Here are some quick thoughts on Vanderbilt's 24-14 win over Ball State.
It wasn't great but Vanderbilt got the job done.
I'm not going to spin a 10-point win over a bad FBS program as some grand triumph, and yes, it should have been more lopsided. But in the end, the team won the fourth quarter when it mattered with a couple of defensive drives (keyed by a pass rush and good play on the back end) and two offensive drives (one ending in a touchdown and the other running out the clock) and it was enough.
We knew this could be a let-down spot. It felt like it was, but at least it didn't end in a loss.
Diego Pavia and Eli Stowers were terrific.
Every time Vanderbilt needed a big play, it felt like one or both delivered.
Let's start with Pavia. On the second-half drive that ended with Brock Taylor's field goal, Pavia had two big first-down runs--one of 11 on the drive's first play, and another, Pavia's scramble on a third-and-13 that was a designed pass play.
On the TD drive, Pavia threw a strike to Stowers for 8 on third-and-7 that gave Vanderbilt a first down at the BSU 33. Later, he took a low snap on a second-and-2 for a first down and finally, he ended the drive with a fake that fooled the whole defense and scooted in for a 6-yard touchdown for the game's final points.
Stowers caught eight balls for 130 yards and a score, and came up big several times. His 41-yard touchdown was a great play design that Stowers executed well, and he also had a first down catch on a third-and-10 play that helped Vanderbilt run out the clock with a drive of 5:39 that ended the day.
Stowers ended the night with 33 catches for 454 yards on the season.
Brock Taylor was good, again.
Taylor added field goals of 24, 27 and 38 yards on Saturday. The last one was a big kick, a 38-yarder that gave Vanderbilt a lead with 14:44 left and came from the dreaded right hash where he's missed a kick or two.
Taylor is now 14-of-17 field goals this year and has hit at least two field goals in every game but the Georgia State contest, when he hit one.
Vanderbilt's running backs and wide receivers didn't have their best days.
I was disappointed in what Vanderbilt got from its running backs tonight. Could the offensive line have done a better job of blowing Ball State off the ball? Sure. But there were times I thought there were running lanes where a back cut one way when there was room another way, and nobody did much in the way of yards after contact.
Vanderbilt's running backs had 30 carries tonight... with a long rush of seven yards. I don't even know how that's possible against an awful run defense, but it happened.
The receivers weren't much better. Sure, there were times when Pavia over-threw a receiver or was off-target here or there, but a number of guys had balls hit them in the hands and they couldn't come up with it. There was a touchdown drop, there were multiple first-down drops and there was plenty of blame to go around.
The Commodores aren't super-gifted at the running back and receiver spots by Southeastern Conference standards, but for the most part effort and consistency have been there. Tonight was the worst night of the season for both units.
Hats off to linebacker Nick Rinaldi.
Rinaldi led Vanderbilt with seven tackles, which included a sack. I don't swear by this but I'm pretty sure it's the first time in 22 seasons of coverage that a walk-on led the team in tackles.
Vanderbilt used Rinaldi off the edge some in an undersized-edge pass-rushing role, and Rinaldi certainly made a mark.
The defense could have dominated more at the point of attack.
Vanderbilt had five stops for loss and just two sacks. Maybe the Commodores held some things back and could have been more aggressive, but I thought the front seven should have dominated a bit more than it did in spots.
To be fair, Vanderbilt missed Langston Patterson and Miles Capers, neither of whom played tonight due to injury. Add that to the continued absence of Zaylin Wood, and there's some size missing that would have helped. But there's enough talent that it should have looked better at times than it did.
A Top-25 ranking is coming--and maybe ESPN GameDay, too.
The Commodores just missed the Top 25 last week, and with No. 24 Michigan losing to Illinois, and Nebraska (the team just behind Vanderbilt) getting obliterated, the Commdores should make their way into the rankings for a first time in over a decade.
As for GameDay, LSU-Texas A&M could be competition, and Texas losing to Georgia didn't help. But it seems as if ESPN has been dropping hints that Nashville could be next week's destination, and with the Commodores debatably the feel-good story of the college football season and A&M already having hosted (for Notre Dame) that feels like the right call.
