POSTGAME NOTES
Vanderbilt Commodores vs. Alcorn State Braves | Nashville, Tenn. | September 7, 2024
Vanderbilt 55, Alcorn State 0
TEAM NOTES
- Langston Patterson, Diego Pavia and Marlen Sewell represented the Commodores for the coin toss. The Commodores won the coin toss and elected to defer
- Tonight was Clark Lea’s first shutout as a defensive coordinator since his 2020 Notre Dame defense kept South Florida from scoring in a 52-0 win. It was his third career shutout as a coordinator
- Vanderbilt’s defense has made at least one interception in seven of the last eight games
- Vandy’s 55 points mark the most scored since the C0mmodores won 63-10 at Hawai’i to open the 2022 season
- The defensive unit held Alcorn State to just 71 total yards. The last time Vandy held its opponent to under 100 yards was against Chattanooga, with the Mocs generating just 93 yards (9.6.03)
- Since at least 1996, the Commodores have not held an opponent to 75 or few total yards until tonight when Vandy held Alcorn State to 71 total yards
- Tonight’s result marks the first time Vanderbilt shutout an opponent since 2019 against East Tennessee State (11.23.19)
- Vanderbilt held the Braves to just 40 rushing yards after holding Virginia Tech to 75 rushing yards, marking the first time since 2017 that Vandy held its opponent under 100 rushing yards in back-to-back games (at Middle Tennesse and against Alabama A&M)
- Vandy’s offense closed the first half with a field goal, giving the Commodores a score on all five possessions in the first half
- Tonight’s win was the largest margin of victory since Vandy defeated Presbyterian 58-0 on Sept. 17, 2012
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Cole Spence caught the first touchdown of his career in the first quarter. The pass came from Eli Stowers, who threw just his second passing touchdown in his career but his first in a Commodore uniform
- Martel Hight became the first Dore with 100+ punt return yards since Jonathan Krause on November 24, 2012 at Wake Forest (110 yards). Hight is now the first Commodore to have 100+ punt return yards in a season since the 2019 campaign, reaching the mark in just two games
- Hight’s punt return for a touchdown is the first since Jonathan Krause on November 24, 2012 at Wake Forest
- Sedrick Alexander ran for his second rushing score of the season and sixth of his career. This is the first time in his career with a rushing touchdown in back-to-back games
- Alan “Taco” Wright picked off Alcorn State’s Roderick Hartsfield for Vandy’s first pick-six since Bryce Cowan last season against Auburn (11.4.23)
- CJ Taylor hauled in his fourth interception of his career
- Taylor was also credited with multiple tackles for loss in a game for the first time since the Commodores played at Wake Forest (9.9.23)
- Aeneas DiCosmo made a career-high seven tackles in tonight’s win
- Freshman receiver Tristen Brown made three catches for 27 yards in his second game in black and gold
- Running back AJ Newberry ran for a 20-yard touchdown for his first career touchdown
- Nate Johnson ran for a 56-yard touchdown, the longest rushing touchdown by a Vandy quarterback since Mike Wright’s 59-yard rush at Kentucky on Nov. 12, 2022
