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Vanderbilt football has started off hot on the road in its first game out of the bye week.
The Commodores are going into halftime with a 16-0 lead over Mississippi State in Starkville. It is the first time since Vanderbilt's win over Delaware in Week 2 that it has led by more than 10 points in a game.
The story of the game thus far has been the defense of Vanderbilt. The Commodores have put the clamps down on defense against Mississippi State thus far, forcing four consecutive three-and-outs and an interception for cornerback Jordan Matthews.
At halftime, Vanderbilt has allowed just 71 total yards and just one third down conversion. It has made life difficult for former Vandy quarterback AJ Swann. Swann has completed just seven of his 15 passes for 45 yards and an interception.
Vanderbilt started the scoring off late in the first quarter with a 38-yard field goal from Brock Taylor. Then, midway through the second quarter, the Commodores broke through into the end zone. It was a 13-play, 87-yard possession that ended in a rushing touchdown for running back Sedrick Alexander.
The rest of the quarter, Taylor got two more opportunities and knocked both field goals betwee the uprights.
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Offensively, Vanderbilt has put up 181 yards with almost 22 minutes of possession time. Five-star freshman quarterback Jared Curtis has thrown for 102 yards on 10-for-14 passing. As a team, Vanderbilt has ran for 79 yards on 29 rushing attempts.
Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea made it a point earlier this week that his team needed to run the football after rushing for just 15 total yards against Kentucky two weeks ago. Though it has not been the most eye-popping day in the run game, it is a step up from what it has been.
“It’s not about running the ball 40 times a game. This is about how do we find an efficient run game where we’re going for three or four yards where there’s identity and it’s physical,” Lea said.
Another encouraging sign thus far has been Vanderbilt's operational discipline. Through two quarters, the Commodores just have two penalties for 10 yards, a false start for the offense and offsides for the defense on a kickoff.
The Commodores are 30 minutes away from snapping its five-game losing streak.
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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