VandySports.com - Tech stings Vandy on Halloween

October 31, 2009

Chris Lee
VandySports.com Publisher

NASHVILLE, Tenn.-Vanderbilt has been waiting nearly two months for its offense to play well. It finally did on Saturday evening, but it wasn't nearly enough.

Vandy's true freshmen Warren Norman and Zac Stacy were brilliant in scoring two touchdowns each. But in the end, they were one-upped by Georgia Tech's spread-option attack that kept the Commodore defense on the field for 39:45 and rolled up 597 yards in Tech's 56-31 win on Saturday evening at Dudley Field.

Jonathan Dwyer accounted for a season-high 186 yards and scored three touchhdowns, part of No. 11 Tech's season-high 404 rushing yards. Quarterback Josh Nesbitt helped by adding 249 yards of total offense, throwing for two scores and adding two more on the ground.

It's the most points the Commodores' normally-reliable defense has given up since October 10, 2001, when VU also gave up 56 to Kentucky. 28 of them came in a 6:11 span between the second and third quarter that turned a 3-point VU lead into the final 25-point deficit.

And even though the offense was good (397 yards, Vandy's biggest output since week four), VU committed three turnovers inside its own 38 that led to three Tech touchdowns.

"We would have to play well to stop them, and we didn't help ourselves with turnovers and short fields. They do a great job with the offense. They took it to us," Vandy coach Bobby Johnson said.

"We missed a lot of tackles that hurt us, and we lacked discipline. We had people assigned to certain people, and if one person messed up, it threw everything off," added linebacker Brent Trice.

VU (2-7) fell behind by 14 in the second quarter, but had Dudley Field buzzing by scoring on their first possession of the second half to take a 31-28 lead before forcing a Tech fumble at the VU 3.

But VU couldn't get a first down, and had to punt on that possession. That's when the dam burst.

The onslaught started when Brett Upson's punt went out of bounds at the VU 40. Tech moved 40 yards in 10 plays, scoring on Dwyer's 3-yard run to take a 35-31 lead.

On the first play of VU's next offensive possession, Jamie Graham fumbled. Georgia Tech's Mario Edwards recovered at the 19, and two plays later, Dwyer rumbled over from three yards out to give the Yellow Jackets an 11-point lead with 39 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The two touchdowns came just 40 seconds apart. The next one came on an 88-yard pas from Nesbitt to a wide-open Embry Peeples after a VU drive stalled at the Tech 46.

Norman fumbled the ensuing kickoff at the VU 38, and the 'Jackets stung Vandy again with a 20-yard Roddy Jones touchdown run with 9:43 left in the game.

"We did a much better job in the second half of getting them off the field and we got some turnovers, which helped turn the game," Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson said.

Tech scored easily on the game's first drive, a six-play, 60-yard effort with all yardage coming on the ground. Dwyer's 38-yard run to the Vandy 15 put the 'Jackets in scoring position, and then Nesbitt scampered left between three would-be Commodore tacklers into the end zone for the game's first score.

But Vandy answered to tie the game on the next drive. VU started at its 29, then moved into scoring position when Graham weaved his way for 21 yards down the right side of the field on a double-reverse to the 15.

On third-and-6 from the 11, Larry Smith found Norman open over the middle of the field, and the freshman dove in the end zone to preceed Ryan Fowler's tying extra-point.

After a Tech punt on the ensuing possession combined with a hold on VU's first possession put Vandy at its 4, Smith scampered right for 35 yards down the sideline before pulling a hamstring at the end of the play and running out of bounds.

That brought MacKenzie Adams in, who found Stacy on a swing pass on a third-and-13 from the VU 49. Stacy juked a defender and then raced down the sideline to the Tech 4, later scoring on a 3-yard run to put VU up 14-7.

But Tech bounced back to tie it on the next possession, scoring on Nesbitt's 1-yard sneak over center on a third-and-goal play.

After a VU 3-and-out, Tech marched 89 yards in six plays and scored when Demaryius Thomas beat Myron Lewis on a 35-yard touchdown from Nesbitt and took a 21-14 lead with 8:06 left in the half.

On the ensuing VU possession, Adams fumbled at the VU 22. Two plays later, Dwyer broke a tackle just past the line of scrimmage and glided 13 yards for a score, and Tech led 28-14.

But Vandy clawed back when Tech's Scott Blair tried to squib the ensuing kickoff in an attempt to contain Norman. Instead, Blair's low kick took an easy hop to Norman at the 20, where Norman found a gap just to his left and raced 80 yards untouched to cut the margin to seven.

After another Tech punt, Stacy raced 62 yards up the middle for a game-tying touchdown for VU with 3:15 left in the half.

On the opening drive of the second half, VU took a 31-28 lead after Fowler's 24-yard field goal. The key play of the drive came on a third-and-10 play from the VU 35, when an Adams pass was tipped by a Tech defender into Udom Umoh's hands for a 42-yard gain.

Tech drove to the VU 3, but Vandy's Greg Billinger forced a fumble that John Stokes recovered on the Yellow Jackets' next possession.

But VU couldn't capitalize, which resulted in Upson's punt to the 40 and spelled the beginning of the end for the Commodores' night.

Norman's third return made him the first VU player in history to return three kickoffs for touchdowns, tying him with Tennessee's Willie Gault (1980) for the Southeastern Conference's all-time single-season record.

"It's a good feeling. I'm trying hard to help the team win games," Norman said.

The victory was Georgia Tech's sixth in a row since its' lone loss to Miami in week three.

With seven losses, VU's chances of returning to a second-straight bowl are gone. It won't get any easier next week, as the Commodores travel to undefeated and top-ranked Florida.

"We still have a lot to play for. We have three extremely important football games. We have a big challenge going to Florida next week, but I expect our guys to practice hard, play hard, and give their best effort in all ways," Bobby Johnson said.

Depending on the condition of Smith's hamstring, the 'Dores may have a new starting quarterback next week. Adams (12-of-22, 152 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions) played admirably in his first significant action of the season after Smith's promising start (2-of-2 for 27 yards, one carry for 35 yards).

"It took me a little bit to get used to the speed of the game. I was a little rusty, but was able to jump in there," Adams said.

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