Sept. 4, 2015
By Jerome Boettcher and David Dawson
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With head coach Derek Mason calling the plays, the Vanderbilt defense spent most of Thursday night smothering a passing offense that was among the best in the country last year.
The Commodores looked more confident and stingy with Mason serving as the defensive coordinator. In fact, for the better part of three quarters, last year’s top passing quarterback failed to get off the ground. A couple “mental lapses” allowed Western Kentucky to get in the end zone late, resulting in a 14-12 loss in front of 30,307 at Vanderbilt Stadium in the season opener for both teams.
“We have full faith in our coach,” safety Oren Burks said. “We know he is going to call the schemes and it is our job to do our job and execute.”
While Mason maintained he doesn’t believe in consolation prizes, it was a positive first glance at a revamped defense. Western Kentucky quarterback Brandon Doughty had just 58 passing yards at halftime before finishing with 209 and a touchdown. The Hilltoppers also gained just 38 rushing yards for the fewest allowed by a Mason team in his 13 games as Vanderbilt head coach.
“High profiled offense coming in here and I thought we applied pressure to Doughty all night,” Mason said. “He made a couple throws on busted coverage. But other than that I thought we did a pretty good job attempting to stop the run and getting after those guys in the passing game.”
Doughty led all Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks in 2014 with 49 touchdowns and 4,830 passing yards. But the Commodores stymied the 6-foot-3 senior early. He completed just six of 14 passes in the first half for 58 yards, and his receivers dropped five passes before halftime. He was also sacked twice, including a seven-yard tackle for loss by Jonathan Wynn with 2:50 left to force a punt that led to Vanderbilt’s lone touchdown.
But a blown coverage late in the third quarter resulted in a 65-yard pass play down the sideline. The next play the Hilltoppers scored from four yards out to take the lead for good. On the next drive, Western Kentucky again had a player get open and churn out a 21-yard gain on a Doughty pass. That set up a nine-yard touchdown pass.
“Just have to come out in the second half and we have to do better as a team and I take full responsibility as a leader on those two touchdowns they had, those blown coverages on my end,” senior linebacker Darreon Herring said. “As a leader, my teammates deserved better. I feel like they played their butt off tonight top and bottom and we just have to do better every week.”
The rush defense also allowed just 38 net rushing yards on 22 carries. Hefty 235-pound running back Leon Allen had 56 yards on 15 rushes and bounded into the end zone.
In total, the Commodores held one of the most potent offenses in the FBS to just 247 yards. But a couple of lapses and the failure to create turnovers loomed big afterwards to Mason and his defense.
“I thought for the most part, other than that jaunt probably late in the third quarter into the mid part of the fourth quarter, I thought we were dominant,” he said. “I thought what happened to us was a missed coverage and a guy losing leverage gave back momentum. You got to be better. In those critical situations, we’ve got to come up big.”
McCRARY’S MOMENTS: Quarterback Johnny McCrary was quick to admit that he made some youthful mistakes in the loss — saying he showed immaturity on a few decisions, including throwing two interceptions in the end zone.
However, the redshirt sophomore also provided plenty of highlights while completing 18-of-34 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown.
McCrary did some of his best work on Vanderbilt’s final drive of the night, leading the Commodores on a 12-play, 77-yard scoring march that was capped by a two-yard touchdown pass to Trent Sherfield with 33 seconds remaining in the game. The late touchdown enabled VU to pull within 14-12, but the Commodores came up short on the two-point conversion attempt when tight end Nathan Marcus was stopped near the goal line after catching a pass from McCrary.
Head coach Derek Mason praised his young quarterback, and said he expects to see McCrary continue to gain confidence and poise.
“(McCrary) is going to get better every time he plays,” said Mason. “We understand exactly what his shortcomings are. But, I tell you what, he has a high ceiling. The thing we have to do is continue to encourage him, continue to get behind him. He can lead us to some victories. We just have to continue to be better all the way around him and ask him to be better about his decision making.”
McCrary said that while the defeat was painful — and the interceptions were frustrating — he plans to use this game as a learning experience.
“There’s stuff to improve upon,” he said. “But I feel like, when you make those mistakes, you’ve got to be able to grow from them and not make those same mistakes again. … (The interceptions) were immature throws. Stuff you’ve just got to put in the past and get ready for the next game.”
Mason said that for McCrary, the game was “a comma, not a period” and said, “It is a process for him. … Tonight, he (made) some poor decisions. He’ll grow and learn from those.”
SLIVE RECOGNIZED: Former SEC Commissioner Mike Slive was honored at halftime of Thursday’s game. The longtime SEC leader was making his first stop on his tour around the league as part of the SEC’s Prostate Cancer Awareness Games. Slive will visit all 14 SEC schools before the end of the month. He will also be recognized at Ole Miss when Vanderbilt plays in Oxford on September 26.
Slive and his family were recognized on the field by Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos and Director of Athletics David Williams.
WEBB SHOWS VERSATILITY: Running back Ralph Webb was expected to be one of the centerpieces in Vanderbilt’s offense, and Thursday night underscored his status.
Webb rushed for 70 yards on 18 carries and also caught three passes for 27 yards.
“Ralph was everywhere tonight,” said Mason. “He was a three-dimensional back we needed him to be. I would have liked to see a little more push up front at times because I thought some of those run lanes were a little tight for him. He just needs a little more space.”
SHERFIELD STEPS UP: Sophomore Trent Sherfield showed flashes of brilliance in a career night.
The wide receiver caught a career-high four passes for 63 yards to lead the team in both categories (nine receivers had a catch). He hauled in a 31-yard catch and run to set up a field goal in the fourth quarter. Then he caught a two-yard pass with 33 seconds left for his first career touchdown on fourth-and-two. The score pulled the Commodores within 14-12 and set up a potential game-tying two-point conversion, which failed.
“Part of that for Sherf is making sure he continues to stay active and productive,” Mason said. “You saw different guys touch the ball. That is not the question anymore. We just have to continue to find ways and opportunities to make sure these guys can find touches when available and put it in the end zone.”
FAR FROM SATISFIED: Although the Commodores were in control of the stat sheet throughout the night, Mason took no comfort in that. The only numbers he cared about at the end of the night was the final score.
“I don’t accept losing,” he said. “I don’t believe in losing.”
Perhaps the most frustrating element of the loss was the Commodores inability to capitalize on several key scoring chances, including three trips to the red zone that resulted in zero points — two interceptions in the end zone and a missed field goal.
“We had our fair share of opportunities to win this game,” Mason said. “You can look at the box score. You can look at everything there. The only thing we came up short on was points and turnovers. We have to be better in both of those areas. … I thought we did everything in our power to give ourselves a chance to win this game.”
