Here's a look at Vanderbilt's defensive effort in a 31-6 loss at Ole Miss.
What went right
When the outcome was in doubt, the secondary actually played well in important spots. And the Commodores played well against the pass on the whole, allowing 99 passing yards on 18 attempts.
After Ole Miss got into Vandy territory on the game's first possession, Allan George sacked John Rhys Plumlee on a first-and-10 play from the VU 16, that play followed by Kenny Hebert and Dayo Odeyingbo stopping Plumlee for a yard gain. Then, outside linebacker Andre Mintze sacked Plumlee for a loss fo six, holding Ole Miss to a field goal.
Vanderbilt forced a turnover on downs on the Rebels’ third possession, taking over at its 30.
The Commodore defense held Ole Miss to a three-and-out on a late-second-quarter possession, thanks to good pressure on Plumlee and cornerback Randall Haynie’s third-down breakup of what would have been a long throw downfield.
Haynie made a fourth down break-up to thwart a drive at the Vandy 38 with just under a minute left in the first half. The previous play, safety Brendon Harris made a great break-up (and nearly had a pick-6) on a short route.
What went wrong
The list of things that went wrong wasn't long, but Ole Miss, like several other opponents thus far, proved it just needed to do one or two things well to beat VU handily.
Ole Miss averaged 5.1 yards per rush coming in. It got 9.4 on the evening, and practically speaking, VU's run defense was actually worse than the final number showed: The Rebels were averaging over 13 yards per rush at one point late in the third quarter. Only when the game was over and Ole Miss was running out the clock did that number decline precipitously. The Rebels gained 103 yards on their seven third-down carries and ran for a whopping 415 on the evening.
Plumlee topped 100 yards rushing by the end of the first quarter.
Jerrion Ealy had a 78-yard score through the middle of the defense where he went nearly untouched, and Snoop Conner, after getting through some line-of scrimmage congestion, went for an 84-yard touchdown on the next possession. Those two second-half scores removed much doubt as to the outcome.
Once again, the Commodores couldn't force a turnover.
Player of the Game
I'm not sure anyone had a great game, but outside linebacker Andre Mintze had a game-high two sacks, led the team with five solo stops.
Final analysis and grade
If you didn't watch the game, you could take some solace in the pass defense and some timely stops.
If you did watch the game, you know better. The Commodores got destroyed by a mediocre rushing attack. Once again, the back seven looked out of position, took poor angles and generally a step or two too slow to have much hope of putting up resistance against a Power Five opponent.
I suppose one could take solace in "only" giving up 31 points, but the 8.3 yards per play, and the fact that VU could never stop Ole Miss's rushing attack for any meaningful stretch with the game on the line, is what's important here.
Grade: F
