Aug. 29, 2014
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Vanderbilt – Temple Postgame Notes
August 28, 2014
Vanderbilt Stadium
Pregame Notes
• Vanderbilt is in its 125th year of organized football.
• The Commodores debuted new uniforms with new helmets. The new black uniforms featured gold numbers with anchors on the sleeves and ANCHOR DOWN on the back above the numbers. The team’s new black helmet features a matte finish.
• Vanderbilt won the toss and deferred to the second half with Temple receiving the ball in the first half.
• Attendance was 31,731.
• Vanderbilt captains for the game were Andrew East, Joe Townsend, Kyle Woestmann and Patton Robinette.
• The game was delayed over 90 minutes due to severe weather, marking the first time Vanderbilt Stadium had a pre-game weather delay since 2006 when the Commodores beat Tennessee State.
Team Notes
• Thursday night’s meeting with Temple was the third-ever meeting between the two schools. The Owls and Commodores split the first two games of the series but with the loss VU is now 1-2 vs. Temple all-time.
• Vanderbilt played 21 freshmen, including eight true freshman, in the game with QB Johnny McCrary, S Tre Tarpley, CB Taurean Ferguson, CB Tre Bell, WR Caleb Scott, CB Ryan White, CB Ladarius Wiley, WR C.J. Duncan, S Oren Burks, RB Ralph Webb, RB Dallas Rivers, CB Tre Herndon, LB Zach Cunningham, LB Hawkins Mann, LB Jonathan Wynn, LB Nigel Bowden, OL Sean Dowling, DT Jay Woods, DT Nifae Lealao, TE Nathan Marcus and K Hayden Lekacz.
• The loss in a Thursday night opener is the third straight for Vanderbilt (South Carolina 2012, Ole Miss 2013).
Individual Notes
• Seven Commodores made their first career starts on the defense with Jay Woods, Nigel Bowden, Stephen Weatherly, Tre Bell, Oren Burks, Torren McGaster and Ryan White all getting their initial start.
• Three Dores started on offense for the first time on Thursday night with Trey Wilkins, Ralph Webb and Kellen Williams getting the nod in Mason’s first 11.
• Center and team captain Joe Townsend made his team-leading 23rd career start.
• Davis Dudchock hauled in his first pass as a Commodore with a 19-yard gain in the 2nd quarter.
• Oren Burks recovered a fumble on a punt attempt in the second quarter to score the first touchdown of the year for the Commodores.
• Latevius Rayford set a new career-best with four catches for 43 yards.
• C.J. Duncan made his first career catch in the 3rd quarter with a 30-yard gain finishing with two catches for 58 yards.
• Ralph Webb posted a solid debut rushing for 70 yards on 14 carries in his first game as a Commodore.
• Stephen Rivers made his Vanderbilt debut going 12-for-25 for 186 yards to lead the team’s quarterbacks.
• Colby Cooke posted a strong night punting the ball averaging 41.3 yards over his seven punts, including three inside the 20-yard line with two of those being marked down inside the five-yard line.
• Darrius Sims returned four kickoffs for 72 yards and five punts for 26 yards to finish the night with a team-best 98 all-purpose yards.
Offensive Notes
• The Vandy offensive line improved the group’s combined starts with Joe Townsend, Jake Bernstein, Spencer Pulley, Andrew Jelks and Andrew Bridges pushing their combined career starts to 87.
• Eight different Commodores caught at least one pass in the game led by Latevious Rayford, who had four catches for 43 yards.
• Newcomers combined for 358 total yards in the game with Stephen Rivers passing for 186 yards, Ralph Webb rushing for 70, Dallas Rivers rushing for 16, C.J. Duncan catching two passes for 58 yards, Davis Dudchock catching one pass for 19 yards and Caleb Scott catching on pass for nine yards in his first game at Vandy.
Defensive Notes
• Freshman Tre Tarpley forced the Commodores first turnover of the season with a forced fumble with Jake Sealand recovering the ball in the second quarter.
• Three freshmen – Tre Bell, Ryan White and Nigel Bowden – led the Commodores with 14 combined tackles in the first half.
• Freshman Ryan White recorded 2.5 tackles for loss in the first half.
• The Commodores held Temple to 3-for-17 on third down.
• Stephen Weatherly led the Commodores with eight tackles on the night in his first career start.
• 12 Vanderbilt freshmen combined for 44 of the team’s 88 total tackles on the night.
Special Teams Notes
• Oren Burks recovered a fumble on a punt attempt in the second quarter to score the first touchdown of the year for the Commodores. The special teams TD was the first for VU since 2012 when the Dores scored two against Wake Forest with Jonathan Krause returning a punt for a score and Casey Hughes falling on a blocked punt in the end zone.
• Colby Cooke posted a strong night punting the ball averaging 41.3 yards over his seven punts, including three inside the 20-yard line with two of those being marked down inside the five-yard line.
• Darrius Sims returned four kickoffs for 72 yards and five punts for 26 yards to finish the night with a team-best 98 all-purpose yards.
