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Brock Taylor didn’t know it on Tuesday as he stood in front of Vanderbilt’s promotional wall and spoke to the media for the first time since fall camp, but his appearance was foreshadowing.
Taylor is generally one of Vanderbilt’s more highly-desired speakers in that he’s thoughtful, insightful and is one of its better players on the roster, but there really wasn’t much to talk to him about. Everyone in the room knew that Taylor could change a Vanderbilt game with his leg, but he had yet to do so. It wouldn’t have been shocking if Taylor didn’t do that again as a Vanderbilt player.
He’d attempted just nine field goals and 21 extra points prior to his Tuesday press conference and had missed two of his nine attempts. Taylor vividly remembers the two misses, and probably had some memory of every attempt given how rare they’d been. He didn’t view that as a good thing. He was all but campaigning to the football gods to get more attempts when he took the podium Tuesday.
Taylor won’t say it, but his decrease in attempts is a direct result of Vanderbilt losing significant production and portions of its offensive identity that carried it towards being one of college football’s best offenses in 2025. Taylor was seemingly always needed a year ago, but in 2026 Vanderbilt has rarely ended drives with kicks and has scored significantly less than it did a year ago.
“Right now is kind of an interesting time. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little frustrated with the lack of attempts this season, which is nobody’s fault,” Taylor said Tuesday. “It’s unfortunate how things have turned out that way.”
Clearly the football gods heard Taylor and changed the trajectory of his season on Saturday as a result. Perhaps that’s an exaggeration, but Taylor changed the course of Vanderbilt’s Saturday win over Mississippi State Saturday after a quiet first eight weeks to the season. In the process, Taylor set Vanderbilt’s single-game record with five makes and added a sixth on for good measure.
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Taylor’s sixth make was a game-altering 55 yarder that took Vanderbilt’s lead from five to eight and loomed large as Mississippi State was forced to go for two and didn’t get it in its final offensive play of the game. If Taylor had missed from 55 yards, Mississippi State’s touchdown would’ve won the game.
It appeared as if Taylor wasn’t going to miss, though. Today was his day and he wasn’t going to let it get away from him.
“What do you say about Brock?” Lea said postgame. “Huge for him.”
In a career that’s likely already cemented Taylor as the best kicker in Vanderbilt’s program history, Taylor’s Saturday performance may be his best yet. When Taylor comes back, that’s the type of outing that will be read off over the FirstBank Stadium public address and will pop up on the screen. It’s one that will be in Vanderbilt’s record book for a number of years. But, Taylor insists that he’s here to help Vanderbilt win rather than building his own personal brand.
That brand grew Saturday, particularly because of where Vanderbilt would be without Taylor. Had he missed one, it would’ve left Starkville on a six-game losing streak wondering what was next. Now, it gets to celebrate. Taylor had real pressure on him Saturday, but he came through.
“I feel like my confidence is what really helps me at the end of the day,” Taylor said postgame, in the first postgame presser of his career. “I feel like I say control what you can control a lot and tonight, it was fun that a lot of those points were put in my hands. But, at the end of the day, I'm thankful for the win, this team deserved this win, and we’re excited to bring it back to Nashville.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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