Sept. 6, 2014
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With an offense still trying to find its way, Vanderbilt football coach Derek Mason sees promise in a budding run game.
The Commodores were most efficient on the ground with a rushing attack led by redshirt freshman Ralph Webb in a 41-3 loss to No. 15 Ole Miss in the Southeastern Conference opener on Saturday at LP Field.
Webb, playing in his second game, rushed for a career-high 95 yards on 18 carries. Fellow redshirt freshman Dallas Rivers added 23 yards as the run game accounted for 107 of the team’s 167 total yards.
“We can still eat more out of that run game,” Mason said. “It is a good run game. It is productive for us. We just got to continue to find the matches we like and execute.”
Webb started the game with two straight 11-yard runs and a seven-yard scamper for 29 yards on the opening drive. Webb averaged 5.3 yards a carry and showed glimpses of speed, including a career-long 28-yard run in the third quarter.
Before the season started, Mason proclaimed Webb was going to be a sparkplug in the offense. Through two games, he has been proven right. The 5-foot-10, 196-pound Webb has 165 rushing yards.
“We did run the ball well,” quarterback Stephen Rivers said. “Ralph ran hard and got us some good yards. We’re definitely confident in putting the ball in Ralph’s and those running backs’ hands. That’s something we’re going to continue to do.”
But the Commodores (0-2) hope the entire offense will soon mirror the rushing attack’s progression.
If the passing game picks up, the belief is more holes will open for Webb, Dallas Rivers and the ground game.
“I feel like the offensive line is doing a great job in terms of running the ball,” Webb said. “I think we just need to work on the passing game to complement it and be able to space out the field. Take it in practice this week, work on keeping drives alive and converting on third downs.”
RIVERS GETS THE NOD
After using three different quarterbacks in last week’s loss to Temple, the Commodores coaching staff went with Stephen Rivers on Saturday, and stayed with him throughout the game.
The transfer from LSU finished 6-of-25 for 60 yards with one interception, which was returned for a touchdown.
“It was nice to get my first start,” Rivers said, “(but) I made some rookie mistakes.”
Head coach Derek Mason did not publicly announce this week who Saturday’s starter would be, but Rivers — the brother of San Diego Chargers quarterback Phillip Rivers — said he begin to sense during the week that he “had a shot” at getting the starting nod. The coaching staff told Rivers on Friday that he would be the starter, Rivers said.
“(Rivers) came out and did a nice job of leading us in practice,” said Mason. “All (three quarterbacks) took reps, and all of them did a good job.”
Patton Robinette started at quarterback in the season opener, but was replaced by Rivers in the second quarter. Freshman Johnny McCrary entered the game in the third quarter but was replaced by Rivers after throwing two interceptions.
Tight end Steven Schue said the Commodores were able to develop more of a rhythm by staying with one quarterback throughout the game Saturday.
THIRD DOWN ISSUES
Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace seemed to be at his best on third down as he continuously came up with key throws to help the Rebels sustain drives. For the game, Ole Miss finished 10-of-14 on third down.
“We’ve got to learn to get off the field,” said linebacker Darreon Herring. “When it comes to third down, we’ve got to just be hands down and play the passes. They ran a lot on first and second down and then they decide to throw, so we’ve just to be aware of those type of things and play the pass and get off the field.”
Vanderbilt limited Temple to just 2-of-17 on third down last week, but could not replicate that success Saturday.
“We did not get off the field on third down and that’s critical at any point and time,” said Mason. “We stayed on the field too long, missed tackles, we didn’t generate enough pass rush at times. We just have to continue to look at the ways and the areas where we can get better.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
The Commodores made the short trip from campus to LP Field on Saturday. The contest drew an announced crowd of 43,260 despite a mid-afternoon downpour prior to the game.
“It was very exciting,” said Herring. “We played here two years ago (in the Music City Bowl, when the Commodores beat NC State, 38-24), so it’s pretty exciting to come back and play in this type of atmosphere. … But we have to go out and execute. It would have felt a lot better if we would have won.”
SEYMOUR NOT READY
Jerron Seymour could only stand on the sideline in his jersey and shorts and watch.
The redshirt sophomore missed his second straight game due to an undisclosed injury. On Tuesday, Mason said at his weekly press conference that Seymour would get an abundance of carries. But after watching Seymour in practice, Mason deemed the tailback wasn’t ready to take the field.
“Jerron was working through the process of getting ready,” Mason said. “For him, I felt like I didn’t see the guy — in my mind — who I saw on film. I thought he moved well early in the week. But as we got toward the end of the week he looked slower, sluggish and a little slow. For me, I want to make sure he has his best chance to get out there and play well.”
Seymour, a 5-foot-7, 196-pounder from Hialeah, Fla., rushed for 716 yards and a school-record tying 14 touchdowns in 2013.
CAREER BESTS
Along with Webb, several Commodores posted personal-bests on Saturday.
Junior strong safety Jahmel McIntosh doubled his previous single-game high in tackles with eight, including a career-high six solo stops. Redshirt sophomore linebacker Caleb Azubike tied a personal-best with two sacks. Senior linebacker Kyle Woestmann had eight tackles, eclipsing his previous career-high of seven against Ole Miss in the season opener last year.
