Call it “The Music City Miracle: Vanderbilt Edition.” Call it “The West End Wonder.” Call it whatever you want.
Vanderbilt football will call it a victory that they didn’t necessarily deserve but got anyway in one of the wildest endings to a Commodores game in program history.
His team down by three points, edge Miles Capers forced a fumble in the N.C. State end zone that cornerback Cayden Daniels recovered for a touchdown with 1 second remaining in what turned out to be a 35-31 victory on Sept. 19 at FirstBank Stadium.
It was Vanderbilt’s only lead of the game.
“I’m speechless,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said afterward. “I’ve never been part of a game that’s ended that way.”
The play came not long after freshman quarterback Jared Curtis threw an interception with his team in field goal range. Curtis, though, finished 20-for-34 for 277 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for a team-best 64 yards.
The win pushed Vanderbilt’s record to 3-0. The Commodores will face Auburn on the road in their SEC opener on Sept. 26.
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina.
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