VU Victorious In Black & Gold Battle

VU Victorious In Black & Gold Battle

9/1/2005

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The Vanderbilt Commodores did something tonight they haven’t done since 1993 — win their season opener on the road. Fourth-year Head Coach Bobby Johnson and his Commodores toughed out a 24-20 win against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 1:48 left in the game. The four-play, game-clinching drive culminated in a rushing touchdown by sophomore running back Jeff Jennings — his second of the game.

It was a quality night for Commodore senior quarterback Jay Cutler, who entered the night needing only 63 total yards to move into second place all-time in the category at Vanderbilt. Cutler moved past Whit Taylor in total offense by completing a 13-yard pass to his former backup-turned-fullback Steven Bright in the first quarter, and finished the night with 365 yards of total offense.

Cutler opened the Dores’ first offensive drive of the night by completing a 34-yard pass to junior Marlon White, the first of eight receivers the quarterback would use throughout the night. Later in the same drive, freshman placekicker Bryant Hahnfeldt nailed a 34-yard field goal attempt to tie the game at three on the Dores’ opening drive.

Early in the second quarter, Cutler connected with White in the end zone on a 20-yard jump-ball catch to give the Commodores a 10-3 lead. The touchdown pass moved Culter within two of the school’s touchdown pass record. White proved to be Cutler’s favorite target of the night, hitting him seven times for 89 yards and one touchdown. Cutler, who is starting as Vanderbilt QB for the fourth season, was named to the First Team All-SEC prior to the start of the season.

Senior cornerback Andrew Pace led the Dores with 10 tackles, followed by senior safety Kelechi Ohanaja (9), and redshirt freshman Josh Allen and senior linebacker Moses Osemwegie, both of whom had eight tackles. Osemwegie, the SEC’s leading active career tackler and pre-season First Team All-SEC linebacker, also had a solo sack that dropped Deacon redshirt sophomore quarterback Benjamin Mauk for a nine-yard loss. In what proved to be a huge defensive play in the second half, junior safety Ben Koger tackled Mauk hard, forcing him to fumble on the Commodores’ four-yard line.

Senior wide receiver Erik Davis, who entered the 2005 campaign as the SEC active leader with 1,148 receiving yards, was Cutler’s second-most effective receiver with six receptions for 59 yards.

Freshman quarterback Chris Nickson took over for Cutler after the senior was thrown to the ground out of bounds midway through the third quarter. Cutler reentered the game two plays later to throw an 11-yard completion to sophomore tailback Cassen Jackson-Garrison for a first down, followed by a 30-yard completion to senior tight end Dustin Dunning for another first down. It was Dunning’s longest reception of his career. The series culminated with a 10-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Jeff Jennings, completing a 96-yard scoring drive — longer than any other last season.

Cutler completed 25-of-36 pass attempts for 276 yards.

Wake Forest sophomore running back Micah Andrews had a spectacular night, rushing for 254 yards and catching a 33-yard pass.

The game was televised nationally by ESPN-U. Vanderbilt returns to action next Saturday, Sept. 10, travelling to Fayetteville, Ark.