Oct. 29, 2011
Vanderbilt’s sideline was deflated after kicker Carey Spear’s 27-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right with eight seconds to play as No. 8 Arkansas held on to a 31-28 win in Nashville, but no one was pointing fingers at their teammate after the game.
There were too many mistakes to go around, and the reason for the loss was not a missed field goal. Instead, it was the summation of missed opportunities.
Running back Zac Stacy gained 128 yards rushing and 51 yards receiving, but it will be his interception and his fumble at the five-yard line that will stick out in the minds of Commodore fans, not his 62-yard touchdown run. Cornerback Casey Hayward broke up six passes on the day, but yet he was unable to hold onto one of them for an interception.
Linebacker Archibald Barnes had a clean route to the end zone if he holds onto a Tyler Wilson pass in the third quarter, but the ball bounced off his chest. Vanderbilt held Arkansas to 72 yards rushing, but the Razorbacks gained 316 yards through the air.
What does this all mean?
There were too many opportunities missed and too many mistakes to single out just one play in the game.
“We have to play smarter,” Head Coach James Franklin said. “We’ve got to allow other teams to beat themselves. You can’t have critical mistakes, you can’t have penalties, you can’t have turnovers. You have to allow other people to beat themselves, and we can’t beat ourselves.”
The players knew it was a total team loss and they weren’t about to turn their back on a teammate after the game.
“As him being our brother we have to lift him up, and we have to lift each other up because we all lost this game together,” linebacker Chris Marve said. “It is a road that we all have to travel together. He’s not alone at all, so tomorrow we just have to get back to work.”
Which is exactly what the team will do beginning Sunday as the attention turns to Florida. With the loss, Vanderbilt fell to 4-4 on the season, but the Commodores are getting better, and it is quite easy to see. Believe it or not, but Vanderbilt is eight points away from being 6-2 this season.
“The story is we are making progress and we are getting better and we are light years ahead of where we were when I first arrived on this campus, and that is the story,” Franklin said. “This is not the same old Vanderbilt.”
The statement is not lost on the players either, who have heard all the stories and even been a part of past teams that got pushed around and bullied by other SEC programs.
“This is not the same old Vanderbilt,” Lohr said. “We wouldn’t have been in the position we were in a year ago. This is the 2011 Commodores and in order to be the championship team we strive to be, we can’t make those errors we made today, so we are going to come out next week and practice hard and get a W.”
Through the fog of a loss, it can be difficult to see positives for a team, but they are plentiful, and Franklin sees them clear as day.
“We are going to learn from this, but I want everyone to understand, our players included, that you can learn lessons and win,” Franklin said. “You don’t have to lose to learn the lessons in life, but that is how it goes sometimes. We are going to get back off the ground and we are going to keep fighting and when you keep doing that, good things are going to happen at some point.”
And that point sure doesn’t seem very far away.
Matthews Has Career Day
During the preseason, no player was praised more than wide receiver Jordan Matthews. He was nearly unstoppable in practices and all signs pointed toward a breakout season. But the opposite occurred after hauling in three catches for 58 yards against Elon.
He had just five catches since that first game and questions were raised about his role in the offense.
That changed on Saturday as Matthews had a career day, grabbing six passes for 151 yards and one touchdown.
“I thought he played extremely well,” Franklin said. “What I am glad about is that you guys won’t keep asking questions and writing stories about why he isn’t more involved in the game.
“I told him, just like I told everyone else, ‘if you keep working and you have a positive attitude, good things will happen.’ That’s what you can control in life and sooner or later things are going to go in your direction and that’s what happened for that kid.”
Commodores Execute Fake Punt
The number of trick plays run this season by the Commodores continue to pile up. Saturday, Vanderbilt executed its second fake punt of the season when Franklin called for a direct snap to Fitz Lassing from Vanderbilt’s own 32-line on fourth and one.
Lassing took the snap and rumbled 25 yards to the Arkansas 43. The Commodores would end up scoring a touchdown on the drive to go up 21-7.
“That’s just how we are going to play here,” Franklin said. “We are going to be aggressive. We are going to have to take some calculated risks and chances, we understand that and those things are in our game plan ever single week. If we get the look we want, we are going to run them.”
In the first quarter, Vanderbilt also executed a fourth and one from its own 28-yard line.
“People said they wanted to see an exciting team,” Franklin said. “We have an exciting team. We are going to find ways to gain the advantage and be in the game.”
For one of the first times this season, one of Vanderbilt’s trick plays backfired when a halfback pass by Zac Stacy was intercepted at the Arkansas 32. The Razorbacks would kick a 36-yard field goal on their ensuing possession to pull within four, 21-17.
Not Playing for Overtime
Even though the Commodores kicked the field goal to tie the game, Franklin noted the intent was to win it on the final drive.
Vanderbilt started from its own 10-yard line with 3:03 to play and marched all the way down to the Arkansas 10 despite having just one timeout. The big play came when Jordan Rodgers connected with Jordan Matthews for 48 yards. Rodgers again found Matthews for 14 yards to get down to the 14-yard line.
From there, a handoff by Zac Stacy gained four yards and the Commodores then misfired on two designed plays in the end zone to setup the field-goal attempt.
“We called two plays that gave us an opportunity to score, but they were plays that we told Jordan, ‘if its (not) there don’t force, if it is there, make the throw to win the game, if not throw it out of the back of the end zone and we will kick the field goal and go to overtime.’ That was the plan.”
Krause Returns after Crushing Hit
Vanderbilt punt returner Jonathan Krause was the recipient of an illegal hit on a return, which led to the ejection of Arkansas wide receiver Marquel Wade. The hit came in the third quarter when Krause was moving toward the punt and Wade launched himself, helmet first, to deliver a hit on the defenseless Krause.
After a few scary moments, Krause rose to his feet and walked off the field. He even returned to the game in the fourth quarter.
“Let’s not make this more than it is,” Franklin said. “Their guy made a play. Those things happen. The officials handled it the right way and we move forward. By no means do I think Arkansas targeted him and tried to do anything. Their guy made a bad decision and we move forward.”
Vanderbilt’s Defensive Line Haunts Tyler Wilson
Vanderbilt was able to get pressure on quarterback Tyler Wilson throughout Saturday’s game. The junior quarterback spent much of the game lifting himself up from the turf thank to the play of Vanderbilt’s defensive line.
The Commodores only registered three sacks, but the number of hits laid on Wilson was much higher.
Most notable was the play of defensive end Tim Fugger, who had two sacks, a forced fumble and a tackle for a loss. Defensive tackle Rob Lohr also added a sack.
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