Seven Jarring Stats And Visuals From Vanderbilt Football's Blowout Loss To Ole Miss – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea declared that this is the easiest correlation between a box score and a result in his tenure. To him, this 52-17 loss to Ole Miss is simple. Vanderbilt finding a way to redirect this thing is more difficult, though. 
He repeated in his postgame press conference that Ole Miss doesn’t need help winning a game like this, but Vanderbilt did help it. As a result, he can’t stand up there and be surprised at how much this thing got out of hand. 
Here’s what Lea saw in the box score and a few jarring shortcomings from Vanderbilt’s loss. 
This is the easiest metric to correlate with Vanderbilt losing as badly as it did Saturday. Vanderbilt turned it over three times on offense Saturday and freshman running back Evan Hampton also fumbled a kick return deep in Vanderbilt territory and allowed Ole Miss to score a touchdown off of it. 
That’s 24 points that Vanderbilt’s defense really shouldn’t be at fault for, but is on the hook for. It’s entirely unacceptable and Vanderbilt won’t have a chance to win if it gets anywhere close to that again. 
The most concerning part here is that only one of the turnovers was easy to blame on Vanderbilt freshman quarterback Jared Curtis. One was on Junior Sherrill. Another was on Cole Spence. Those guys have heard the messaging before and know how detrimental those turnovers can be. They still couldn’t avoid them, though.
It doesn’t show up in the box score, but Lea also attributes an eight-point swing towards Vanderbilt’s penalties on Saturday. 
Even if he’s not fair to do so, Lea has a point in regard to how they impacted the game. 
Vanderbilt is the worst team in the SEC in regard to penalties and continued the trends surrounding it by committing 11 for 92 on Saturday. A number of those were also poorly timed and changed the outlook of certain drives. 
Lea was clear that he cares deeply for Clinton Azubuike and Jaylon Stone, but that they know their unnecessary roughness penalties are unacceptable and have no place in Vanderbilt’s program as a whole. 
“I’m sick about it,” Lea said. “In the moment, they have to find their discipline and both were retaliatory, but that's when we have to win the football game. This is what makes me upset is, we're not here to win the trash talking game.” 
Whether Vanderbilt won the trash talking game or not Saturday, it didn’t win the real thing. 
Vanderbilt didn’t have a chance after Ole Miss scored four-consecutive touchdowns after an early drive that stalled. 
That made the game 28-3 and killed Vanderbilt entering the half. 
If anything demonstrated how out of reach this thing was for Vanderbilt down the stretch, it was that Knight took the field for Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss from the first play of the fourth. 
Ole Miss took Vanderbilt seriously, but it clearly had no doubt in regard to the outcome of the game at that point. 
For as much as Vanderbilt talked up its offensive line this offseason, it’s sure been disappointing. 
Vanderbilt can’t seem to find a consistent rotation there. Is allowing entirely too much pressure, is committing penalties and isn’t helping to generate a strong run game. Saturday, Vanderbilt allowed three sacks and only allowed its rushers to gain 2.8 yards per attempt. 
A sad state of affairs in the stands
Sad state of affairs here at FirstBank Stadium. pic.twitter.com/BDNso3UFDw
Vanderbilt has to give them better than this. They were right to leave.
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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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