POSTGAME NOTES
Vanderbilt Commodores vs. Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors | Nashville, Tenn. | August 26, 2023
TEAM NOTES
- Vanderbilt won the coin toss and elected to defer. Bradley Ashmore, Ethan Barr and Jaylen Mahoney represented the Commodores for the coin toss.
- The game was delayed over 90 minutes due to severe weather, marking the third time Vanderbilt Stadium had a pre-game weather delay since 2006 when the Commodores beat Tennessee State.
- Vanderbilt’s defensive unit finished with 59 tackles, marking the most in a season-opener since 2019 when Vanderbilt faced Georgia and posted 76 tackles.
- Attendance in the home opener was 21,407.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
- Patrick Smith scored the first touchdown of 2023 on a 21-yard rush. Vanderbilt’s first drive of the season went four plays for 32 yards over 1:22. This marked his third career rushing touchdown.
- Jayden McGowan’s 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown is the first since 2014 (Darrius Sims vs. South Carolina 9/20/14). This is tied for the fourth-longest kick return for a touchdown in program history.
- McGowan finished with 180 all-purpose yards, just one yard shy of his career-best of 181 yards (10/8/22 vs. Ole Miss).
- Will Sheppard tallied two touchdowns in the contest, marking the fifth time in his career that he reached the threshold. The senior has 15 career touchdowns, which places ninth all-time for Vanderbilt. Shepard finished the night with six catches for 68 yards.
- 10/02/21 vs. UConn
- 8/27/22 at Hawai’i
- 9/31/22 vs. Elon
- 9/17/22 at Northern Illinois
- 8/26/23 at Hawai’i
- AJ Swann finished the season opener completing 19-of-30 for 258 yards, marking the second-most passing yards of his career (281, vs. Ole Miss 10/08/22) and the third time in his career posting 250+ yards. Tonight’s game marked the seventh start of his career and his second game with three or more touchdowns.
- Freshman London Humphreys scored his first collegiate touchdown off a 32-yard pass from Swann.
- Matthew Hayball punted three times for 161 yards, including a career-long punt of 71 yards in the third quarter.
