasty record.

It was just another day at the office for Earl Bennett, who caught 13 passes for 217 yards. However, 26th-ranked Florida (7-3) kept the star receiver out of the end zone.

Interceptions weren’t the only culprit for Vanderbilt — fumbles did their share of damage, as well. The Commodores put the rock on the turf seven times, losing it five times. Gaston Miller, a 70 OVR halfback starting in place of suspended Jared Hawkins, fumbled the ball three times.

Vanderbilt had minus-3 yards on 34 carries, due in large part to eight sacks.

“Mackenzi is getting killed back there,” B-Dawg said. “It’s not like we don’t try to throw short passes so he can get rid of the ball right away. It’s just that our line is like rice paper at times out there. Plus, some of those short passes are going into blind spots and going the other way. Sometimes you have to take the sack and live to throw another player. I’m just not sure if Mackenzi will live to tell about the beating he’s taking.”

A bright spot is the defense, which has allowed only two touchdowns in the last two games against good offensive teams like South Carolina and Florida.

“Our 3-4 man defense seems to be keeping things in check,” B-Dawg said. “If we can cut down on the turnovers, this thing will turn around in a hurry. If …”

PLAYAZ OF DA GAME
Avery Atkins, Florida; Earl Bennett, Vanderbilt

FLORIDA 25, VANDERBILT 13
First quarter
FLA: Boateng 42 pass from Tebow (Johnson blocked kick), 6:55
VANDY: Massey 4 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), :33
Second quarter
FLA: Cummings 33 field goal, 1:29
FLA: Atkins 37 interception return (Cummings kick), :18
Third quarter
FLA: Atkins 26 interception return (pass failed), 6:59
Fourth quarter
VANDY: Anderson 2 pass from Adams (pass failed), 7:16
FLA: Cummings 37 field goal, 1:19

[size=4][b]FLORIDA            6   10    6    3    —   25
VANDERBILT         7    0    0    6    —   13[/b][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#C8AE13]VANDERBILT COMMODORES STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING          Cmp  Att   Yds   TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Mackenzi Adams    35   49   362    2    2   45
Jared Funk         2    6    15    0    0   12
[B]TOTALS            37   55   377    2    2   45[/B]

[B]RUSHING          Att  Yds   Avg   TD   Lg[/b]
Gaston Miller     12   29   2.4    0   13
Clint Turner      10   12   1.2    0    4
Brad Allen         2    4   2.0    0    3
Mackenzi Adams    10  -48  -4.8    0    9
[B]TOTALS            34   -3  -0.1    0   13[/B]

[B]RECEIVING        Rec  Yds   Avg   TD   Lg[/b]
Earl Bennett      13  217  16.7    0   45
George Smith       6   72  12.0    0   34
Clint Turner       4   12   3.0    0    8
Brad Allen         3   21   7.0    0   16
Alex Washington    3   18   6.0    0   10
Justin Wheeler     3   17   5.7    0    9
Bryant Anderson    3   14   4.7    1    7
Jonathan Massey    1    4   4.0    1    4
Jake Bradford      1    2   2.0    0    2
[B]TOTALS            37  377  10.2    2   45[/B]

[B]DEFENSE          Tkl  TFL   Sk  Int[/b]
Reshard Langford   7    1    0    1
Chris Johnson      5    2    0    0
Josh Allen         4    0    0    0
D.J. Moore         3    0    0    1
Quavian Lewis      3    0    0    0
Kikko Logan        3    0    0    0
Bryan Kelly        2    0    0    0
Steven Stone       2    0    0    0
Broderick Stewart  1    0    0    0
Justin Wheeler     1    0    0    0
Brent Trice        1    0    0    0
Greg Billinger     1    1    0    0
Jared Fagan        1    0    0    0
Ryan Custer        1    0    0    0
[B]TOTALS            35    4    0    2[/B][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#FD5800]FLORIDA GATORS STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING          Cmp  Att   Yds   TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Tim Tebow         14   29   192    1    2   50

[B]RUSHING          Att  Yds   Avg   TD   Lg[/b]
Kestahn Moore     12   42   3.5    0   10
Eric Rutledge      3   11   3.7    0    6
Tim Tebow          5    3   0.6    0    4
[B]TOTALS            20   56   2.8    0   10[/B]

[B]RECEIVING        Rec  Yds   Avg   TD   Lg[/b]
Justin Williams    6   91  15.2    0   50
Bryan Guerrero     3   27   9.0    0   26
Nyan Boateng       2   54  27.0    1   42
Louis Murphy       2   20  10.0    0   17
Kestahn Moore      1    0   0.0    0    0
[B]TOTALS            14  192  13.7    1   50[/B]

[B]TEAM STATISTICS  FLA    VAN[/b]
Total offense    248    374
Rushing           56     -3
Passing          192    377
First downs       10     23
3rd down        1-11  10-19
4th down         1-1    3-5
Turnovers          2      7
Penalties        0-0    0-0
Possession     11:34  20:26[/size]

WEEK 11 RESULTS
Florida 25, VANDERBILT 13
Tennessee 45, Kentucky 13
LSU 42, Tulane 10
South Carolina 21, Arkansas 7
Alabama 45, Mississippi State 7
Georgia 26, Maryland 14
Mississippi 36, Auburn 19

PLAYAZ OF DA WEEK
Offense — Montario Hardesty, Tennessee (22 carries, 172 yards, 3 TD)
Defense — Avery Atkins, Florida (10 tackles, 2 int., 2 TD)




MARLON LUCKY, Nebraska, HB, Sr.
STATS: 135 carries, 1,029 yards, 15 TD; 19 catches, 370 yards, 8 TD

JEVAN SNEAD, Texas, QB, Jr.
STATS: 224-for-353, 3,100 yards, 39 TD, 17 int.

CHRIS VAUGHN, Louisville, WR, Sr.
STATS: 62 catches, 960 yards, 14 TD

STEPHEN McGEE, Texas A&M, QB, r-Sr.
STATS: 230-for-392, 3,167 yards, 36 TD, 15 int.; 36 carries, 124 yards, 3 TD

MARK SANCHEZ, USC, QB, r-Jr.
STATS: 185-for-266, 2,649 yards, 32 TD, 7 int.

[BDawg35]

2023/2008 SEASONS - GAME 10


Vanderbilt’s Will Sheppard makes the game-winning 53-yard touchdown pass with 1:10 left in the game.


Vanderbilt’s Logan Kyle grabs a 3-yard touchdown pass.

VANDY SACK EXCHANGE
Commodores sack Anthony Richardson
nine times, win showdown over Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida’s Anthony Richardson is known as a mobile quarterback, which is one of the traits that prompted the Indianapolis Colts to take him fourth overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.

But his inclination to tuck and run probably led to 16th-ranked Vanderbilt sacking him nine times in a 35-28 victory over the eighth-ranked Gators in a showdown for first place in the SEC East on Nov. 4, 2023.

“From my experience, it’s not the slow stay-in-the-pocket quarterbacks that get sacked a lot in NCAA ’14,” Vanderbilt coach B-Dawg said. “It’s those quarterbacks who want to take off and scramble the moment their first read is covered who get sacked a ton. They’ll start running and inevitably run into a pass rusher.”

Defensive end Michael Spencer led the sack party with three. The Commodores’ other six sacks were by six different players. Ironically, defensive end Nate Clifton didn’t get a sack after having a school-record four two weeks ago against South Carolina.

The sacks left Richardson, who ran effectively at times, with only 20 yards on 17 carries.

As a passer, Richardson was 21-for-30 for 349 yards, two touchdowns and two picks. Because this is NCAA ’14, Richardson stayed at Florida this season instead of turning pro, which is a theme with top players in this version of the game.

Vanderbilt improved to 6-0 in the SEC East, while Florida fell to 5-1. The Commodores can split their remaining SEC games against Kentucky and Tennessee and play for the SEC championship.

