Quarterback Mike Wright ran for 163 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 146 and two more, as the Commodores blew out Hawai'i, 63-10, at the TC Ching Athletics Complex in Honolulu, Hawai'i on Saturday.

Vanderbilt had 601 yards of offense, including 404 rushing. It also had two defensive touchdowns.

The Commodores exploded for five third-quarter touchdowns, which included one defensive score. They rushed 12 times for 211 yards in that quarter.

That spurt began when Vandy took a 28-10 lead just 56 seconds into the second half on Rocko Griffin’s 10-yard run.

Ray Davis added a 16-yard scoring run with 9:39 left in the third quarter.

Vandy extended the lead to 31 when Elijah McAllister forced a fumble on Hawaii’s next series, which CJ Taylor returned for a 14-yard TD.

Less than three minutes later, Wright raced left for an 87-yard touchdown for a 49-10 lead.

On the next trip, he hit Will Sheppard with a 15-yard touchdown throw.

Vanderbilt led 21-10 at half, as the Commodores started to take control of the game late in the first quarter after starting slowly.

Hawaii scored on the game’s opening drive when Dedrick Parson scampered for a 37-yard touchdown over right tackle. Vandy tied with with 36 seconds left in the first quarter when the Commodores caught Hawaii napping on second-and-goal from the UH 1. The Rainbows neglected to cover Sheppard and Wright made an easy toss for a score.

On Hawaii’s next snap, safety Max Worship popped Parson and Anfernee Orji caught the deflection and sprinted 32 yards for a score.

The Rainbows answered later in the quarter with Matthew Shipley’s 40-yard field goal, but the Commodores answered with Wright’s 1-yard TD run with 6:01 left before the half.

1. Intensity and resiliency were there. Those were both points of emphasis for this season, and (and you can see it in the game thread here) when Vandy fell behind 7-0 in a flash, all the bad memories of last season came rushing back--especially as the offense committed some avoidable penalties right after that.

Instead, the Commodores re-grouped and took care of business, and put its foot on the gas (and kept it there until things were obviously out of hand). Yes, Hawai'i is bad team playing under horrible circumstances, but the Commodores know a thing or two about that also. And because of that, Saturday made something of a statement on Vandy's end, too.

2. Sometimes you make your own breaks, and sometimes some drop in your lap. With Vanderbilt just having tied the game at 7 inside the first half’s final minute, Worship hammered Parson, the ball popped loose and Orji made a nice 32-yard touchdown run down the left sideline.

Vandy got another one almost identical to that in the second half when Elijah McAllister popped Parson and again, the ball popped right up into Taylor’s hands for another score.

Those are the kinds of plays winning teams make, and the kinds of plays the defense hasn’t delivered in recent years.

But sometimes winning teams get breaks, too, and the Commodores absolutely got one on another first-half scoring drive.

Fresh off a declined holding penalty that would have put Vandy in fourth-and-long, the Commodores went for it on fourth-and-6 at the Hawaii 9. Wright targeted covered receiver Devin Boddie about three yards short of the sticks and threw it high, but Jayden McGowan slid and caught it just before it hit the turf at the UH 1. One play later, Wright ran in for a score and Vandy led by 11.

3. Wright's a bigger headache as a runner than he was a year ago. Everyone knows Wright's fast, but he showed some wiggle and change-of-direction skills on Saturday that the coaches tried to instill in his game this year. The stat line says it all, and Vandy's junior quarterback helped the team to such a huge lead that he was done by the end of the third quarter.

4. Vanderbilt had no turnovers.

5. Griffin turned in a huge play before he left with an apparent injury, but then came back for another big one. Griffin’s 34-yard run got Vandy inside the 10 and led to the Commodores’ first touchdown of the season. Unfortunately, he exited sometime in the second quarter, with Chase Gillespie getting some time in his absence. Griffin came in after Ray Davis’s long run to start the second half and dashed 11 yards and then 10 for a score on the next carry.

6. Ray Davis started the second half with a huge momentum play. Davis wasn’t as big a factor in the first half as I’d have guessed (four carries, 15 yards) but took a pitch right from Wright and scampered 41 yards. Perhaps Davis could have powered through to the end zone from traffic but instead he was horse-collared and brought down at the Hawaii 36, which became the 21 after the 15-yard penalty.

7. Vanderbilt ran some up-tempo offense early. I wasn’t sure how much the Commodores would do that given I suspect a run-oriented, low-possession game might not suit them. But we saw it in the first quarter with some success.

8. Several first-year freshmen played. This list probably isn't comprehensive, but I saw (or saw listed on the stat sheet) Jeffrey Ugochukwu, Darren Agu, Langston Patterson, Gillespie, McGowan, BJ Diakate, Jameson Wharton and Ja'Dais Richard.

9. Where was Patrick Smith? Smith was slated to be the Commodores' second running back, but was not among the four Vanderbilt running backs registering a carry on Saturday.

10. There were some offensive line shifts early. Notably, Jacob Brammer subbed for right tackle Bradley Ashmore about midway through the first half, and Junior Uzebu also got some snaps at left tackle for Gunnar Hansen about the same time.

11. As expected, true freshman AJ Swann was the backup quarterback. Swann entered the game late in the third quarter with a 46-point lead.

12. Backup offensive lineman Jake Ketschek left the game late with an apparent injury. Ketschek limped off the field in the fourth quarter, hopped on a golf cart and headed to the locker room. Here's hoping that's not the case, and we wish him a speedy recovery if so.

13. Wide receiver Quincy Skinner also pulled up lame late with what the TV crew felt was a hamstring issue. Skinner saw some time early and looked like an impact player when he was in.