Nov. 5, 2016
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Vanderbilt – Auburn Postgame Notes
Nov. 5, 2016
Jordan-Hare Stadium
Pregame Notes
– Vanderbilt is in its 127th year of organized football.
– The Commodores wore white jerseys with black helmets and pants.
– Auburn won the toss and deferred with Vanderbilt electing to receive.
– Attendance was 87,451.
– Vanderbilt captains for the game were Ralph Webb, Ryan White, Oren Burks and Zach Cunningham.
Team Notes
– Openshaw’s 52-yard field goal gave Vanderbilt points on the team’s opening drive for the third straight week.
– Vanderbilt 13-10 at halftime marking the fifth time this year the Dores took a lead to the locker room.
– The Commodores fell to 21-21-1 all time vs. Auburn.
– Zach Cunningham finished the game with nine tackles, a fumble recovery and a blocked field goal and now has 94 tackles this season.
Individual Notes
– Ralph Webb started his 33rd straight game and Will Holden started 31st straight game.
– Tommy Openshaw’s 52-yard field goal on the Commodores’ opening drive set a new career-best and is the longest field goal for Vandy since Carey Spear kicked a 54-yarder against South Carolina in 2013. Openshaw’s boot is tied for the seventh-longest FG in school history.
– LaDarius Wiley forced his second fumble in as many games with a force in the first quarter.
– Zach Cunningham recovered his second fumble of the season in the first quarter and his fifth career recovery.
– Jared Pinkney hauled in his second career TD catch in the second quarter with an eight-yard grab. He has TD catches in two straight games.
– Jordan Griffin recorded a career-best four tackles in the first half.
– Kyle Shurmur connected with nine different receivers in the first half.
– Openshaw connected on a 34-yard field goal near the end of the first half to give him 30 made field goals in his career and three games this season with two field goals.
– Shurmur was 15-for-19 for 97 yards passing in the first half.
– Ralph Webb ran for 45 yards on nine carries in the first half.
– C.J. Duncan caught a team-best four passes in the first half.
– Cunningham made a team-high five tackles in the first half.
– Shurmur completed a career-high 24 passes in the game going 24-for-36 for 221 yards.
– Duncan led the way among all receivers in the game with seven catches and 79 yards, matching a career-best for receptions.
– Caleb Scott caught four passes for 70 yards, both season-highs.
– Torren McGaster and LaDarius Wiley each contributed seven tackles in the game with McGaster registering a tackle for loss.
Offensive Notes
– Openshaw’s 52-yard field goal gave Vanderbilt points on the team’s opening drive for the third straight week.
– Vanderbilt has scored on its first possession now five times this season.
– The Commodores’ TD drive in the second quarter covered 66 yards giving VU 14 TD drives of 60+ yards.
– Vanderbilt held the ball for 20:37 in the first half with Auburn holding the ball for just 9:23.
– The Commodores outgained Auburn 206-124 in the first half led by the Dores’ 109 yards passing.
– Vanderbilt went a perfect 2-for-2 in the red zone and is now 27-for-28 this year.
– Shumur completed passes to 10 different receivers in the game led by Duncan’s game-high seven catches.
– VU converted 7-of-16 third down conversions.
– The Commodores had 221 yards passing and for the first time this season had more passing yards than their opponent.
Defensive Notes
– LaDarius Wiley forced his second fumble in as many games with a force in the first quarter.
– Zach Cunningham recovered his second fumble of the season in the first quarter and his fifth career recovery.
– Vanderbilt has forced at least one turnover in eight of the team’s nine games this season.
– The Commodores held Auburn’s SEC-leading offense to just 124 yards in the first half. The Tigers entered the game averaging over 500 yards of offense per game.
– Vanderbilt held Auburn’s offense to 386 yards total in the game, over 100 yards below the team’s average.
Special Teams Notes
– Tommy Openshaw’s 52-yard field goal on the Commodores’ opening drive set a new career-best and is the longest field goal for Vandy since Carey Spear kicked a 54-yarder against South Carolina in 2013. Openshaw’s boot is tied for the seventh-longest FG in school history.
– Sam Loy handled kickoff duties for the first time in his career.
– Openshaw connected on a 34-yard field goal near the end of the first half to give him 30 made field goals in his career and three games this season with two field goals.
– Loy punted three times for an average of 46.3 yards.
– Zach Cunningham blocked a field goal late in the fourth quarter to give Vanderbilt an opportunity to tie the game.
