NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The plan was solid. The execution was on point. And then in one swift motion, the Commodores were looking up at an insurmountable deficit.
Visiting No. 9 Ole Miss landed a vicious uppercut in the third quarter, scoring 21 points en route to a 52-28 victory over Vanderbilt at FirstBank Stadium on Saturday.
“Disappointing result and really, really disappointed for our team,” Vandy head coach Clark Lea said. “I felt like we came out playing the style of football that we needed to play to win the game, and we had every intention to come out in the second half to do that all over again. The things that we did well in the first half, we weren’t able to carry over into the second half.”
Vandy (3-3, 0-2 SEC) had a 20-10 lead in the second quarter and a 20-17 lead going into halftime. Then it didn’t do itself any favors in the pivotal third quarter, which proved to be the deciding period of the day.
The Rebels outgained the Dores 217-31 and collected nine first downs in those 15 minutes. Vanderbilt went 0-for-4 on third downs, committed three penalties and turned the ball over once.
It was a demoralizing result for a Vanderbilt team that knows it didn’t give itself a shot to compete at its highest level.
“I think we had momentum,” Vandy running back Ray Davis said. “It’s just about trying to keep that going throughout the second half and making sure that we execute and do what we got to do.”
The second half was a stark contrast to the first—in which Vanderbilt executed its game plan to near perfection.
The Commodores ran 38 plays and held the ball for nearly 20 minutes. They were 3-for-3 inside the 20 and were up 20-10 at one point.
Touchdowns from Davis and Jayden McGowan, along with a pair of Joseph Bulovas field goals, had the Commodores sensing triumph.
But the Vandy defense gave up a 61-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter and then a 48-yard completion that led to a 2-yard touchdown run just before halftime. Ole Miss averaged 7.4 yards per play despite rushing for just 45 yards—pedestrian for a unit that began the weekend with the nation’s fifth-best ground attack.
That allowed the Rebels to be down just three after two quarters.
“Third quarter, we gave up too many explosive plays,” Vanderbilt linebacker Ethan Barr said. “They had a couple one-play drives that really hurt us and really hurt the offense and hurt the whole team. It’s unacceptable. We didn’t execute in some areas on defense that allowed them to extend drives and also go over top with explosives.”
That 20-17 halftime lead lasted just five minutes into the second half. Vandy’s offense punted possession away to Ole Miss, which promptly took the ball 83 yards in 1:41 to grasp a 24-20 lead with Zach Evans’ 24-yard touchdown run.
Seconds later, on an attempted swing pass to his right by Vanderbilt’s AJ Swann, the freshman quarterback’s throw went backward and was ruled a fumble. Ladarius Tennison picked it up at the 6, and Quinshon Judkins scored on the next play from scrimmage, making it 31-20 in the blink of an eye.
Jaxson Dart’s 71-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Mingo, following another Vandy punt, made it 38-20.
The Rebels scored 21 points in 3:27 worth of game clock.
“They were good enough over the course of that third quarter to create explosive plays and put distance between us in the game,” Lea said. “There’s going to be things in the first half that we’re going to want to build from. We know that we have to play four quarters and a complete game to have a chance to get the result we want. We didn’t do that against a good team, and our margins are really thin. So they were able to separate, and we need to be better.”
Vanderbilt finished with 403 yards of offense and got 105 yards rushing from Davis, 281 yards passing from Swann and 104 yards receiving from McGowan. The Rebels, however, totaled nearly 600 yards of offense and averaged just less than 10 yards per play.
The Commodores are now in their first losing streak of the season, and there will be no rest for the weary next week. Vandy heads to No. 1-ranked Georgia (6-0, 3-0 SEC) for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff—the team’s third straight matchup with a team ranked inside the top 10.
- Will Sheppard is now tied for the fourth-most receiving touchdowns in a single Vanderbilt season with eight.
- Vanderbilt safety De’Rickey Wright became the first Vanderbilt player with multiple interceptions in the same game since Tae Daley had two interceptions at Florida on Nov. 9, 2019.
- Vanderbilt’s 15-play, 8:54 scoring drive in the second quarter was its longest of the season in terms of plays and game clock.
- Vandy’s last victory over a top-10 ranked team came Oct. 20, 2007.
- Vanderbilt opponents are now 3-for-14 on fourth down this season.
- The Commodores are now 20-for-20 in the red zone this season.
- Vanderbilt now has at least one takeaway in 15 straight games.
- Vandy now trails the all-time series against Ole Miss 40-55-2 and has dropped four straight in the series.
- Attendance on Saturday was announced as 31,567.
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.
