Nashville, TENN – CJ Taylor said it would be different this year. There was a sense of confidence that Vanderbilt had nothing to lose. To begin the game, Tennessee was on the ropes. In the end, though, none of that mattered. Tennessee’s talent won out and proved Clark Lea’s program still has a ways to go to take the next step in the SEC. After going down 14-0 in the 1st quarter, Nico Iamaleava and Dylan Sampson stepped up in a big way to lift the Volunteers to a 36-23 win in Nashville.

Here’s how Clark Lea’s defense graded out:

What went right:

Clark Lea’s defense came into play to begin the game, but the play-action passing game torched the Commodore secondary as Nico Iamaleava started to settle in.

On Tennessee’s first offensive possession, CJ Taylor forced a Dylan Sampson fumble that Nick Rinaldi recovered. That set the offense up near the red zone, where they scored a touchdown to extend the early lead to 14-0.

Early in the 2nd quarter, Tennessee lined up for a 4th-and-1, but Miles Kitselman was stuffed at the line by De’Marion Thomas. That was a huge play from Vandy’s front to give the ball back to the offense. Before that, the Commodore defense made an important 3rd down stop as well.

That’s just about all that went right for the Vanderbilt defense the rest of the day, though.

What went wrong:

The Commodores started well in the first half, but were outscored 17-0 in the 2nd quarter as Tennessee went to the locker room at halftime with a 24-17 lead. Nico Iamaleava threw for 201 yards and 3 TD and found a groove to close the half. The Vols racked up 299 total yards in the 1st half and converted 3-5 third downs.

After Vandy extended the lead to 14-0, Tennessee responded with a quick 73-yard drive, capped by a TD catch from Dont’e Thornton. Jaylin Lackey was beaten in 1-on-1 coverage even though Vandy had eight men in the defensive backfield.

To make matters worse, Lackey was beaten again by Thornton late in the 1st half on an 86-yard TD from Nico Iamaleava. The Vols’ first two touchdowns were given up due to Lackey’s inexperience.

Tennessee got the ball to begin the 2nd half and marched 75 yards down the field to extend the lead to 31-17 early in the 3rd quarter. Since the beginning of the 2nd half, the Commodore defense had been getting completely gashed.

Then, to begin the 4th quarter, Tennessee ran nearly 8:00 off the clock to put the game away after a short field goal from Max Gilbert. The Commodore defense had their will taken away by Josh Heupel’s offense and Dylan Sampson.

Defensive MVP: CJ Taylor

The McMinnville native forced an early fumble that was recovered by Nick Rinaldi and finished with 9 total tackles on the day.

Final grade: D