🕺#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/2JM0tp0tZm
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) September 12, 2021
FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Joseph Bulovas drilled a 38-yard field goal with 19 seconds left and Vanderbilt beat Colorado State 24-21 on Saturday at Canvas Stadium.
The victory was the first for head coach Clark Lea at his alma mater.
The Commodores (1-1) trailed 14-0 at one point, but scored 21 straight and then recovered from a late Rams touchdown to break an 11-game losing streak dating to 2019. Vandy had also lost 10 straight road games and 13 straight against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents.
Vanderbilt returns home to host Stanford (1-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Vandy started the final quarter leading 21-14 and held that lead until less than four minutes remained on the clock. But Colorado State quarterback Todd Centeio found tight end Trey McBride on a fourth-down pass from the 3 that tied the score at 21-all with 3:07 to play.
That gave the Dores plenty of time to march down the field and set up Bulovas’ heroics.
Vanderbilt quarterback Ken Seals finished the night 26 of 41 for 236 yards and accounted for all three of his team’s touchdowns – two passing and one rushing. Re’Mahn Davis ate up 77 yards on the ground and Anfernee Orji made a team-high 13 tackles.
Vandy’s end to the night, however, was in stark contrast to its start.
Colorado State wasted no time getting on the scoreboard after the opening kickoff. A five-play, 75-yard drive ended with Todd Centeio rolling right and finding an open David Bailey in the flat for an easy 3-yard touchdown pass making it 7-0.
On the first play of the second quarter, Seals fumbled the ball away on his own 27. Two plays later Bailey split the Vanderbilt defense up the middle for a 20-yard touchdown run making it 14-0.
Vandy got right back in it before halftime thanks to a key special teams play. Allan George came off the left edge on a Colorado State (0-2) and got his hand on the kick making for a short, wobbly punt that rested at the Vandy 42.
The Commodores offense quickly took advantage and drove to the 20 – after a Colorado State personal foul penalty – and scored when Seals found Chris Pierce down the right side of the field.
That allowed Vanderbilt to head into the break down just 14-7 with 30 minutes left to play.
Another look at our touchdown. 🎥#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/ebWUurSjF8
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) September 12, 2021
Vandy had only 120 yards of offense, lost a fumble and have five penalties in the first half – yet found itself down a single score at halftime.
The Vanderbilt defense came big in the third quarter when Jaylen Mahoney picked off a Centeio pass at the Vanderbilt 47. That placed momentum firmly in the hands of the Commodores and Seals led the offense on a nine-play drive that ended with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Cam Johnson.
With 9:36 to go in the third quarter, Vandy had tied the score at 14-all.
Ken Seals 🤝 Cam Johnson#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/Hgji5Y8Gjn
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) September 12, 2021
Seals would give the Commodores the lead four minutes later with a 1-yard plunge over left guard making it 21-14 at the 5:32 mark.
That’s where the score would remain going into the fourth quarter.
• Harrison Smith’s 66-yard punt in the first quarter tied his career long.
• Vandy is now 4-4 against current members of the Mountain West Conference.
• Vanderbilt became the third SEC team to ever play at Colorado State.
• Attendance on Saturday was announced as 27,233.
