Nov. 20, 2016
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodors.com
On campus in Nashville – As Vanderbilt prepared to face Ole Miss on Saturday, it had been nearly a month since the Commodores last played a game inside Vanderbilt Stadium. But the ‘Dores made their return to West End a sweet one.
Vanderbilt (5-6, 2-5 SEC) dominated both sides of the ball in a 38-17 win over visiting Ole Miss (5-6, 2-5), the ‘Dores’ second SEC win of the year. Here are three thoughts from the victory:
1. Vanderbilt’s offense was as explosive as we’ve seen.
Against Ole Miss, the Commodores’ offense simply came alive. Quarterback Kyle Shurmur and company reeled off 481 yards of offense – its most against an SEC opponent this year – and averaged 6.3 yards-per-play. Vanderbilt amassed 22 first downs, scored 31 unanswered points and rushed for 208 yards (4.5 average), led by Ralph Webb’s 123 yards and three touchdowns.
Alongside Webb, who sits just 27 yards shy of breaking Zac Stacy’s career rushing record, Shurmur was particularly effective. The sophomore finished 17-of-30 for 273 yards, a pair of touchdown passes and no turnovers. But Shurmur’s pass-catchers stepped up, as well, making plays for their quarterback on a number of tough balls. “I just threw in their area code, and some of those guys, I don’t know how, they brought it down,” said Shurmur, who averaged 9.1 yards-per-attempt.
The Commodores’ 38 points were their most against an SEC opponent under head coach Derek Mason. But the coach said he was not shocked to see his offense break out. “I wouldn’t say surprised; I’d say exhilarated, excited,” Mason said. “I wanted to see the floodgates open for these guys, so they can understand how good they can be. You can tell them until you’re blue in the face, but they’ve got to experience it. I think they experienced it.”
2. The ‘Dores rattled Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson.
Vanderbilt had every reason to worry about Patterson’s abilities on Saturday. The true freshman had recorded an Ole Miss freshman-record 402 yards of offense in last week’s 29-28 upset of then-No. 8 Texas A&M in College Station. The dual-threat Patterson helped the Rebels erase a 23-point fourth-quarter lead in the victory over the Aggies.
Against Vanderbilt, however, Patterson showed flashes of an inexperienced true freshman. He looked sharp on Ole Miss’ first drive but spent most of the night outrunning Commodore defenders, who notched a season-high three sacks. Though Patterson finished with 254 yards of offense and two scores, he misfired on several key passes and made mistakes in the pocket that ultimately stalled drives. Indeed, Patterson and Ole Miss finished 5-of-18 on third down.
In limiting Patterson’s big-play abilities, Vanderbilt was able to take control of the matchup. “We said if we didn’t give up explosive plays, we had a great chance to win this ballgame,” Mason said.
3. This is the most complete performance of the Derek Mason era.
In 2014, Mason’s first season in Nashville, Vanderbilt finished 3-9 with no SEC wins. The Commodores improved to 4-8 a year later and beat a pair of conference foes in Kentucky and Missouri. This season, the ‘Dores ventured to Athens and stole a 17-16 win from Georgia on Oct. 15, the first SEC road win under Mason.
But Saturday’s victory over Ole Miss was Vanderbilt’s most complete performance of Mason’s tenure in Nashville. The Commodores rallied from a 10-0 deficit and scored 31 straight to take control in front of a home crowd. Their offense flourished, and their defense stifled a potentially lethal Ole Miss offense. The result was Vanderbilt’s fifth win in a single season, a first under Mason and a profound sign of what’s to come for this program in the future.
“I thought all three phases played solid tonight. We needed to,” Mason said. “But more than anything else, I thought this football team did a wonderful job of responding.”
