An in-depth breakdown of Vanderbilt's offense in its 36-20 loss to Wake Forest.

What went right

Vanderbilt seems to know its strong suit and although it made some costly mistakes through the air, it did have some success in the passing game.

That started with a 50-yard reception by Jayden McGowan on the Commodores' first scoring drive. That drive ended in a Will Sheppard touchdown and so did Vanderbilt's next scoring drive. That drive was kickstarted by a 48-yard reception by London Humphreys that could've been a touchdown had the throw led him.

Humphreys scored later in the afternoon with a 30-yard touchdown reception in which he fought off a defender while the ball was in the air.

Patrick Smith's performance was also something to note, the junior running back ran for 77 yards on Saturday and had a 40-yarder that put Vanderbilt in a position to score on the goal line. That's a testament to the offensive line play that looked slightly improved on Saturday.

Sedrick Alexander seeing the field more is also a positive sign pertaining to Vanderbilt's coaches' and their open mindedness.

The ball moved on Saturday and that gives some reason for hope as Vanderbilt moves forward.

What went wrong

The issue of consistency arose again on Saturday. Vanderbilt left plenty of food on the plate and gave itself little margin for error.

That was largely related to turnovers, Vanderbilt had three of those in the first half of Saturday's game. Two came on AJ Swann interceptions and the other came on a muffed punt by Sheppard that resulted in a Wake Forest touchdown.

In a game like this, the margin for error is small and Vanderbilt's is much too small to give away 10 points like it did on Saturday.

Vanderbilt moved the ball well on Saturday but it feels like its offense beat itself, there's a lot to be said for that and none of those things are good.

Player of the game: London Humphreys

Vanderbilt's freshman receiver had a game in Saturday afternoon's contest, the Nashville native finished Saturday with four receptions, 109 yards and a touchdown. A performance like that is worthy of some praise and brings up the argument that the young receiver should have a more prominent role.

Sheppard also made an argument but left some food on the plate with a dropped ball early in the contest and a muffed punt.

Grade: D+

Vanderbilt's offense accounted for 423 total yards but just 20 points. The offense and special teams' two turnovers also accounted for 10 of Wake Forest's 36 points.

Turning it over the way Vanderbilt did as well as failing to convert at the goal line and on fourth down did it in on Saturday. The Commodores had a chance but couldn't make the big play when it needed to and still struggled with much of what it did in its first two games.