“This was the biggest game in my three years back at Vanderbilt,” B-Dawg said. “Our guys were ready for the moment. I can’t wait to see what we do the rest of the way.”

Richardson was able to use his legs to get the game-tying 2-point conversion following a 7-yard run by DeMarkcus Bowman with 4:07 left in the game.

Each team’s next drive ended because of the inability to make a first down from inches away. Vanderbilt Rocko Griffin was stuffed on a toss play on fourth-and-inches from the Florida 27-yard line with 1:55 left.

Spencer then returned the favor, blowing up a run by Bowman for a 1-yard loss on third-and-inches with 1:40 remaining.

It took Vanderbilt just two plays to get the game-winning touchdown. After a 19-yard pass to tight end Joel Decoursey, receiver Will Sheppard ran a wheel route down the left sideline and hauled in a 53-yard touchdown with 1:10 remaining. Sheppard was covered at the start of the route, but the cornerback released him and didn’t have help over the top.

Florida still had time to tie the game, starting at its own 29 with 1:06 remaining and two timeouts at its disposal.

The Gators converted on fourth-and-five with a 22-yard pass to Ja’Markus Weston with 25 seconds left, then got a 21-yard catch from Xzavier Henderson with 16 seconds remaining.

Now, this is where B-Dawg came away with yet another victory with the aid of stupid CPU play-calling.

Richardson scrambled on the next play, but was stopped inbounds for a 1-yard gain by Clifton. Rather than call their final timeout, the Gators went to the line and spiked the ball with two seconds remaining, giving them only one more play instead of two or possibly three.

On a pass from the Vanderbilt 23, cornerback Marlen Sewell broke up a pass in the end zone with the Commodores running a prevent defense.


Vanderbilt linebacker Anfernee Orji picks off a pass.

VANDERBILT COMMODORES at FLORIDA GATORS
Nov. 4, 2023	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#16 Vanderbilt Commodores (8-2)	7	14	7	7	35
#8 Florida Gators (7-2)	0	17	3	8	28

Team Stats Comparison
	VAN	FLA
Total Offense	457	420
Rushing Yards	31-133	33-71
Passing Yards	324	349
First Downs	24	18
Punt Return Yards	27	1
Kick Return Yards	83	148
Total Yards	567	569
Turnovers	1	2
3rd Down Conversion	5-14	2-12
4th Down Conversion	4-5	2-2
2-Point Conversion	0-0	1-1
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	3-3-0	3-2-1
Penalties	0-0	0-0
Possession Time	22:45	13:15

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		VAN	FLA
4:18	(VAN) W. Sheppard 22 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	7	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		VAN	FLA
7:37	(VAN) R. Griffin 3 run (G. Mitchell kick)	14	0
6:05	(FLA) J. Weston 6 pass from A. Richardson (T. Smack kick)	14	7
2:30	(VAN) R. Griffin 3 run (G. Mitchell kick)	21	7
1:51	(FLA) D. Bowman 53 pass from A. Richardson (T. Smack kick)	21	14
:18	(FLA) T. Smack 29 field goal	21	17
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		VAN	FLA
2:23	(VAN) L. Kyle 3 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	28	17
:36	(FLA) T. Smack 42 field goal	28	20
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		VAN	FLA
4:07	(FLA) D. Bowman 7 run (A. Richardson run)	28	28
1:10	(VAN) W. Sheppard 53 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	35	28

VANDERBILT COMMODORES PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Mike Wright 28/47 324 3 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Rocko Griffin 18 73 4.0 2 Mike Wright 9 43 4.7 0 Andy Wilson 2 14 7.0 0 Michael Johnson 1 2 2.0 0 James Ziglor 1 1 1.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Will Sheppard 8 121 15.1 2 Logan Kyle 5 56 11.2 1 Michael Johnson 5 51 10.2 0 Quincy Skinner 3 31 10.3 0 Joel Decoursey 2 31 15.5 0 Andy Wilson 2 20 10.0 0 Rocko Griffin 2 11 5.5 0 John Johnson 1 3 3.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Jason Brooks 0 1 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Ethan Barr 11 2 1 0 Anfernee Orji 9 3 1 1 Michael Spencer 5 4 3 0 Kasey Davidson 5 0 0 0 Chase Lloyd 4 0 0 0 Jack Barton 3 0 0 0 Quincy Skinner 2 0 0 0 Nate Clifton 2 1 0 0 Terion Sugick 2 1 1 0 Marlen Sewell 1 0 0 1 Devin Lee 1 1 1 0 De'Rickey Wright 1 1 1 0 Yilanan Ouattara 1 1 1 0 Tyson Russell 1 0 0 0 Darren Agu 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Greg Mitchell 0/0 5/5 5 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Robert Hayden 4 132 33.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 3 83 27.7 35 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 2 27 13.5 14

FLORIDA GATORS PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Anthony Richardson 21/30 349 2 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD DeMarkcus Bowman 14 51 3.6 1 Anthony Richardson 17 20 1.1 0 Nay'Quan Wright 2 0 0.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Ja'Markis Weston 6 111 18.5 1 Xzavier Henderson 5 88 17.6 0 Nick Elksnis 4 68 17.0 0 DeMarkcus Bowman 4 67 16.8 1 Trent Whittemore 2 15 7.5 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Kinglsye Eguakun 0 1 Gerald Mincey 0 4 Josh Braun 0 4 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Donovan McMillon 10 0 0 0 Tre'Vez Johnson 10 1 0 0 Derek Wingo 8 2 0 0 Ty'Ron Hopper 8 2 0 1 Avery Helm 6 2 0 0 Ethan Pouncey 4 0 0 0 Khris Bogle 4 0 0 0 Tyreak Sapp 2 1 1 0 Jason Marshall 2 0 0 0 Jalen Lee 2 0 0 0 Diwun Black 1 0 0 0 Nick Elksnis 1 0 0 0 Corey Collier 1 0 0 0 Mordecai McDaniel 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Trey Smack 2/3 2/2 8 42 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Jeremy Crawshaw 3 150 50.0 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Nay'Quan Wright 5 122 24.4 29 DeMarkcus Bowman 1 26 26.0 26 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Nay'Quan Wright 1 1 1.0 1

Kentucky’s David Jones took both of these interceptions to the barn, an all-too-common
theme for defensive backs playing Vanderbilt.

It’s sounding like broken record:
2 picks go to house, Vandy loses

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — If Vanderbilt’s higher-ups decide to gas coach B-Dawg after this season, nobody can blame them.

B-Dawg made one of the biggest bone-headed decisions of his coaching career on Nov. 22, 2008 against Kentucky, a move that will haunt the Commodores if they come up one victory short of a bowl bid.

The 55th-ranked Commodores (4-6) trailed by 10 points with less than four minutes remaining, but were in a position to at least force overtime with a field goal. Vanderbilt, which got the ball on Quavian Lewis’ interception, moved to 92nd-ranked Kentucky’s 8-yard line and was facing third-and-five.

B-Dawg called for quarterback Mackenzi Adams to throw a hook route to star receiver Earl Bennett in the left corner of the end zone. Bennett had gotten Vanderbilt within three points with 3:29 left on a 29-yard catch-and-run on a similar route.

Kentucky cornerback David Jones fell on that touchdown, but made up for it by jumping the route to Bennett and going 99 yards to the house with the game-clinching touchdown in a 49-39 victory with 1:00 left in the game. It was the second touchdown off an interception for Jones, who took one 33 yards for a score in the third quarter.

Jones is the third player to return two picks for touchdowns against Vanderbilt in the last two seasons. Auburn Chris Murphy did it last year and Florida’s Avery Atkins did it last week.

“I’m sick to my stomach right now,” Vanderbilt coach B-Dawg said moments after the game. “That was a horrible play call, way too dangerous. We had to fight and claw our way back all day and then I made a decision that risked everything our kids had worked so hard to accomplish. If the administration asks me to step down, I’ll do it voluntarily.”

