Auburn, AL – On a day that saw Diego Pavia complete only 9 passes for a measly 143 yards, that was ultimately all the Commodores needed en route to a 17-7 win over Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium. That’s the first win at that stadium in school history and the first bowl trip for Vanderbilt since 2018. It wasn’t pretty, but Clark Lea’s defense did enough to stymie Auburn’s offense, here’s how they graded out.

What went right:

On the Tigers’ first possession, the Commodores got off the field after Langston Patterson laid a big hit on Auburn’s Jeremiah Cobb, forcing an early punt. Then, after Peyton Thorne missed a wide-open tight end in the middle of the field on the next possession, Linus Zunk sacked the Auburn quarterback to force another punt.

On the Tigers’ third possession, they were backed up at their own 1-yard line after a fantastic punt from Jesse Mirco. After a 1st-down conversion on a crossing route to KeAndre Lambert-Smith, the Commodores held on another 3rd down, forcing the 3rd-straight Auburn punt.

With 13:40 to play in the 1st half, Vandy’s defense forced a huge turnover on downs to give the ball right back to the offense after Pavia’s touchdown pass to AJ Newberry. Then, with 3:42 left in the half, the Commodores’ defense stood tall once again, forcing another Auburn punt.

The Commodore defense held strong throughout the entirety of the 3rd quarter and was aided by phenomenal punting from Jesse Mirco. As Auburn got the ball back to begin the 4th quarter, Hugh Freeze called a wide receiver pass, but it was blown up by Randon Fontenette to force an Auburn punt.

Throughout the second half, the Commodores’ defense made 3rd down stop after 3rd down stop and forced the Tigers into two missed field goals. Without today’s defensive effort, Vandy would not have had the opportunity to secure their first-ever win at Jordan-Hare Stadium. They held the Tigers to 2-13 on 3rd downs and finished with three sacks on Peyton Thorne. Those sacks came from Miles Capers, Khordae Sydnor, and Aeneas DiCosmo.

What went wrong:

Overall, there wasn’t a whole lot that went wrong for the Commodores on defense. They might have given up some chunk plays, but they came up with just enough stops to hold down the Auburn offense.

On Auburn’s first possession, De’Rickey Wright went down after making a tackle on Auburn’s Malcolm Simmons and went to the injury tent.

With 6:45 to play, Auburn capped an 11-play, 8-yard drive with a 30-yard touchdown from Peyton Thorne to tight end Rivaldo Fairweather. The tackling issues flared up on that drive, which featured a big 4th-down conversion for the Tigers.

That was all she wrote for the Auburn offense and the Commodores’ defensive effort catapulted the first bowl trip since 2018.

Defensive MVP: Randon Fontenette

Once again, the Texas native came up big in several key moments for Clark Lea’s defense. He finished with 3 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, and 1 PBU against a struggling Auburn offense. In particular, stuffed Auburn’s attempt at a wide receiver pass in a big moment during the 2nd half.

Final grade: B+