NASHVILLE, Tenn. — While the Commodores wait for their next opportunity to play inside Vanderbilt Stadium, head coach Derek Mason is using the extra time to have his student-athletes hone in on polishing their craft.
“Right now what we’re trying to do is focus on the fundamentals,” he said. “That’s where we have to live right now and that’s what we’re doing. A lot of work to be done and a lot of guys to get back.”
Vanderbilt is coming off an unexpected bye week after Saturday’s game at Missouri was postponed to Dec. 12 due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The schedule then presented a traditional bye week this weekend, so Vandy won’t play again until Oct. 31, when Ole Miss come to Nashville.
Mason conducted about a 70-minute practice Tuesday in which he said he taxed the available student-athletes with high-tempo offense, 1-on-1 and 7-on-7 drills followed by a team workout. He saw energy and competitiveness out of his group.
“I think it’s all about creating opportunities for these guys,” Mason said. “I think I started at the beginning of the year talking about starters and starters-in-waiting. As some of those guys weren’t available to you, well then guys have to step up and really be competitive. What you’re trying to do now is get those guys the reps that they never got before.”
Vanderbilt will continue to test its student-athletes for COVID-19 between now and the days leading up to the Ole Miss game. Mason said he’s hopeful his program continues to trend in the right direction in terms of being able to have enough players available to safely compete against the Rebels (1-3, 1-3 SEC).
In the meantime, Mason and his staff are getting a closer look at some younger student-athletes who may have not yet received significant playing time during the 2020 season.
The seventh-year head coach Tuesday highlighted the play of defensive backs Gabe Jeudy-Lally and Brendon Harris, linebacker Ethan Barr and linemen Malik Langham and Derek Green on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively, wide receivers Will Shepphard and Logan Kyle, tight ends Justin Ball and Gavin Schoenwald and running back Rocko Griffin have stepped up along with the entire offensive line group.
Mason said because of sporadic roster limitations this fall, student-athletes like those mentioned above are now getting game-like repetitions – that may not have been in the case under otherwise normal circumstances.
“They’re getting a lot of our game reps – the reps that are allotted to, generally, the guys who are starters,” Mason said. “They’re getting these reps, they’re understanding what the defense looks like, they’re making the calls, they’re making the adjustments, they’re getting some of the same issues that get presented to our guys in game.
“They’re getting these live reps, they’re learning from these live reps in practice and that’s making us better as a team. Even when your second and third-level guys get better, everybody gets better.”
Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com. Follow him @MrChadBishop.