B-Dawg said he was afraid to try running for the first down, because if his runner got knocked toward the hash marks he’d have to kick on an angle, something he’s horrible at doing with the new kicking system.

The two interception returns by Jones now makes it 23 that have been returned for touchdowns in the 34-game history of this dynasty. Vanderbilt has had only two touchdowns off interceptions, both in 2006.

“It’s like there’s some built-in code that puts all of my players in slow motion when an interception occurs, yet when we get a pick, the CPU offense reacts immediately and we can barely get any yardage on the return,” B-Dawg said. “All I can do is say, ‘Whatever, EA,’ and try to get better. If this is the only way the CPU can remain competitive, then we’ll just have to put up with yet another unrealistic rendition of NCAA Football to get a challenge.”

It didn’t help that Vanderbilt played shoddy defense against one of the worst offensive teams in the nation, a team that was missing injured receiver DeMoreo Ford. Ford had four catches for 207 yards and three touchdowns in two previous meetings against Vanderbilt.

It was the running game that gave the Commodores fits this time around. Alfonso Smith ran 24 times for 209 yards and three touchdowns, while quarterback Curtis Pulley had 19 carries for 88 yards and two scores.

“I don’t understand how we can hold Florida and South Carolina to only 90 rushing yards and two offensive touchdowns total, but a team like Kentucky can just steamroll us with the running game,” B-Dawg said. “I guess it’s just a bad matchup for us. Whatever they do, they can’t do it very well in simmed games, but our defensive scheme and personnel aren’t well-suited to stop it. It doesn’t help that I do almost nothing manually. I’m totally at the mercy of the CPU.”

Kentucky got out to a 28-14 lead midway through the third quarter. The Commodores rode the talented Bennett to get back within striking distance. Bennett had a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown, a 69-yard touchdown catch and a 29-yard touchdown catch. He rolled up 361 yards and two touchdowns on a dynasty-record 15 catches. It’s the second 300-yard game of his career, the other coming when he had 375 against Mississippi on Oct. 27, 2007. Bennett has two of the top four receiving games in NCAA history.

Next up is a home game against third-ranked Tennessee (10-1).

PLAYAZ OF DA GAME
Earl Bennett, Vanderbilt; David Jones, Kentucky

KENTUCKY 49, VANDERBILT 39
First quarter
VANDY: Miller 4 run (Hahnfeldt kick), 4:21
UK: Pulley 45 run (Housley kick), 2:34
Second quarter
UK: Smith 13 run (Housley kick), 7:56
VANDY: Bennett 78 punt return (Hahnfeldt kick), 1:45
Third quarter
UK: Smith 56 run (Housley kick), 5:17
UK: Jones 33 interception return (Housley kick), 4:54
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 32 field goal, 3:53
VANDY: Washington 4 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), :45
Fourth quarter
UK: Smith 34 run (Housley kick), 7:00
VANDY: Bennett 69 pass from Adams (Anderson pass from Adams), 6:07
UK: Pulley 21 run (Housley kick), 4:41
VANDY: Bennett 29 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), 3:29
UK: Jones 99 interception return (Housley kick), 1:00

[size=4][b]VANDERBILT         7    7   10   15    —   39
KENTUCKY           7    7   14   21    —   49[/b][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#C8AE13]VANDERBILT COMMODORES STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING          Cmp  Att   Yds   TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Mackenzi Adams    24   45   431    3    3   69
Jared Funk         0    2     0    0    0    0
[B]TOTALS            24   47   431    3    3   69[/B]

[B]RUSHING          Att  Yds   Avg   TD   Lg[/b]
Gaston Miller     20   64   3.2    1   15
Mackenzi Adams     7    2   0.3    0   11
Brad Allen         2    1   0.5    0    1
Jared Funk         2  -10  -5.0    0    0
[B]TOTALS            31   57   1.8    1   15[/B]

[B]RECEIVING        Rec  Yds   Avg   TD   Lg[/b]
Earl Bennett      15  361  24.1    2   69
Bryant Anderson    3   20   6.7    0   10
Alex Washington    2   18   9.0    1   14
George Smith       2   18   9.0    0   11
Jake Bradford      1    9   9.0    0    9
Brad Allen         1    5   5.0    0    5
[B]TOTALS            24  431  18.0    3   69[/B]

[B]DEFENSE          Tkl  TFL   Sk  Int[/b]
D.J. Moore         8    1    0    0
Bryan Kelly        8    0    0    0
Kikko Logan        7    2    0    0
Reshard Langford   6    0    0    0
Ryan Hamilton      6    0    0    0
Quavian Lewis      5    1    0    1
Josh Allen         5    1    0    0
Steven Stone       5    2    2    0
Greg Billinger     4    1    0    0
Broderick Stewart  3    1    0    0
Mackenzi Adams     1    0    0    0
Chris Johnson      1    1    0    0
Patrick Benoist    1    0    0    0
Bryant Anderson    1    0    0    0
Brent Trice        1    0    0    0
Jake Bradford      1    0    0    0
John Austin        1    0    0    0
[B]TOTALS            64   10    2    1[/B][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#2158A4]KENTUCKY WILDCATS STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING          Cmp  Att   Yds   TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Curtis Pulley     15   25   155    0    1   29

[B]RUSHING          Att  Yds   Avg   TD   Lg[/b]
Alfonso Smith     24  209   8.7    3   56
Curtis Pulley     19   88   4.6    2   45
[B]TOTALS            43  297   6.9    5   56[/B]

[B]RECEIVING        Rec  Yds   Avg   TD   Lg[/b]
Steve Johnson      4   58  14.5    0   29
Ross Bogue         4   36   9.0    0   20
Kenny Hawkins      3   26   8.7    0   14
Zipp Duncan        1   14  14.0    0   14
LaShun Watson      1   10  10.0    0   10
John Conner        1   10  10.0    0   10
Alfonso Smith      1    1   1.0    0    1
[B]TOTALS            15  155  10.3    0   29[/B]

[B]TEAM STATISTICS  VAN    KEN[/b]
Total offense    449    452
Rushing           57    297
Passing          392    155
First downs       21     20
3rd down        4-12   8-15
4th down         0-1    0-0
Turnovers          5      3
Penalties       1-15   1-15
Possession     15:34  16:26[/size]

WEEK 12 RESULTS
Kentucky 49, VANDERBILT 39
Arkansas 34, Mississippi State 14
Alabama 31, LSU 7
Mississippi 35, Rutgers 10
Florida 38, South Carolina 20
Auburn 37, Georgia 32

PLAYAZ OF DA WEEK
Offense — Earl Bennett, Vanderbilt (15 catches, 361 yards, 2 TD; 1 punt return TD)
Defense — David Jones, Kentucky (12 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 int., 2 TD)

[size=5][b][font=arial]SEC EAST[/font][/b][/size][b][font=arial][/font][/b][font=arial][/font][size=3]
                   [b]SEC     Overall[/b]
                   [b]W   L   W   L    PF    PA[/b]
Florida            7   1   8   3   377   246
Tennessee          6   1  10   1   425   128
Georgia            4   3   8   3   397   271
South Carolina     4   4   7   4   397   284
Kentucky           2   5   3   8   221   427
[b]VANDERBILT[/b]         1   6   4   6   221   307[/size]

[size=5][b][font=arial]SEC WEST[/font][/b][/size][b][font=arial][/font][/b][font=arial][/font][size=3]
                   [b]SEC     Overall[/b]
                   [b]W   L   W   L    PF    PA[/b]
Auburn             5   2   9   2   411   222
Arkansas           5   2   8   3   343   259
Alabama            4   3   8   3   392   193
Mississippi        3   4   7   4   339   252
Louisiana State    1   6   5   6   358   276
Mississippi State  1   6   4   7   232   301[/size]

MARLON LUCKY, Nebraska, HB, Sr.
STATS: 153 carries, 1,154 yards, 17 TD; 22 catches, 400 yards, 9 TD

MARK SANCHEZ, USC, QB, r-Jr.
STATS: 202-for-297, 2,947 yards, 38 TD, 8 int.

