Vanderbilt Football Stock Exchange After Week 4 Loss to Auburn – si.com

In this story:
It was certainly not the result Vanderbilt football was hoping for on Saturday. The Commodores went down to Auburn for their SEC opener, but lost to the Tigers by a score of 21-15 for their first loss of the 2026 campaign.
It was a game where Vanderbilt had its chances to make another double-digit comeback but it was unable to capitalize each time Auburn left the door open. The Commodores offense had a lack of consistency from the start despite the defense playing arguably its best game of the season thus far.
With Vanderbilt turning its focus to Georgia, it is time for the post-Week 4 Vanderbilt football stock exchange, where we recognize guys to buy stock in going forward and mention others who need to be better next game.
Vanderbilt’s tight end is back, at least he was in a more limited role against Auburn Saturday. Regardless, Cole Spence made his first appearance of the 2026 against the Tigers and even contributed in the box score. Spence had two catches for 18 yards in Vanderbilt’s loss on his two targets.
The important thing is that Spence was on the field. Even though he did not play that many snaps, he still made a good effort to make an impact in the game. Do not worry, though, because that will almost certainly be the smallest workload Spence will get the season. From here on out, expect Spence to get more game reps in the near future as he gets back to normal after suffering an injury shortly before the regular season began.
Spence’s stock is going up not just for the simple fact that he played his first game of the season, but also because he has to be productive if Vanderbilt wants to make great strides as a team. Spence is a glue guy for Vanderbilt’s offense. A player that can serve as a safety blanket to quarterback Jared Curtis or a guy that can block when he needs to.
Spence is too important of a player for Vanderbilt offense to be without. Part of the reason the Commodores have been out of sync offensively at times this season is because they have been without Spence's veteran presence and leadership in the huddle.
Spence’s imprint on games will only increase.
Accuracy-wise, Curtis has been better. He went 22-for-33 passing for 199 yards and was tied for running back MK Young for most rushing yards on Vanderbilt with 46.
But the most encouraging thing about Curtis going forward is the fact that he did not make the big mistake against Auburn like he did against NC State, which ultimately did not turn out to haunt him. Curtis was credited with one interception, but it was a Hail Mary attempt to end the first half, which was an inconsequential play.
Curtis did what he could to will Vanderbilt to a comeback. He helped get Vanderbilt in position to make it a six-point game with 6:26 to go, plenty of time to get a stop and a score to win the game. Where Curtis can help things going forward is to get Vanderbilt off to a faster start offensively, however, that is not entirely up to him. 
Curtis developed, matured and went through the growing pains of learning how to win along with his teammates. Despite the loss, that is nonetheless a piece of encouragement the rest of the season.
Vanderbilt’s defense was good enough to win this game. After seeing the Commodores through three weeks, there was little bit of concern about how Vanderbilt would hold up defensively. It did an overall good job to calm those concerns,
Just 14 points were allowed by Vanderbilt’s defense in a game the offense needed the defense to have a good night. Saturday was much more like the defense Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea was hoping to see coming out of fall camp. With that, the Vanderbilt’s defense stock does go up,
The one thing Vanderbilt’s defense that has to get better is third down. Auburn succeeded on seven of its 15 third down attempts. That’s a little under 50%. If it can win on the early down and set up ideal key down situations, there will be even more reason to buy into Vanderbilt’s defense 
Vanderbilt is a program that prides itself on how much special teams has an impact on its games. Whether it’s the kicking game, punting game or elsewhere, the Commodores had too many miscues against the Tigers.
It missed a field goal, ran an unsuccessful fake punt and had a punt blocked for an Auburn touchdown. Not only did it give Auburn a free seven points, but the missed field goal also took three points away from Vanderbilt. Luckily for the Commodores, the failed fake punt did not cost them anything but it nonetheless a mistake they do not want to make going forward.
The other two plays are 10 very important points in a game that was decided in the margins. Had those two plays gone Vanderbilt’s way, there would be a much different conversation on where Vanderbilt could still go this season.
Clark Lea has a lot of trust in his special teams coaching staff. He will have to trust that the errors that occurred Saturday will not happened again.
Vanderbilt side receiver Brycen Coleman did not catch a single pass against Auburn. He was onto targeted one time. That is an issue for a guy that was listed as the No. 2 starting receiver on the depth chart. 
This is not the first time Coleman has been on the “Stock Down” column. It has been a concerning trend for not just Coleman but the entire Vanderbilt receiver room not named Junior Sherrill.
The Commodores need to give serious help to Sherrill and Curtis in the wide receiver room. The fact that Sherrill is the only one in the room that is consistently putting a notable mark on the game is something that simply has to change. It does not matter who steps up, but Vanderbilt needs someone else to step up to help Curtis and the offense.
Maybe this is nitpicky, but Vanderbilt’s third down execution is not where it needs to be on both sides of the ball,
Against Auburn, Vanderbilt’s defense allowed Auburn to convert seven of its 15 third down attempts. On top of that, Vanderbilt’s offense went 4-for-17 on third down. Now it did go 4-for-5 on fourth down and there does have to be some credit given there. But Lea knows his offense cannot rely on going for it on fourth down five times a week to move the chains.
The lack of third down execution is an indication that Vanderbilt is allowing it’s opponents to get ahead of the sticks early on. And the same can be said for the offensive execution on third down. A 4-for-17 conversion rate that consists of plenty of third-and-long situations shows Vanderbilt's offense has to be more consistent on first and second down.
If Vanderbilt can do that, both the offense and defense will start to round into form and plug some holes it has faced through four weeks.
Follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest news
Loading recommendations… Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations
Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
© 2026 ABG-SI LLC – SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ABG-SI LLC. – All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Sports Illustrated or its affiliates, licensees and related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER.

source