NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With two weeks remaining until its season opener against Georgia, Vanderbilt staged its second scrimmage in full pads on Saturday morning from Dudley Field.
The one-hour, full-speed session featured tempo and a steady mix of both offensive and defensive highlights over 74 plays.
“We started off live which is important as you’re trying to get off to a fast start,” head coach Derek Mason said. “I thought that was a good emphasis for us. Today was more about trying to get through situations. We got a lot of information today.”
The Commodores will be off Monday before returning to action Tuesday morning.
Scrimmage Notables
- Deuce Wallace (R-Jr., QB) found sophomore wideout Amir Abdur-Rahman (So., WR) for a 10-yard pickup on the opening drive. Later in the scrimmage, Wallace zipped a ball into wideout Kalija Lipscomb (Sr., WR) for a 20-yard gain.
- Michael Owusu (R-So., OLB) busted through the line, bringing down the rusher in the backfield to highlight consecutive stops against the run.
- Riley Neal (Grad., QB) located Cam Johnson (R-Fr., WR) for first down yardage on a nice pitch and catch. The Yorktown, Indiana, product continued to display his speed, finding the edge for a first-down pickup in the red zone.
- Caleb Peart (R-Sr., LB) halted the run, making an impact early, offering a pair of stops at the line over the first few drives.
- Ke’Shawn Vaughn (R-Sr., RB) showcased his athleticism on the punt return, slipping through would-be tacklers. Later, the preseason All-SEC honoree made the most of a dump-off underneath, scoring the game’s first touchdown on a 42-yard catch.
- Elijah McAllister (R-Fr., OLB) beat his blocker, providing a quarterback sack.
- Guay (Sr., kicker) sunk a 39-yard field goal to start the scoring after the drive stalled courtesy of Owusu’s second quarterback sack.
- Abdur-Rahman provided one of the catches of the day, courtesy of a diving grab on a toss from Mo Hasan (R-Jr., QB) to set up the offense inside the 10-yard line. Lipscomb contributed the other, hauling in a one-handed touchdown grab in one-on-one coverage.
- McAllister delivered pressure throughout the day including adding a batted down a pass. Two plays later, (R-So., DB) deflected a pass.
- Feleti Afemui (R-So., ILB) opened the second half, dropping the rusher in the backfield to force a punting situation.
- Freshman defensive back Gabe Jeudy added a breakup in one-on-one coverage to prevent a big gain.
- Owosu put in a show in consecutive plays midway through the second half, making a stop in the backfield before adding a batted-down pass.
- The Commodores found paydirt on a Neal jump-ball to preseason All-American Jared Pinkney (R-Sr., TE).
- Justice Shelton-Mosley (Grad., WR) highlighted Vanderbilt’s offensive success during red-zone drills, bringing home a toss from Wallace in the corner of the end zone.