CHRIS VAUGHN, Louisville, WR, Sr.
STATS: 68 catches, 1,103 yards, 15 TD

CURTIS WRIGHT, Michigan, QB, r-Fr.
STATS: 210-for-321, 2,720 yards, 32 TD, 6 int.

JEVAN SNEAD, Texas, QB, Jr.
STATS: 224-for-353, 3,100 yards, 39 TD, 17 int.

[BDawg35]

2023/2008 SEASONS - GAME 11


Devin Lee gets a sack on fourth-and-10 in the final minute to end Kentucky’s comeback hopes.


Nate Clifton has one of Vanderbilt’s eight sacks of Kentucky quarterback Beau Allen.

ATL-BOUND!
You can find Vandy up in One-Tweezy
after defense keys win over Kentucky

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt is heading to the Southeastern Conference championship game, four years ahead of schedule.

It took B-Dawg seven seasons to get the Commodores to the ATL in NCAA 2007, but only three seasons in his return to Vandy.

Vanderbilt secured its berth in the SEC title game behind a devastating pass rush that spearheaded a 24-10 victory over Kentucky on Nov. 11, 2023.

The Commodores are 7-0 in the SEC East with one game remaining against Tennessee. Second-place Florida, which lost to Vanderbilt last week, is 6-1. Tennessee isn’t a factor, suffering through a 2-8 season overall.

“It feels a little early to be going to the conference championship game, but you don’t turn down the invitation,” B-Dawg said. “We have run the table against a tough conference schedule. We deserve to be there. It’s so much easier to have success in a video game you’ve been playing for 10 years than one you had been playing for a few weeks when you started a dynasty.”

Vanderbilt got some favorable calls in the fourth quarter to secure the victory over Kentucky.

Kentucky scored a touchdown on a 4-yard pass from Beau Allen to Tre’Von Morgan with 5:44 left in a game the Wildcats were losing 21-10. A clipping penalty on wide receiver Chris Lewis negated the touchdown. After failing to convert fourth-and-15, Kentucky trotted out 79 OVR sophomore kicker Cory Thomas, whose 35-yard field goal attempt went wide right with 5:33 left.

The Commodores were able to tack on one final field goal on a drive in which a facemask penalty on Kentucky defensive end Sam Anaele on third-and-nine kept the drive going.

Vanderbilt’s defense continued terrorizing opposing quarterbacks, racking up eight sacks of Allen. Defensive end Nate Clifton had his second four-sack game of the season to key the effort.

The Commodores have 31 sacks in the past six weeks.

Kentucky’s last-ditch attempt to get back in the game ended when Devin Lee sacked Allen on fourth-and-10 in the final minute.

“This was a team that didn’t run very many designed runs, only three with the running back,” B-Dawg said. “When you can tee off on the quarterback, this is what’s going to happen. Our defensive front is beastly right now.”

The sacks left Kentucky with a final total of minus-13 yards on 17 carries.

Vanderbilt running back Rocko Griffin ran 27 times for 100 yards, scoring three touchdowns on goal-line tosses.

The Commodores’ first touchdown drive was an impressive 18-play, 80-yard march that consumed 6 minutes, 13 seconds.

Kentucky responded with a three-play, 38-second drive before the Commodores ground out another 13-play, 73-yard drive that took 3:47 off the clock. The key to that drive was a 34-yard pass to Will Sheppard on third-and-17 with 1:08 left in the first half. Griffin scored on a 1-yard run one play later to give Vanderbilt a 14-7 halftime lead.

Griffin’s 1-yard run with 3:43 left in the third quarter was the only touchdown either team scored in the second half.


Nate Clifton gets one of his four sacks.

KENTUCKY WILDCATS at VANDERBILT COMMODORES
Nov. 11, 2023	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Kentucky Wildcats (3-7)	0	7	3	0	10
#12 Vanderbilt Commodores (9-2)	0	14	7	3	24

Team Stats Comparison
	UK	VAN
Total Offense	220	346
Rushing Yards	17-(-13)	49-166
Passing Yards	233	180
First Downs	12	24
Punt Return Yards	0	0
Kick Return Yards	113	27
Total Yards	333	373
Turnovers	0	0
3rd Down Conversion	2-8	7-13
4th Down Conversion	0-1	3-4
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-0
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	1-0-0	5-3-1
Penalties	3-42	2-25
Possession Time	11:06	24:54

Scoring Summary
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		UK	VAN
5:05	(VAN) R. Griffin 2 run (G. Mitchell kick)	0	7
4:27	(UK) D. Harris 24 pass from B. Allen (C. Thomas kick)	7	7
:40	(VAN) R. Griffin 1 run (G. Mitchell kick)	7	14
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		UK	VAN
3:43	(VAN) R. Griffin 1 run (G. Mitchell kick)	7	21
1:18	(UK) C. Thomas 47 field goal	10	21
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		UK	VAN
1:43	(VAN) G. Mitchell 32 field goal	10	24

KENTUCKY WILDCATS PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Beau Allen 18/21 233 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Travis Tisdale 3 16 5.3 0 Beau Allen 14 -29 -2.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Travis Tisdale 5 56 11.2 0 Chase Carter 3 37 12.3 0 Chris Lewis 2 48 24.0 0 Demarcus Harris 2 25 12.5 1 Izayah Cummings 2 11 5.5 0 Jutahn McClain 2 7 3.5 0 Michael Drennen 1 43 43.0 0 Tre'Von Morgan 1 6 6.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK John Young 0 1 Eli Cox 0 3 Jeremy Flax 0 4 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Josaih Hayes 11 2 1 0 Sam Anaele 8 1 0 0 Vito Tisdale 6 0 0 0 Joel Williams 6 2 0 0 Justin Rogers 5 2 0 0 Jared Casey 5 0 0 0 Isaiah Gibson 5 0 0 0 Trevin Wallace 5 0 0 0 Jordan Lovett 4 1 0 0 Andru Phillips 3 0 0 0 Adrian Huey 3 1 0 0 Moses Douglass 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Cory Thomas 1/3 1/1 6 47 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Wilson Berry 1 46 46.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Jutahn McClain 3 91 30.3 45 Andru Phillips 1 22 22.0 22 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Team 0 0 0.0 0

VANDERBILT COMMODORES PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Mike Wright 18/26 180 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Rocko Griffin 27 100 3.7 3 Mike Wright 10 31 3.1 0 Andy Wilson 9 21 2.3 0 Michael Johnson 1 7 7.0 0 James Ziglor 2 7 3.5 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Logan Kyle 4 40 10.0 0 Will Sheppard 3 52 17.3 0 Michael Johnson 3 26 8.7 0 Rocko Griffin 3 6 2.0 0 Joel Decoursey 2 26 13.0 0 Quincy Skinner 2 24 12.0 0 Andy Wilson 1 6 6.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Vershon Lee 0 1 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Anfernee Orji 10 1 0 0 Nate Clifton 5 4 4 0 Devin Lee 4 1 1 0 Ethan Barr 4 1 1 0 Chase Lloyd 4 0 0 0 Marlen Sewell 2 1 0 0 Tyson Russell 2 0 0 0 Jack Barton 2 0 0 0 Jeremy Walton 2 1 1 0 Terion Sugick 1 0 0 0 Alan Wright 1 0 0 0 Quincy Skinner 1 0 0 0 John Howse 1 1 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Greg Mitchell 1/1 3/3 6 33 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Robert Hayden 1 28 28.0 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 2 27 13.5 27 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Team 0 0 0.0 0

2 Commodores suspended for UT game

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — It’s getting late in the semester and some Vanderbilt football players are starting to crack.

