NC State wasn’t going to kick, but Vanderbilt football ran its field goal block.
With six seconds remaining and the Wolfpack holding on to the ball leading by three, they kept their offense on the field. Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea assumed they planned to take an intentional safety, and he wanted to leave time on the clock for a safety kick.
What ensued was a once-in-a-lifetime victory for Vanderbilt. NC State quarterback CJ Bailey took the snap and tried to kill time in the end zone, but Commodores defenders swarmed him and edge rusher Miles Capers knocked the ball out. Cornerback Cayden Daniels recovered the fumble for the game-winning touchdown with one second remaining on the clock for a 35-31 victory Sept. 19 at FirstBank Stadium.
It was only the second time in the past 20 years that a team lost after leading with the ball in the final 10 seconds of a game.
Now the play, perhaps forever known as the “Fumble at FirstBank,” will go down as one of the most improbable wins in college football history.
“In a situation where 99.9% of people just assume that the game’s over, our defense went out there to win the game and found a way to get them down,” Lea said.
Wide receiver Junior Sherrill was praying on the sideline. Not seeing what happened, he was just hoping Vanderbilt (3-0) came away with the ball. Daniels saw everything. With Capers punching the ball out near him, Daniels pounced on the ball. He said he was surprised at the strategy the Wolfpack (1-2) took with their final play.
The win wasn’t immediate. The play was reviewed, then one second was put back on the clock where NC State attempted a lateral-laden kick return. Finally, the Commodores could celebrate.
“The game doesn’t end until they hit double zeroes,” linebacker Bryce Cowan said. “That’s just us as a defense playing through the whistle.”
When Lea took the podium for his postgame news conference, he didn’t want to talk about the celebration. Instead, he wanted to talk about all the sloppiness that got Vanderbilt to that moment. The Commodores were down 17-0 in the second quarter and trailed by 10 for much of the second half.
They finally had life after stopping an NC State fourth down in the fourth quarter, trailing 31-28. Lea thought his team was destined for a touchdown on that drive to win the game the traditional way. Jared Curtis, making his first career start as a freshman, had come alive after a shaky first half. In the second half alone, he made four completions of at least 25 yards, and he led the Commodores into the red zone with a little more than a minute to go.
But Curtis was intercepted at the 2-yard line, which almost secured the win for the Wolfpack.
Key word: Almost.
“I, with all my heart, thought that we were going to score a touchdown on the drive that got us close,” Lea said. ” . . . I went from thinking, ‘My gosh, for as bad as we played, we’re about to score and win this game.’ I had total faith and confidence that was about to happen, and then obviously you see the interception, and your heart just sinks.”
The Commodores committed 13 penalties, including five holding penalties, for 116 yards and committed three turnovers. They recorded just 132 rushing yards, 64 of which were from Curtis.
It was a special win for Lea, one he’ll remember forever. But it was also a mulligan, and he knows it.
“We can’t play that game again,” he said. “You get one of those probably in a lifetime, and I don’t know how many more of those I can handle.”
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
