Vanderbilt Commodores Tame Tennessee State Tigers on Homecoming
The Vanderbilt Commodores are on a roll of firsts as they sail into the bye week. Last week their 17-16 win over Georgia was their first conference road win in the Derek Mason era. Yesterday marked their first back-to-back win under Mason. It was their fifth homecoming win in the last six seasons.
Tennessee State came into the game looking for an upset. The Tigers struck first and fast when quarterback Ronald Butler hit receiver Patrick Smith on the second play from scrimmage with a 93-yard touchdown pass.
Vanderbilt immediately answered with seven points of their own. “It was a rough start, but offensively, I thought they came on and did a really good job of answering back.” Mason said. Darrius Sims set up the touchdown that would put Vandy on top. With a 33-yard run to the 3, Khari Blasingame finished the 78-yard drive. Just like that, Vandy was up 21-17 with 1:46 left in the half.
Black Death
The Black Death Defense came out ready to kill after the half. TSU had scored at least 30 points in every game this season, but the Dores defense tamed the Tigers. Oren Burks collected his third sack of the season, Vandy’s seventh. That five-yard loss from Burks forced a field goal attempt to sustain the Dores lead, and the TSU offense was shut out the second half. The Tigers made a fourth quarter push only to have the momentum swing back into Vandy’s favor, as the Commodores’ Ryan White forced a fumble, and Dare Odeyingbo recovered at the Vandy 30. “From the last two weeks, we were able to just be consistent and stick to the game plan,” defensive lineman Nifae Lealao said. “Just trying to go 1-0 each week and have that as our driving focus.”
Dynamic Duo and Then Some
Vandy’s run game racked up 358 yards. In fact, that is the most rushing yardage in a single game since 2012. Running back Ralph Webb had 125 yards, coupled with Khari Blasingame, who rushed 14 times for 100 yards and three touchdowns. Blasingame credited the offensive line “The power was huge. The offensive linemen did a really good job of staying with their man, moving people. Those holes were huge. You could have put a truck through those things.” Darrius Sims and Josh Crawford contributed 50 yards on five carries, 49 yards on six carries respectively. Coach Mason praised the running game “To have two running backs to go over 100 yards, and rush for right around 350, it’s pretty impressive, I don’t care who you’re playing,”
Momentum
As the Commodores ride the momentum of the last two weeks into the bye, they will rest up and reload. “Now, we get a chance to rest – much-needed rest after eight games,” Mason said. “[We have] four games left. Now, we have to make a run.” Their next four games are conference match-ups. They will kick off November in Auburn, followed by a trip to Missouri on November 12th before bringing it back to Nashville against Ole Miss on November 19th. They will finish up the season against in-state rival, Tennessee, on Thanksgiving weekend. Vandy is 4-4 entering the bye week, and the pre-season hopes of going bowling are alive and well in Nashville.