Strong safety Reshard Langford and fullback Brad Allen have had academic issues and will be suspended when the Commodores host third-ranked Tennessee on Saturday.

Langford will miss the first half of the game, while Allen will sit the entire game.

According to an internal memo: “Langford has not shown up to study hall lately. He’s been talking about how much of a waste of time it was. Make sure he understands how important study hall is.”

B-Dawg said he didn’t suspended Langford for an entire game because “Study hall might be a waste of time if you’re a good student and can keep up on your grades on your own. We haven’t had any issues with Reshard in the past, so we can only assume he’s doing well in class.”

By missing the start, Langford will fail to start for the first time in the three-year history of this dynasty. The only other Commodores who have started all 35 games so far are receiver Earl Bennett and cornerback Josh Allen.

Allen’s situation was a little more serious. A memo said: “Allen has not made any improvement after being approached by his professors. This is disturbing and shows his lack of dedication to his school work.”



Josh Allen made two huge interceptions in the fourth quarter.

SPOILERS!!!
Vanderbilt springs huge upset of Volunteers,
ends Tennessee’s bid for repeat national title

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Go ahead, try to figure out the Vanderbilt football program.

Do so at your own risk, because you’ll go nuts trying.

The team that allowed 49 points to lowly Kentucky just last week pulled one of the biggest upsets of the 2008 college football season, beating third-ranked Tennessee 28-21 on Nov. 29.

The Volunteers, the defending national champs, fell to 10-2 with only their third loss in 38 games since this dynasty started. Their regular season is over, as Florida will represent the East Division in the Southeastern Conference championship, thus ending any hope of getting back to the national championship game.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think we could pull off a win like this,” Vanderbilt coach B-Dawg said. “We even changed our playbook for this game, just to try something different. You don’t change your playbook for a big game without practicing with it if you really think you have a chance. I guess if I’ve learned anything it’s that the games we think we should win aren’t necessarily gimmes and the ones where we look hopelessly overmatched can be competitive.”

Vanderbilt has lost to Kentucky and Mississippi two years in a row, while also falling to Mississippi State this year. The Commodores also have victories over Florida, Georgia, Oregon and Tennessee during that time. At 5-6, the 70th-ranked Commodores could become bowl eligible if they can hand surprising 15th-ranked Western Michigan its first loss in the regular-season finale next Saturday at Vanderbilt.

“This is the biggest win we’ve had so far, no question,” B-Dawg said. “It’s got to help in recruiting, for one thing. For another, we have not touched our sliders one single notch since late last season. These are the same sliders that were in effect when Tennessee destroyed us last year. They’re the same sliders we used when teams like Kentucky, Mississippi and Mississippi State beat us. I can sleep at night and look myself in the mirror knowing that we earned this one.”

Vanderbilt switched from the Western Michigan book to the Purdue book. It seemed to suit Mackenzi Adams perfectly, as the inconsistent red-shirt junior quarterback had an amazingly efficient game. He completed his first 10 passes of the game for 112 yards and two touchdowns and finished 26-for-31 for 274 yards, two touchdowns and — YES! — no interceptions.

In fact, this was only the second time in B-Dawg’s 35 games at Vanderbilt that the Commodores played a turnover-free game. The only other time was at Kentucky two years ago when they threw only 13 passes and ran for 392 yards.

“I’ve always said that if we protect the football, we can compete with any team in the country,” B-Dawg said. “I guess you could say that about any team that has any pulse whatsoever, but we really proved something today. If we can just stay away from plus-5 momentum situations, we should be all right.”

Tennessee, meanwhile, had some critical turnovers in the fourth quarter. Cornerback Josh Allen had two interceptions in the final period, the first coming on fourth-and-three from Vanderbilt’s 10-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter. That pick kept Vanderbilt ahead 28-14.

A 3-yard run by Montario Hardesty with 3:15 left in the game got Tennessee within 28-21, and the Vols got the ball back after forcing a three-and-out. Allen again came up huge, picking off a ball that was tipped twice with 1:34 left.

Two option keepers by Adams produced first downs that allowed the Commodores to run out the clock.

Tennessee was expected to manhandle Vanderbilt, even with star receiver Josh Briscoe missing the game with an injury. It didn’t help that starting strong safety Reshard Langford was kept out of Vanderbilt’s lineup in the first half by B-Dawg for missing study hall.

Tennessee was playing without injured star receiver Josh Briscoe, but appeared ready to roll by taking an early 7-0 lead on a 9-yard pass from Jonathan Crompton to Lucas Taylor. But Vanderbilt charged back on Adams’ 10-for-10 passing, going 14-7 before the end of the quarter on passes of 3 yards to Jonathan Massey and 18 yards to Alex Washington.

Hardesty broke off a 60-yard run to tie it with 7:03 left in the second quarter, but two 2-yard sneaks by Adams had Vanderbilt ahead 28-14 going into the fourth quarter.

Another key to the passing game was better balance than Vanderbilt usually exhibits. Star receiver Earl Bennett had only five catches for 44 yards, but Adams hit nine different receivers, with eight getting at least two catches.

PLAYAZ OF DA GAME
Montario Hardesty, Tennessee; Mackenzi Adams, Vanderbilt

VANDERBILT 28, TENNESSEE 21
First quarter
TENN: Taylor 9 pass from Crompton (Johnson kick), 5:49
VANDY: Massey 3 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), 2:46
VANDY: Washington 18 pass from Adams (Hahnfeldt kick), 1:14
Second quarter
TENN: Hardesty 60 run (Johnson kick), 7:03
VANDY: Adams 2 run (Hahnfeldt kick), :31
Third quarter
VANDY: Adams 2 run (Hahnfeldt kick), 3:21
Fourth quarter
TENN: Hardesty 3 run (Johnson kick), 3:15

[size=4][b]TENNESSEE     7    7    0    7    —   21
VANDERBILT   14    7    7    0    —   28[/b][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#C8AE13]VANDERBILT COMMODORES STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING           Cmp  Att   Yds  TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Mackenzi Adams     26   31   274   2    0   33

[B]RUSHING           Att  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Jared Hawkins      13   34   2.6   0    8
Mackenzi Adams     13   31   2.4   2   11
Gaston Miller       2    1   0.5   0    1
Matt Bubis          1   -4  -4.0   0    0
[B]TOTALS             29   62   2.1   2   11[/B]

[B]RECEIVING         Rec  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Earl Bennett        5   44   8.8   0   18
Jared Hawkins       5   34   6.8   0   23
Bryant Anderson     4   81  20.3   0   30
Matt Bubis          3   16   5.3   0   10
Jake Bradford       2   37  18.5   0   33
Justin Wheeler      2   20  10.0   0   17
Alex Washington     2   20  10.0   1   18
Jonathan Massey     2   19   9.5   1   16
George Smith        1    3   3.0   0    3
[B]TOTALS             26  274  10.5   2   33[/B]

[B]DEFENSE           Tkl  TFL   Sk  Int[/b]
Quavian Lewis       8    1    0    0
Ryan Hamilton       5    0    0    0
Broderick Stewart   5    0    0    0
Steven Stone        4    0    0    0
D.J. Moore          4    0    0    0
Bryan Kelly         4    1    0    1
Josh Allen          3    0    0    2
Greg Billinger      3    1    1    0
Kikko Logan         3    1    1    0
Teriall Brannon     2    1    0    0
Patrick Benoist     2    0    0    0
Reshard Langford    1    0    0    0
Jared Fagan         1    0    0    0
Brandon Holmes      1    1    0    0
Jonathan Massey     1    0    0    0
Chris Johnson       1    0    0    0
Joel Caldwell       1    0    0    0
[B]TOTALS             49    6    2    3[/B][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#FF571B]TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING           Cmp  Att   Yds  TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Jonathan Crompton   8   18    71   1    3   16

