A Decade of Dores

Vanderbilt enjoys 10 years of success

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — How does one begin to encapsulate an amazing decade of Vanderbilt athletics?

The Commodores had countless moments of greatness over the past 10 years. From national championships to Southeastern Conference tournament titles to postseason success and rivalry wins, Vandy student-athletes have done it all since 2010.

Before looking ahead to the next decade of dominance we’ll take a look back and some of the more memorable moments that made Vanderbilt and its fans proud:

OVERPOWERING OMAHA

The Vanderbilt baseball program had long been a successful force before 2014 – but that season changed everything.

Head coach Tim Corbin led his team to a 51-21 record and national championship and two dramatic wins in Omaha, Nebraska, at the College World Series. Vandy kept its season alive with a 4-3 win over Texas in 10 innings and then beat Virginia 3-2 in the winner-take-it-all final game.

John Norwood’s tie-breaking home run in the eighth inning of the latter game gave Vanderbilt its first national championship in baseball.

 

 

AN HISTORIC SEASON

The Commodores waited five years before they got the chance to dog pile in Omaha again.

That moment was well worth the wait.

Vandy’s 2019 season included 59 wins, an SEC regular-season title, an SEC tournament title and, of course, the program’s second national championship.

Part of that historic run included a no-hitter pitched by freshman Kumar Rocker against Duke in Nashville in the Super Regional that save Vanderbilt’s season. The Dores rode that momentum to the CWS where it had to beat Michigan twice in the season’s final series to claim the title.

 

 

MUSIC CITY MEMORIES

Vanderbilt football put together one of its finest seasons in program history in 2012.

Led by head coach James Franklin, the Commodores went 9-4 – their best record since a 9-1 mark in 1915 – and beat North Carolina State 38-24 in the Music City Bowl.

Zac Stacy rushed for 107 yards in the victory.

 

 

BIG TITLE IN THE BIG EASY

Jeffery Taylor scored 18 points, John Jenkins and Festus Ezeli each added 17 and Vanderbilt stunned No. 1 Kentucky in the championship of the SEC tournament in 2012 – the program’s first league tourney title in more than 60 years.

The Commodores ended Kentucky’s 24-game winning streak while walking away with the trophy for the first time since 1951. They used a 16-2 run late to ice the game.

Coach Kevin Stallings’ team went on to beat Harvard in the NCAA Tournament before a second-round defeat to Wisconsin.

 

 

BOWLING FOR TROPHIES

In a drama-filled title game, Vanderbilt rallied from an early deficit to top McKendree four games to three and claim the 2018 NCAA bowling championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

In a best-of-seven format, McKendree jumped out to a 3-2 lead and forced the Commodores to stage a comeback and claim two straight games. Vandy took Game 6 thanks in part to a clutch 10th frame from Maria Bulanova, extending the contest to a Game 7.

There, Vanderbilt drilled four straight strikes to build a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

The NCAA Championship was the second in Vanderbilt bowling history and second for head coach John Williamson.

 

 

SOCCER RISES TO THE TOP

Vanderbilt’s soccer team had gone a long, long time without a championship. Then came the 2018 season.

A 4-1 win over Kentucky in Nashville that year gave the Dores their first conference title since 1994. Vandy was 8-0-1 at that point against the league and finished the season a remarkable 16-4-1.

Vanderbilt went unbeaten in 16 straight matches at one point for head coach Darren Ambrose.

 

 

DOWN GO THE DOGS

Something was in the air at Vanderbilt Stadium the night of Oct. 19, 2013.

The Commodores, trailing No. 15 Georgia 27-14 in the fourth quarter, scored 17 straight en route to the upset victory. Jerry Seymour’s 13-yard touchdown run with 2:53 to go turned out to be the game-winning score.

Vandy went on to end the year on a five-game winning streak and captured the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama, with a 41-24 win over Houston.

 

 

THREE STRAIGHT OVER THE VOLS

The Vanderbilt-Tennessee football rivalry had become pretty one-sided in favor of the team in orange to the east. That all changed in the 2010s.

A 41-18 by the Commodores in 2012 began to turn the tide of the series and Vandy finished the decade 5-5 against the Volunteers. Part of that record included three straight wins by the Dores from 2016-18.

Vanderbilt put an exclamation point on its three-year dominance by winning 38-13 in 2018 at Vanderbilt Stadium. Quarterback Kyle Shurmur completed his first 15 passes en route to a 367-yard, three-touchdown performance as the Commodores did something against Tennessee it hadn’t done in nearly 100 years.