Lessons in Vanderbilt Football: NC State – Anchor Of Gold

That was one way to win a football game, and it made learning from this game much less painful for the soul.
Vanderbilt played an ugly first half against North Carolina State then clawed their way back to the NC State 16 with 1:04 left in the game. Down just 3 points due to Jared Curtis showing every bit of potential you would expect from a QB of his rating and a defense that settled enough to tread water, Curtis showed that he is still a freshman with a rough interception into double coverage at the 2-yard line.
What seemed like a backbreaking turnover was salvaged by a strong defensive effort to make the Wolfpack go 3-and-out. Then, one of the most insane endings you will ever see unfolded as State’s CJ Bailey scrambled in the end zone to kill the final 6 seconds of the game, but he held the ball too long and was hit by freshman Mason Lewis then Miles Caper forced the second most important fumble of his career for Cayden Daniels to pounce on for a touchdown.
The mantra that you would rather learn from an ugly win than any loss definitely rings true in this one. The team has a number of things to focus on and improve. The fans had concerns validated but may also have some reasons for optimism. And probably cause to get medication to regulate high blood pressure.
Speical teams can change games, and Vanderbilt has very good ones. Junior Sherrill and Martel Hight had the Wolfpack scared. Kickoff returns were mitigated by NC State mostly chipping the ball to up backs. Jaylen Stone had his 15ish yard return mitigated by the officials deciding he had given a fair catch signal. Maurice Veney had a 13-yard return on another kickoff. Punter Tyle Ebel had a couple mishits, but he still averaged 45.5 yards per punt and had a long of 54, which he accomplished twice. The first punt, a 47 yarder, was a bit low and returned 33 yards, but his history is stellar enough that a couple oddball punts are not enough to shake my faith. Brock Taylor had a boring day with just 5 PATs that were all made.
Jared Curtis owns this offense. He had his first start against the strongest competition yet and went 20 of 34 for 277 yards with 3 TDs and 2 INTs. He also carried the ball 12 times for 64 yards with a long of 19. The QBR is lower than expected at 49.1, but that may be heavily impacted by his 2 fumbles and aforementioned bad interception. The other pick was on a 3^rd and 15 where Curtis threw up a deep ball that functioned as a 48-yard arm punt. Rolling the dice on a completion or DPI in that scenario that far downfield is the right decision in my book. The arm is golden, and I could rave about 4 of 5 breathtaking throws. He made a lot of moves by pulling the ball down and taking off for carries on scrambles that avoided sacks and at least gained positive yards instead of having negative or no gain plays. He has to face an Auburn defense led by DJ Durkin that can be very nasty and has some freakish athletes.
Sedrick Alexander needs to touch the ball more. He had 7 carries for 53 yards with a long of 17. He had 9 carries for 39 yards against Delaware and 10 carries for 60 yards against Austin Peay. He is averaging 1.3 yards more per carry than the next best Commodore. Yes, MK Young was fine with 4 carries for 16 yards. Young has 20 carries for 78 yards (3.9 YPC) on the season. The decision to run Jamezell Lassiter up the middle on 3^rd and 1 was horrible. Lassiter is a useful back on the edges. He is not a player who needs to be trying to convert a short yardage run up the middle. Sometimes, OC Tim Beck does overthink himself. Feed Seddy unless there is some sort of injury concern.
The good news from last week is that Sherrill seemed to reign in the drops with only 1 ball that he maybe should have caught, and it was rifled high at him from close range on a jump pass. He had 6 catches for 108 yards and 2 TDs. Curtis clearly trusts him and for good reason. He may not be a prototypical SEC WR1, but he is a player that can be super reliable at his best, which is what a young QB needs.
The defense is … going to be tricky by doing a lot of different things? Against NC State, the plan was clearly to rush 4, sometimes 5, and make Bailey be efficient. When it worked, it really worked. When it failed, Bailey hit passes of 30 and 23 yards for TDs. He was 25 of 37 for 275 yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT. The problem was mostly communication breakdowns, such as the one that led to a free-runner on the 30-yard TD. The coverage also seemed a bit too soft for the number of men in coverage. With Hight, Daniels, and Matthews at corner, they should be able to play more aggressive than that. Jones is an elite cover safety, though probably best in zone. Heard is a bit less equipped in coverage but not awful. He was at fault for that TD though, when he missed the communication from Hight after being late on a motion.
To that point, the defense probably does need to simplify a bit. I love the way they want to use multiple and muddy blitz packages. They probably substitute too much and try to be too perfect with personnel at times and get caught rushing players on and off. Trust the guys you have on the field unless you are going to have time to make the changes without rushing and risking being out of position at the snap or trying to change coverages on a shift. The sub packages are probably lending themselves to being more predictable, which is never good.
The Cole Spence-less Tight Ends let me down. Jayvontay Conner was the only one with a reception for 9 yards. He also had a drop down the left sideline that was not terrible, but it is a play you want to make for a young QB. Spence is hopefully going to be back in some capacity today, but it is likely to be very limited. Conner has more to offer, and Walter Taylor’s athleticism may be a necessary piece against Auburn.
So, continuing off a question I asked last week, can the block shedding improve to get cleaner tackle opportunities? At contact, Vanderbilt defenders maybe missed 3 or 4 tackles all game. The problem, most obvious on a Will Wilson 38-yard TD run on 3^rd and 2. It was a QB power to the left that was totally walled up with NC State’s offensive line pushed a yard or two deep into the backfield, but no one got free of their blocker and overpursuit at the 2^nd and 3^rd level from linebackers and DBs left a cutback lane with no one in position to cut off the run before it hit paydirt. Just do your job. Even if no one got free to tackle Wilson cleanly, he would have had nowhere to go. Similar situations led to a few big plays.
Can the offensive line keep improving? Orion Irving slid down from tackle to guard with McConnell as Beu Johnson slotted in at tackle. The new 5 with Cade McConnell opposite Irving and Lyndon Cooper at center looked better. The biggest key is not making a bad rep worse. They committed 6 holding penalties. Most of them were not necessary to save the play. Just let it go unless it is going to be a huge hit on Curtis. He has shown enough escapability and awareness to handle all but completely free rushers. And, yes, 2 or 3 of the holds were … difficult to see.
What does SEC play look like for the Commodores? Auburn looks much improved, and they just lost a close one to Florida which suggests the Gators are not terribad again. Kentucky did beat Texas A&M. Missisippi State has an electric QB. The schedule is not nearly as soft as originally expected. The Commodores need to be competitive today for a chance at a bowl to stay alive. A loss does not sink the math, especially with Arkansas still looking like a should-be win. It does make the room for error much smaller. Being noncompetitive today will make every game, much less winning 4 of them, a massive uphill battle.
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Last minute learning…
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