Commodores Offense Must Improve Drastically in 2020

In Football you win as a team or lose as one, but for the Vanderbilt Commodores in 2020, the offense must improve if the win total is to do likewise.

There is visible room for improvement for the Vanderbilt Commodores football team in every aspect of the game entering the 2020 season, but one unit must make drastic improvement of it will be a long season.  

When reviewing 2019, there wasn't much that went right, or that was worth remembering outside the upset win over Missouri at Vanderbilt Stadium, giving the Commodores their lone conference win of the season. 

Only twice in 2019 did the Commodores offense surpass the 400-yard mark in a game, and four times over 300 yards. 

Their offensive rankings nationally tell the story of how weak this unit was last season, even with three of the most productive offensive players in school history as part of it. 

• Scoring Offense- 16.5 ppg, National Rank 125
• Points Per Play - 0.27,          National Rank 125
• Total Offense-  297 ypg,     National Rank 124
• Yards Per Play- 4.8               Nationa Rank 122
• Rushing Offense- 125 ypg,  National Rank 113
• Yards Per Carry- 4.1             National Rank 81
• First Down YPC- 5.2             National Rank 33
• Explosive Rush- 6.0              National Rank 53 
• Pass Offense-172 YPG         National Rank 115
• Yard Per Att.- 5.4                  National Rank 128
• QB Rating- 102                    National Rank 127
• TD/INT Ratio- 1.0                National Rank 119
• Explosive Pass- 4.5              National Rank 125

There are 130 teams ranked in D-I, meaning that the Commodores were in the bottom five teams nationally in five of 13 categories and the bottom 20 in 10 categories. 

The Commodores broke into the top one hundred in three categories, and that was almost entirely attributable to running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn, which is why he was a third rounds selection in the NFL Draft. 

While replacing Vaughn will be tough, finding a quarterback who can make plays in the passing game is the number one order of business for new offensive coordinator Todd Fitch. 

According to the numbers Fitch posted with Louisiana Tech in 2019, the Commodores should be a more pass-heavy offense in 2020, if of course, one of the four quarterback candidates can step in and fill the role.