Some day we may look back on this Vanderbilt team and wonder how it did not win more games – because many players on this squad seem destined to play on Sundays. Half of our offensive starters should draw NFL attention – Jared Pinkney will go high. Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Kalijah Lipscomb will be drafted in time.
By FK Friedman
Kyle Shurmur will get noticed too – and Justin Skule and Bruno Reagan are likely to follow recent Vandy linemen on to NFL rosters. On defense Ladarius Wiley and Joejuan Williams are playing like pros now. Other defenders like Josh Smith and Jordan Griffith have turned in excellent seasons – and Dayo Odeyingbo is young, but shows signs of being a monster – and, for now, he is the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week. And, yet, we are still left to scratch and claw for that elusive sixth win against UT on Saturday.
As a former Vanderbilt coach noted: “It’s hard to win a football game.” And that has been particularly true in 2018 where the SEC East has been surprisingly feisty. We led Florida by 18, but could not hold on. We lost to UK and Missouri on the road when we failed to convert third and fourth downs needing only one yard. We lost at Notre Dame on a strip (long after forward progress was stopped) at the one yard line and on a last-chance pass that our receiver hauled in until he was hit on the ground by a Notre Dame defender. Added to these close misses, this talented team was haunted by season-long failures by our offense in the red zone and by our defense trying to stop third downs.
And that is what made the Ole Miss win so rewarding. Vandy exorcised many of these same demons to take this game. It was Ole Miss that cavorted up and down the field – but stalled in the red zone eight times: five field goals, two INTs and one loss on downs (in overtime). When Vandy – exercising very questionable clock management in the closing minutes – gave the ball back to Ole Miss for a close-out drive, it was a third down stop that forced Ole Miss to settle for overtime. Then, in overtime, it was the same play that killed us in South Bend that saved us here – the receiver caught the ball but it moved as he was on the ground and the defender knocked it out. Justice? Not exactly. But, Karma? Yes.
And a really nice play by Randall Haynie to steal the ball. Karma helps those who help themselves.
Ole Miss gained 578 yards – but scored only 29 points. Ole Miss QB Jordan Ta’amu threw for a stunning 457 yards, while A.J. Brown amassed 212 receiving yards (and DeMarkus Lodge of the one-handed TD grab broke the century mark too) – and a back-up running back, Isaiah Woullard, eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the Rebels. But our defense did enough to win. Red Zone ineffectiveness and third down stops are what decide tight games. Turnovers help too – and our defense forced big ones against Ole Miss with Ladarius Wiley and Williams collecting INTs. This was a well-deserved win – it still came down to a controversial call that, for a change, went our way.
Vanderbilt’s strong and bowl-enhancing showing coincides with a misleadingly one-sided massacre endured by Tennessee last week. The Vols lost quarterback Jarrett Guarantano and receiver Marquez Calloway in this game. It snowballed from 13-10 in the second quarter – and both key players could be back this week. Tennessee is two weeks removed from shutting down highly ranked Kentucky – and there is a bowl game on the line. Vandy fans expecting the Vols to roll over may be sorely disappointed.
Vegas favors Vandy by 3 ½ and, frankly, the Vols are hard to figure this year. They have played absolutely listless, uninspired games against UTEP, Charlotte and Missouri – while beating high profile opponents Auburn and Kentucky. Given the recent trajectory of the series, we can expect Tennessee’s full attention this week-end. Part of the equation for Tennessee success on defense seems to focus on whether the opponent’s offense is multi-dimensional. In the case of Kentucky and Auburn – the Vols’ braintrust was smart enough to shutdown a one-dimensional attack.
While Vandy has had its challenges on offense – particularly in the red zone – we are multi-dimensional so long as our staff wants to be. (The braintrust got very high marks for creativity in smashmouth circumstances against Ole Miss with a Mo Hasan red zone RPO and a fourth down roll out toss to Pinkney serving as highlights.) Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who ran for 131 yards against Ole Miss, is on the threshold of a 1000 yard season. (Imagine if Florida had not targeted him and he had finished that game and played the following week against UK?) Kyle Shurmur, Jared Pinkney and Kalijah Lipscomb offer an explosive air attack. And three seniors buttress an o-line that has been highly effective since we started telegraphing our plays less often. The dilemma is: it is often after success that we revert to the smashmouth approach. If we want to overcome Tennessee’s defense, the trick will be whether we stick with the play action, screens, misdirection and roll outs that have worked lately, or go back to trying to own between the hashes.
Objectively, Vandy has had a legitimate chance to win every game this season except the Georgia loss and the terrible outing against Carolina. We led or were tied in the Fourth Quarter against Florida, Missouri and Kentucky – and had the ball in the red zone in the final minute against Notre Dame. We have a good team that has lost four heartbreakers – and is loaded with talent. The team simply needs to bring it home this week-end – or this season will end all too abruptly. These players deserve a bowl – but this is the last week left to earn it.
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