[B]RUSHING           Att  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Montario Hardesty  29  204   7.0   2   60
Jamar Montoya       6   28   4.7   0   10
Jonathan Crompton   3  -15  -5.0   0    0
[B]TOTALS             38  217   5.7   2   60[/B]

[B]RECEIVING         Rec  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Lucas Taylor        3   31  10.3   1   16
Slick Shelley       3   27   9.0   0   16
Lee Smith           1   12  12.0   0   12
Ja'Kouri Williams   1    1   1.0   0    1
[B]TOTALS              8   71   8.9   1   16[/B]

[B]TEAM STATISTICS   TEN    VAN[/b]
Total offense     288    336
Rushing           217     62
Passing            71    274
First downs        15     16
3rd down         5-12   6-13
4th down          1-2    0-1
Turnovers           4      0
Penalties         0-0    0-0
Possession      14:23  17:37[/size]

WEEK 13 RESULTS
VANDERBILT 28, Tennessee 21
Mississippi State 33, Mississippi 14
Clemson 42, South Carolina 39
Florida State 35, Florida 21
Georgia 40, Kentucky 10
Arkansas 23, LSU 14
Auburn 34, Alabama 7

PLAYAZ OF DA WEEK
Offense — Mackenzi Adams, Vanderbilt (26-for-31, 274 yards, 2 TD; 13 carries, 31 yards, 2 TD)
Defense — Anthony Littlejohn, Mississippi State (8 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR)




CHRIS VAUGHN, Louisville, WR, Sr.
STATS: 75 catches, 1,214 yards, 17 TD

MARLON LUCKY, Nebraska, HB, Sr.
STATS: 169 carries, 1,292 yards, 17 TD; 24 catches, 500 yards, 10 TD

MARK SANCHEZ, USC, QB, r-Jr.
STATS: 219-for-322, 3,164 yards, 41 TD, 11 int.

JEVAN SNEAD, Texas, QB, Jr.
STATS: 241-for-382, 3,357 yards, 43 TD, 17 int.

KEVIN GRADY, Michigan, HB, Sr.
STATS: 216 carries, 1,771 yards, 17 TD; 18 catches, 334 yards, 3 TD

[TheNorm30]

Re: 2023/2008 SEASONS - GAME 11

Well how about that...a BDawg sighting. Keep the stories coming man, looks like I've got some catching up to do!

[BDawg35]

Re: 2023/2008 SEASONS - GAME 11

Well how about that...a BDawg sighting. Keep the stories coming man, looks like I've got some catching up to do!

Well, isn't this a blast from the past? Looks like someone is still active who started here before I did (by about a year). So awesome to hear from you! I have to imagine you read some of those NCAA 2007 posts when they were fresh over at MM (pouring a sip).

I'm trying to remember - you played hockey, lived in the Detroit area and moved to Chicago? How much did I miss there?

[BDawg35]

2023/2008 SEASONS - GAME 12


Tennessee’s William Mohan sacks Vanderbilt’s Mike Wright on fourth-and-four from the Commodores’ 31-yard line
with 6:40 left in the game.


Vanderbilt freshman Michael Johnson hits the circle button on an 80-yard touchdown catch.

BLOWN PLAY
FB Dive glitch burns Vanderbilt
in loss to struggling Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — There is one play that is called an FB Dive that actually becomes a tackle for a loss on the quarterback pretty much every single time.

Vanderbilt coach B-Dawg can’t remember exactly from which formation this abomination is spawned, but he gets burned by it every now and then.

He got burned at the worst possible time while trying to come back from 12 points down in a 32-29 loss to a 2-8 Tennessee team on Nov. 28, 2023.

Facing third-and-short, B-Dawg called what should have been a safe FB Dive, only to have the quarterback pull out the ball and get tackled for a loss that left the Commodores with fourth-and-four from their own 31-yard line.

Ticked off, not trusting his defense and facing a 26-14 deficit, B-Dawg elected to go for it.

With the receiver jammed on a short route designed to move the chains, quarterback Mike Wright was sacked by outside linebacker William Mohan with 6:40 left in the game.

That was pretty much the ball game, even though the Commodores managed to make the final score look more respectable after falling behind by 15 points when Tennessee got a field goal on the short field.

“It’s happened to me more often than I care for, having my quarterback hold on to the ball on an FB dive and get tackled for a loss,” B-Dawg said. “I think it’s in an offset-I formation of some sort, but obviously I’m not sure because it still happens occasionally. I think the safest bets to run an FB dive are in a regular I-formation, goal line or the Maryland-I. I was so mad I probably would’ve gone for it on our own 1-yard line on fourth-and-20 at that point to get even with the game.”

The Commodores held Tennessee to two field goals the rest of the way and produced two touchdowns, one of which was a quick-strike 80-yarder from Wright to freshman Michael Johnson with 4:44 left in the game.

When Rocko Griffin’s 2-yard run with 1:33 left cut the deficit to three points,

Vanderbilt kicked off following the Griffin touchdown, rather than trying an onside kick, because the onside kick NEVER works in NCAA ’14 on Heisman mode and the Commodores had three timeouts remaining.

A 9-yard run on first down by Len’neth Whitehead practically ensure the Volunteers would get the first down that would enable them to run out the clock. And such was the case, as Whitehead ran for 6 yards on the next play, allowing Tennessee to take a knee three plays later.

The inability to get anything done on the ground killed the Commodores, who had 48 yards on 30 carries. Griffin ran 13 times for 23 yards as the No. 1 running back.

Despite the upset, Vanderbilt will still play Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.


Tennessee quarterback Ed Keith runs for a touchdown.

VANDERBILT COMMODORES at TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS
Nov. 28, 2023	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#12 Vanderbilt Commodores (9-3)	7	7	0	15	29
Tennessee Volunteers (3-8)	3	10	6	13	32

Team Stats Comparison
	VAN	TENN
Total Offense	508	454
Rushing Yards	30-48	37-118
Passing Yards	460	336
First Downs	21	25
Punt Return Yards	11	11
Kick Return Yards	155	93
Total Yards	674	558
Turnovers	3	0
3rd Down Conversion	9-14	5-14
4th Down Conversion	1-3	1-1
2-Point Conversion	1-1	0-1
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	2-2-0	8-3-4
Penalties	3-35	2-10
Possession Time	19:51	16:09

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		VAN	TENN
5:39	(TENN) R. Smith 35 field goal	0	3
:40	(VAN) R. Griffin 1 run (G. Mitchell kick)	7	3
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		VAN	TENN
7:41	(TENN) J. Wright 5 run (R. Smith kick)	7	10
2:02	(TENN) R. Smith 42 field goal	7	13
:00	(VAN) M. Johnson 30 pass from M. Wright (G. Mitchell kick)	14	13
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		VAN	TENN
6:57	(TENN) E. Keith 8 run (pass failed)	14	19
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		VAN	TENN
8:13	(TENN) M. Campbell 2 pass from E. Keith (R. Smith kick)	14	26
6:02	(TENN) R. Smith 36 field goal	14	29
4:44	(VAN) M. Johnson 80 pass from M. Wright (R. Griffin run)	22	29
2:00	(TENN) R. Smith 31 field goal	22	32
1:33	(VAN) R. Griffin 2 run (G. Mitchell kick)	29	32

