I don’t have enough fingers on my hands to count how many things went wrong for the Commodores this Saturday in their Week 6 matchup with Ole Miss. And while the weather played a factor, I think you could’ve found more people in a ghost town than Vanderbilt fans in FirstBank to start the second half of play.
The truth is, you can’t win a football game if you beat yourself first. For Vanderbilt, that’s exactly what happened from the beginning of the contest.
Everything went wrong for the Commodores in this game. From wide open space for Heisman-hopeful quarterback Trinidad Chambliss to getting called for 11 penalties for 92 yards and an all-around unwillingness to go out and win the game — Vanderbilt has a lot to reflect on after this difficult-to-watch game.
Quite frankly, I’m surprised the team even came out of the locker room in the second half, after getting outscored 28-0 in the second quarter alone.
“Obviously really disappointed, not proud of the way our team played today,” head coach Clark Lea said in frustration in his postgame interview.
The Commodores just couldn’t find the right formula today. But have they even had a formula to go off of thus far this season?
I get people saying that Vanderbilt fans need to come back to the reality that a 10-win season, which they had last year, is not normal, but honestly, I disagree. After getting a taste of what this program could be over the past two seasons, it’s hard to be content with going back to getting run out of your own stadium.
With all of this being said, let’s take a look at what the Commodores served up this Saturday.
Coming into this game, Vanderbilt led the SEC in total penalties against them. Once again, penalties played a deciding factor in this game and hurt the Commodores in big moments. I think I speak for most Vanderbilt fans when I say that offensive lineman Clinton Azubike’s early penalty for punching an Ole Miss player was nothing other than stupid. This came after quarterback Jared Curtis and the offense put themselves in scoring position early, but that 15-yard personal foul penalty killed the drive and cost the team 4 points.
Later, after stopping Ole Miss on 3rd down, the defense was called for a similar disciplinary mistake in a shoving match, which led to another 15-yard penalty and an Ole Miss touchdown.
For whatever reason, the Rebels seemed to be in the heads of the players of Vanderbilt from the get-go, which still is not an excuse for drive-costing fouls.
“[We allowed] 32 points, 24 off turnovers, and 8 off undisciplined penalties,” Lea said. “We can play better…this group has more for it. Coaches, players, and staff have to work harder to find it.”
Lea summed it up perfectly. Ole Miss is not a team that needs help to win games. Giving them the opportunity to advance downfield off of mistakes decimates any momentum gained on both sides of the ball.
Now, some calls could be credited to whistle-happy referees, like Martel Height’s pass deflection in the end zone, which was ruled pass interference, and had FirstBank Stadium erupting in Boos. But this defense has guys who understand the system, and it’s not young guys committing these penalties.
As much as it hurts me to say this, you have to start looking inward if these problems continue to occur. At what point does it become a problem of the coaching staff not keeping both sides of the team disciplined for a big game? And you can’t even use the excuse of playing in a difficult road environment either — although more Ole Miss fans could be seen in the crowd in the second half.
If these mistakes are still occurring in the Black and Gold’s sixth game of the season, who knows what the second half of the year will look like if they can’t get it together.
Rebel quarterback Chambliss looked like he was playing recess football with D-1 receivers. The amount of open space Vanderbilt’s defense gave up allowed him to control the game and expose holes drive after drive on offense.
The Commodores allowed Chambliss to throw for 213 yards on 30 attempts, with 3 touchdowns in the air and one on the ground. There wasn’t a moment this game where he looked uncomfortable in the pocket, controlling not only the offense, but Vanderbilt’s defense as well.
This feels like a recurring conversation with Vanderbilt’s defense. Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton threw for 295 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Commodores last weekend, while NC State quarterback CJ Bailey also put up 275 yards in the air along with 3 touchdowns in Vanderbilt’s last home game.
These are guys who have been limited by other defensive units this season, and yet have shown out against Vanderbilt’s defensive scheme.
One argument you can make is that the Commodores’ secondary was playing back to prevent the Chambliss to Deuce Alexander connection, which has hurt opponents all season by not protecting the long pass. However, Chambliss still found Alexander five times for 74 receiving yards and a touchdown, as well as other receivers on 20-yard comeback routes in the open field.
On a positive note, CJ Heard continues to show why he is the leader of this defense, with an interception and four total tackles. His dominant presence on the field turned Chambliss’s head on many looks downfield, targeting the other side of the field. Heard continues to be a defining piece, but it makes it easy for him to stand out when the rest of the defense is hesitant to show up for big games.
Ole Miss continued to do things right and took advantage of everything the Commodores did wrong defensively. Yes, Ole Miss has talent on offense, but Chambliss has been known to become inaccurate when pressured. Consistently giving him five plus seconds in the pocket is a recipe for any Division I quarterback to create something downfield.
While Blaze Berlowitz held his own in Athens, it was nice to have Curtis back behind the line on offense. Despite this, the offense still had struggles getting into a groove.
It’s easy to look at this game on paper and think: What went wrong? But on offense, nothing really changed from what has been pointed out as weaknesses so far.
First, the offense ran the same three plays that it has made its bread and butter — but that recipe is getting bland fast. A run up the middle by Sedrick Alexander, followed by a jet sweep and an occasional short sideline pass to one of its receivers.
What was better this week was that fans got to see transfer wideout Ja’Cory Thomas finally look like himself, with three receptions for 60 yards and his first touchdown for the Black and Gold. When Curtis got to drop back and pass downfield, we yet again saw what he was able to do with his arm; we just didn’t see much of it.
Curtis continued his unlucky interception streak, though, with two interceptions coming off tipped balls near the line of scrimmage.
The frustration was visible from Curtis in this game, not from his own performance, but from a lack of effort from the offense. It’s hard for a highly-recruited quarterback used to winning to have to deal with mistakes, especially preventable ones. For fans, it doesn’t feel like we’ve seen a full game where Curtis has been able to show the nation what he can do when given full control.
I think the biggest questions from this game are put on offensive coordinator Tim Beck, and what he can do to not only diversify play calling, but give fans something to be excited about. The tailback Alexander continues to get the call to run the ball, but with doing that you leave a great, underrated back on the sidelines in MK Young.
And, it feels like the receiving core has yet to be used to its full potential. Thomas having a big game is something to be happy about, but on the other side, guys like Junior Sherrill and Cole Spence are not getting enough targets.
It’s easy to get tired of the same thing week after week, and ultimately, fans need new items on the menu, and fast.
With a quarterback like Curtis, he should be throwing the ball 60 plus times every game — not 32 times, when the run game can’t get a rhythm going.
“We got our ass kicked today,” Lea said. “[Vanderbilt] was exposed today, and left with a lot of uncertainties.”
The Black and Gold will have a lot to review this week, and look to bounce back into the winning column as they take on Arkansas next Saturday, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. CDT at FirstBank Stadium.
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