Nashville, TENN -- Vanderbilt's defense took care of business Saturday night at FirstBank Stadium against FCS foe Alcorn State. Clark Lea's defense came ready to play and held the Braves to just 71 yards of total offense.
What went right:
In summary, just about everything went right for the Commodore defense tonight. They suffocated the Braves’ offense the entire night and never let them cross midfield. In totality, Alcorn State mustered just 71 yards of total offense, 31 passing yards, and 40 rushing yards.
The Commodores forced a three-and-out on Alcorn State’s first possession in fairly dominating fashion. In the second drive, the Braves moved the chains for the first time, but Vandy stood tall and forced an interception. Linus Zunk hit Braves QB Tyler Macon as he threw, which allowed CJ Taylor to fall under the ball for his 4th career interception. That gave the offense ideal field position to extend the lead to 10-0 in the 1st quarter.
Prince Kollie saw his first game action in two years during the 1st quarter and made a nice tackle on Alcorn State QB Tyler Macon. The Notre Dame transfer finished with three tackles, one sack, and one TFL.
Jaylin Lackey saw extended playing time, but only had one tackle on the night. Meanwhile, Bradley Mann was active and finished with three tackles while Steven Sannieniola had two by the end of the night.
Special Teams:
Martel Hight had himself a night in the punt return department. In the 3rd quarter, he took an Alcorn punt 56 yards to the house. Before that touchdown return, he had two other returns that were close to touchdowns as well. His punt return for a TD was the first at Vanderbilt since Jonathan Krause at Wake Forest in 2012. He finished with 127 punt return yardage by the end of the night.
After the game, Clark Lea said, “Martel was our top performer tonight. He’s made a huge difference. You have to credit Jeff LePak and that punt return unit. Happy for Martel. He had to grow up fast last year.”
What went wrong:
There wasn’t a whole lot that went wrong for the Commodore defense tonight, but one thing in particular stood out. There were two more missed interception chances that this defense could not cash in on. De’Rickey Wright should’ve had one, but Martel Hight came in at the last second to tip it away. Also, Dontae Carter dropped a pass that was even easier than De’Rickey Wright’s. If that’s all that went wrong for the Vanderbilt defense tonight, I’d say they’ll be just fine.
Grade: A +
Defensive MVP: CJ Taylor
Taylor had three tackles and an important interception that kick-started the Commodores’ offense to extend their early lead.