VANDERBILT COMMODORES PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Mike Wright 28/42 460 2 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Rocko Griffin 13 23 1.7 2 Andy Wilson 3 12 4.0 0 Mike Wright 11 12 1.0 0 Michael Johnson 2 1 0.5 0 James Ziglor 1 0 0.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Michael Johnson 7 219 31.2 2 Quincy Skinner 6 76 12.7 0 Will Sheppard 4 55 13.8 0 Rocko Griffin 4 45 11.3 0 Joel Decoursey 3 22 7.3 0 Logan Kyle 2 28 14.0 0 John Johnson 1 10 10.0 0 Trey Boll 1 5 5.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Kevo Wesley 0 1 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT Anfernee Orji 11 3 0 0 Chase Lloyd 7 0 0 0 Nate Clifton 7 3 1 0 Jack Barton 6 0 0 0 Jeremy Walton 5 2 1 0 Marlen Sewell 5 1 0 0 De'Rickey Wright 5 1 0 0 Kasey Davidson 3 0 0 0 John Howse 3 1 0 0 Ethan Barr 3 2 0 0 Devin Lee 2 1 0 0 Michael Spencer 2 2 1 0 Michael Mincey 2 2 0 0 Alan Wright 1 0 0 0 Tyson Russell 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Greg Mitchell 0/0 3/3 3 0 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Robert Hayden 2 80 40.0 1 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 6 155 25.8 30 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG James Ziglor 1 11 11.0 11

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Ed Keith 28/38 336 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Len'neth Whitehead 22 78 3.5 0 Ed Keith 12 23 1.9 0 Jaylen Wright 3 17 5.7 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Miles Campbell 7 75 10.7 1 Jimmy Calloway 5 80 16.0 0 Jimmy Holiday 5 30 6.0 0 Kaemen Marley 4 59 14.8 0 Andison Coby 3 39 13.0 0 Len'neth Whitehead 3 39 13.0 0 Jamaal Lewis 1 14 14.0 0 BLOCKING PANCAKE SACK Jaylen Wright 0 1 Parker Ball 0 1 William Parker 0 1 DEFENSE TACK TFL SACK INT William Mohan 10 3 1 0 Morven Joseph 7 1 0 0 Christian Charles 7 1 0 0 Brandon Turnage 6 0 0 0 Kamal Hadden 5 0 0 0 Tyus Fields 5 1 0 0 Doneiko Slaughter 5 0 0 0 Omari Thomas 4 2 1 0 Tyler Baron 3 0 0 0 Elijah Simmons 2 1 0 0 De'Shawn Rucker 1 0 0 1 Dominic Bailey 1 1 0 0 Miles Campbell 1 0 0 0 Tamarion McDonald 1 0 0 0 Julian Nixon 1 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LONG Randall Smith 4/5 2/2 14 43 PUNTING NO YDS AVG IN20 Kyle Williams 3 133 44.3 0 KICK RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Jimmy Calloway 4 93 23.3 27 PUNT RETURN RET YDS AVG LG Dee Beckwith 1 11 11.0 11

Ben Bleck-Owens (left) caught three touchdown passes in the second quarter. Kirk
Elsworth (right) scores on a 16-yard run.

Western Michigan stays unbeaten,
Vanderbilt ends 5-7 with 55-25 loss

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — This was once B-Dawg’s dream.

A Western Michigan football team rolls through a perfect season on the back of Kirk Elsworth, the former Goodrich High School record-setting running back.

That dream is coming true. Unfortunately for B-Dawg, it’s coming true one calendar year too late — and at his own expense.

Western Michigan completed a perfect 12-0 regular season with a 55-25 rout of B-Dawg’s Vanderbilt Commodores on Dec. 6, 2008.

The Broncos will play 25th-ranked Akron in the Mid-American Conference championship game, but will probably be shut out of a BCS bowl game. They were ranked 17th in the BCS rankings and are the subject this week of an ESPN The Magazine feature on how a mid-major team gets jobbed by the BCS. Western is ranked 15th by the coaches and 17th by The Associated Press.

Elsworth didn’t have one of his better games this season, but it wasn’t his fault. He was given the ball only 14 times, but averaged 6.3 yards per pop by getting 88 yards and a touchdown. Elsworth, a senior, scored on a 16-yard run in the fourth quarter. The Broncos threw the ball 40 times and had only 26 runs.

Western was B-Dawg’s team in NCAA 2006, but that dynasty didn’t get very far because the game was a complete train wreck and was totally unplayable vs. the CPU.

“I feel bittersweet about Western’s success,” B-Dawg said. “I’m glad to see it, but I’d rather be the one responsible for it. Plus, we really wanted to spoil their undefeated season. We already knocked Tennessee out of the national championship picture last week and figured we could slay another dragon. Honestly, Western isn’t a whole lot more talented than we are. We just happen to play in the SEC, while they play in the MAC. I guess it’s just a classic case of a team in a crap league getting pretty good and being able to roll the table against a cupcake schedule. I guess it’s better they have a 12-0 season under the CPU’s control than mine, because my credibility would be totally shot if I ever went unbeaten with a team like that just three years into a dynasty.”

Elsworth, who went to high school just a few miles from B-Dawg’s real-life crib, has had an outstanding senior season. He has carried the ball 229 times for 1,475 yards and 10 touchdowns. It’s been a breakout season for Elsworth, who didn’t do much his first two years in this dynasty. He has 318 carries for 1,956 yards and 17 touchdowns in the three-year history of this dynasty. He’s also caught 32 passes for 399 yards and three scores, including 12 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown this season.

B-Dawg would love to draft him in Madden, but that opportunity will never come. Elsworth did not progress well and is only 85 OVR after starting out 78 OVR in 2006.

B-Dawg’s current team continues to progress at a much slower rate than his former team. Vanderbilt finished the 2008 season with a 5-7 record, its best mark in three years under B-Dawg. The Commodores are 12-24 in this dynasty.

There was no indication of the onslaught that was about to happen, as Vanderbilt led 6-0 after an uneventful first quarter.

Ben Bleck-Owens changed all of that in the second quarter, catching three touchdown passes on plays of 47, 79 and 13 yards from Tim Hiller to put the Broncos up 21-9 at halftime.

Bryant Hahnfeldt’s fourth field goal of the game got Vanderbilt within 21-12 before Western blew it wide open. The Broncos scored 28 straight points, including a 42-yard interception return by Cornelius Robinson. For those scoring at home, that’s now 24 picks that have gone to the house against Vanderbilt in 36 games.

All that was left was to give star receiver Earl Bennett a proper send-off in his final game as a Commodore. Bennett caught the final touchdown pass of his record-breaking career on a 36-yard delivery from Jared Funk with 4:34 left in the game. Funk came in because starting quarterback Mackenzi Adams was knocked out of the game with a bruised sternum with 5:16 left in the second quarter. Senior Chris Nickson was given a chance to play in his final career game, but completed only three passes and threw two picks.

Funk was 13-for-26 for 179 yards, two touchdowns and two picks. Adams was 7-for-11 for 92 yards. It’s the first time in Vanderbilt’s last 24 games that someone other than Adams led the Commodores in passing yardage. Adams is a red-shirt junior who is expected to get a run for his job next year from speedy true freshman Antwan Smith, who was red-shirted.

Vanderbilt was held to four yards on 24 carries.

Vanderbilt had a touchdown called back with 3:37 left in the third quarter when Quavian Lewis blocked a field goal and Chris Johnson returned it all the way. It would have been the first time B-Dawg has ever scored on such a play, but Lewis was called for roughing the kicker. The touchdown would have gotten Vanderbilt within 28-19 (or 28-18 or 28-20, depending if a 2-pointer would have been attempted).

“I don’t know how you can rough a kicker once you’ve blocked the ball,” B-Dawg said. “We went from total jubilation to simply resigning ourselves to the fact this just wasn’t our night.”

