North Carolina State whips Vandy in Independence Bowl
North Carolina State’s Jaylen Samuels caught three touchdown passes from Ryan Finley, and the Wolfpack added special teams and defensive scores, as State routed Vanderbilt, 41-17, in the Independence Bowl at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, La., on Monday.
Samuels scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns to erase Vanderbilt’s 3-0 lead, and added one in the third quarter as State built its lead.
Finley, the Boise State transfer, was 19-of-30 for 235 yards and three scores, six of those completions going to Samuels for 104 yards.
The major computer ratings and the oddsmakers agreed that the Wolfpack, a 6-point favorite, was the better team. Monday’s game seemed to validate that, as State got the best of Vanderbilt in the trenches, and showed better athleticism across the board.
The problems for Vanderbilt were many, but a lot started with the passing game.
Coming off a career-best game, quarterback Kyle Shurmur was just 19-for-46 for 158 yards and three interceptions, one of which was returned by Niles Clark for a score on the game’s last play.
The first half went poorly for the Commodores, who trailed 14-3 at the break, and the second started badly as well.
On VU’s first drive, Shurmur had his arm hit on a third-down throw and was intercepted by State’s Josh Jones, who returned the ball to the VU 18. Running back Reggie Gillaspy II scored moments later on a 5-yard scoring run.
The rout seemed to be on.
On a third-and-10 play midway through the third quarter, Samuels caught a short pass from Finley and with the help of good downfield blocking, ran for a 17-yard score.
Vanderbilt then found some late life.
Ralph Webb had a 30-yard punt return in the third quarter to inch Vandy closer, and then Kalija Lipscomb’s 71-yard punt return set up Khari Blasingame’s rushing score from inside the 1 with 10:37 left.
But State quickly broke the Commodores’ backs when Nyheim Hines returned the ensuing kickoff from two yards deep in the end zone, and raced almost untouched to extend the Wolfpack lead.
Vanderbilt opened the scoring at the 6:06 mark of the first quarter, when kicker Tommy Openshaw snuck a 52-yard field goal inside the right upright for a 3-0 VU lead. It was the longest field goal in the 41-game history of the bowl.
N.C. State nearly answered on the next drive, but on a fourth-and-goal play from the VU 1, cornerback JoeJuan Williams, safety Arnold Tarpley and linebacker Landon Stokes combined to stop running back Matt Dayes in the backfield for a 3-yard loss.
But Shurmur was picked by Trae Meadows at the VU 41 on Vandy’s next series, and seven plays later, Finley hit Samuels with a scoring toss on a third-and-goal play from the 9.
Vandy, having a tough time moving the ball in the first quarter and a half, got a 45-yard run from wide receiver Trent Sherfield to the State 11. The ‘Dores wasted a golden scoring chance when Openshaw badly pulled a 27-yard attempt to the left from just inside the left hash.
Late in the half, Samuels hauled in a short pass from Finley and weaved through the Commodore defense for a 55-yard score.
After winning its last two games to get to 6-6, Vanderbilt ended the season with its third-straight losing campaign.
Webb finished with 111 yards on 21 carries against one of America’s better run defenses. He broke the VU single-season rushing record with his sixth carry of the game with just over eight minutes left in the second quarter on a 6-yard run.
Webb, a redshirt junior, finished the season with 1,283 rushing yards, 90 more than the previous mark set by Zac Stacy in 2011. He announced after the game that he'll return for his senior season.
Webb now has 3,343 career rushing yards, exactly 200 more than Stacy’s career total, another school record that Webb surpassed a month ago in VU’s regular-season finale vs. Tennessee.
That appears to have edged him into the SEC's all-time top 20 for career rushing yards, according to CollegeSportsReference.com, though Georgia's Nick Chubb could vault past him in the Bulldogs' bowl game.