PLAYAZ OF DA GAME
Cornelius Robinson, WMU; Quavian Lewis, Vanderbilt

WESTERN MICHIGAN 55, VANDERBILT 25
First quarter
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 39 field goal, 5:09
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 28 field goal, 1:12
Second quarter
WMU: Bleck-Owens 47 pass from Hiller (Harrison kick), 7:24
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 39 field goal, 5:38
WMU: Bleck-Owens 79 pass from Hiller (Harrison kick), 5:23
WMU: Bleck-Owens 13 pass from Hiller (Harrison kick), 1:15
Third quarter
VANDY: Hahnfeldt 42 field goal, 7:11
WMU: Stevens 6 pass from Hiller (Harrison kick), 4:59
WMU: Robinson 42 interception return (Harrison kick), 3:51
Fourth quarter
WMU: Elsworth 16 run (Harrison kick), 7:14
WMU: Simmons 28 run (Harrison kick), 6:59
VANDY: Bennett 36 pass from Funk (pass failed), 4:34
WMU: Harrison 30 field goal, 3:22
WMU: Walker 11 pass from Funk (Hahnfeldt kick), 2:24
WMU: Harrison 23 field goal, :16

[size=4][b]WESTERN MICHIGAN 0   21   14   20    —   55
VANDERBILT       6    3    3   13    —   25[/b][/size]

[size=4][font=arial][color=#C8AE13][b]VANDERBILT COMMODORES STATISTICS[/b][/color][b][/b][/font][b][/b][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING           Cmp  Att   Yds  TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Jared Funk         13   26   179   2    2   44
Mackenzi Adams      7   11    92   0    0   51
Chris Nickson       3    8    36   0    2   28
[B]TOTALS             23   45   307   2    4   51[/B]

[B]RUSHING           Att  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Jared Hawkins       4   16   4.0   0    6
Mackenzi Adams      9    9   1.0   0   20
Brad Allen          2   -1  -0.5   0    2
Chris Nickson       6   -3  -0.5   0    7
Jared Funk          3  -17  -5.7   0    0
[B]TOTALS             24    4   0.2   0   20[/B]

[B]RECEIVING         Rec  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Earl Bennett        6  113  18.8   1   44
Jared Hawkins       6   24   4.0   0   11
George Smith        3   77  25.7   0   51
Sean Walker         3   35  11.7   1   13
Alex Washington     2   33  16.5   0   28
Jonathan Massey     1   15  15.0   0   15
Bryant Anderson     1   11  11.0   0   11
Brad Allen          1   -1  -1.0   0    0
[B]TOTALS             23  307  13.3   2   51[/B]

[B]DEFENSE           Tkl  TFL   Sk  Int[/b]
Quavian Lewis       9    2    1    0
Kikko Logan         8    1    0    0
Chris Johnson       8    1    0    0
Reshard Langford    5    0    0    0
Josh Allen          5    0    0    1
Bryan Kelly         3    0    0    0
Patrick Benoist     3    0    0    0
Brent Trice         2    0    0    0
Sean Walker         2    0    0    0
Alex Washington     2    0    0    0
D.J. Moore          2    0    0    0
Earl Bennett        2    0    0    0
Greg Billinger      2    0    0    0
Ryan Hamilton       2    0    0    1
Brandon Hampton     1    0    0    0
Brandon Bryant      1    0    0    0
Chris Gordon        1    0    0    0
Jared Hawkins       1    0    0    0
Jake Bradford       1    0    0    0
Alan Strong         1    0    0    0
Jared Fagan         1    0    0    1
Jonathan Massey     1    0    0    0
Steven Stone        1    0    0    0
Broderick Stewart   1    1    1    0
[B]TOTALS             65    5    2    3[/B][/size]

[b][size=4][font=arial][color=#CDB376]WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS STATISTICS[/color][/font][/size][/b][size=4][/size][size=3]
[B]PASSING           Cmp  Att   Yds  TD  Int   Lg[/b]
Tim Hiller         22   30   308   4    2   79
Thomas Peregrin     4   10    25   0    1   13
[B]TOTALS             26   40   333   4    3   79[/B]

[B]RUSHING           Att  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Kirk Elsworth      14   88   6.3   1   22
Jamarko Simmons     7   42   6.0   1   28
Brandon West        2   17   8.5   0   16
Marcus Williams     1    8   8.0   0    8
Will Williams       2    7   3.5   0    4
Tim Hiller          3   -5  -1.7   0    5
[B]TOTALS             29  157   5.4   2   28[/B]

[B]RECEIVING         Rec  Yds   Avg  TD   Lg[/b]
Ben Bleck-Owens     5  155  31.0   3   79
Chris Maragos       5   80  16.0   0   23
Kirk Elsworth       4    8   2.0   0    7
Brandon Ledbetter   3   36  12.0   0   21
Herbert Martin      3   26   8.7   0   11
Jamarko Simmons     2   16   8.0   0   13
Matt Stevens        2    9   4.5   1    6
Will Williams       1    3   3.0   0    3
Robert Livingston   1    0   0.0   0    0
[B]TOTALS             26  333  12.8   4   79[/B]

[B]TEAM STATISTICS   WMU    VAN[/b]
Total offense     490    311
Rushing           157      4
Passing           333    307
First downs        22     16
3rd down         7-14   7-17
4th down          0-1    0-0
Turnovers           4      5
Penalties         0-0   3-33
Possession      15:59  16:01[/size]

WEEK 14 RESULT
Western Michigan 55, VANDERBILT 25

PLAYAZ OF DA WEEK
Offense — Bryant Hahnfeldt, Vanderbilt (4-for-4 FG, 42 long, 1-for-1 PAT)
Defense — Quavian Lewis, Vanderbilt (9 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FF)

[size=5][b][font=arial]SEC EAST[/font][/b][/size][b][font=arial][/font][/b][font=arial][/font][size=3]
                   [b]SEC     Overall[/b]
                   [b]W   L   W   L    PF    PA[/b]
x-Florida          7   1   8   4   398   281
Tennessee          6   2  10   2   446   156
Georgia            5   3   9   3   437   281
South Carolina     4   4   7   5   436   326
Kentucky           2   6   3   9   231   467
[b]VANDERBILT[/b]         2   6   5   7   274   383[/size]

[size=5][b][font=arial]SEC WEST[/font][/b][/size][b][font=arial][/font][/b][font=arial][/font][size=3]
                   [b]SEC     Overall[/b]
                   [b]W   L   W   L    PF    PA[/b]
x-Auburn           6   2  10   2   445   229
Arkansas           6   2   9   3   366   273
Alabama            4   4   8   4   399   227
Mississippi        3   5   7   5   353   285
Mississippi State  2   6   5   7   265   315
Louisiana State    1   7   5   7   372   299[/size]
[size=1][b]x-Will meet for SEC championship.[/b][/size][b][/b]

CHRIS VAUGHN, Louisville, WR, Sr.
STATS: 79 catches, 1,273 yards, 19 TD

MARK SANCHEZ, USC, QB, r-Jr.
STATS: 237-for-353, 3,436 yards, 43 TD, 12 int.

MARLON LUCKY, Nebraska, HB, Sr.
STATS: 169 carries, 1,292 yards, 17 TD; 24 catches, 500 yards, 10 TD

JEVAN SNEAD, Texas, QB, Jr.
STATS: 241-for-382, 3,357 yards, 43 TD, 17 int.

KEVIN GRADY, Michigan, HB, Sr.
STATS: 216 carries, 1,771 yards, 17 TD; 18 catches, 334 yards, 3 TD


2008 VANDERBILT RESULTS

SEPT. 6 — at MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE (Won 22-7)
SEPT. 13 —MINNESOTA GOLDEN GOPHERS (Won 31-24)
SEPT. 20 — AUBURN TIGERS (Lost 59-14)
SEPT. 27 — at MISSISSIPPI REBELS (Lost 47-10)
OCT. 4 — at OREGON DUCKS (Won 24-12)
OCT. 11 — at MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS (Lost 34-20)
OCT. 25 — at GEORGIA BULLDOGS (Lost 43-38)
NOV. 1 — SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS (Won 10-7)
NOV. 15 — FLORIDA GATORS (Lost 25-13)
NOV. 22 — at KENTUCKY WILDCATS (Lost 49-39)
NOV. 29 — TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (Won 28-21)
DEC. 6 — WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS (Lost 55-25)

[tarheelguy4736]

Re: Goin' back to Vandy: A B-Dawg dual NCAA '14/NCAA '07 flashback dynasty

Im smelling SEC Championship for Vandy!