Don't Count Out Maturity in Vanderbilt Football's Rise; Column
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NASHVILLE—-One more misstep, one shred of discouragement or one more stupid mistake and this thing would’ve been all but out of reach. The margin that Vanderbilt had created for itself as it trailed 20-10 to Auburn at halftime was seemingly nonexistent.
A select group of teams–including past teams coached by Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea–would have flinched at the level Auburn was playing at and let this thing get out of hand. A weaker group would’ve thought ‘here we go again’ after Auburn stalled its comeback and went up 30-24 in the second half. Not this one, though.
This one is too old for that, it’s got too many guys that have been counted out throughout the entirety of their careers, it’s got too many guys that have won games like this before. Auburn played perhaps its best game of the season on Saturday, but it ran into the wrong team.
“It takes a lot of maturity,” Vanderbilt linebacker Bryan Longwell said of Saturday’s comeback win. “I think in other years, past years we would’ve cracked under that first half. I think it takes a strong mentality to be able to rally back from all the combos that they landed on us early in the game. I think it really shows as a testament to how much we’ve grown as a program and how much we trust and believe in each other.”
The journey that this Vanderbilt team is on these days is as much a mental one as it is a physical one. Each week it fights the battle of not getting too high on itself as a result of accomplishing what this program hasn’t over the years and not becoming too humble as to diminish the edge that it’s built up through its experiences over the years.
This same core group lost a mental battle to itself last season as it chipped away at itself prior to a stunning loss to Georgia State with players showing up to meetings late and not approaching the week with the proper intensity. It appears as if they’ve learned from their mistakes and the experiences they’ve developed as well as anyone could’ve hoped to this point.
When there’s a chance for a letdown game, Vanderbilt comes out and blows whatever overmatched opponent out of the water. When things aren’t going its way offensively, it finds a way to grind it out in low-scoring games. When it becomes a shootout like it did Saturday, this team responds to that by winning the race to 45.
“I've got a psychologically mature team,” Lea said after Vanderbilt’s win over Auburn. “These guys are never daunted. The moments, never too big for them. They're never down. They stayed focused, and they found a way to gut it out and win on a tough night. So, I'm proud of them.”
Perhaps the most telling stat–albeit coincidental–is that Vanderbilt is 2-0 this season in games that it trailed 20-10 at halftime. The first of which came in Blacksburg when it went down early to Virginia Tech, let the crowd get into it and didn’t appear to have all that much in front of it. By the end of the night, it had imposed its will on the Hokies, broke their spirit and had cleared out Lane Stadium.
Those who saw Vanderbilt at its worst in Saturday’s eventual win were never naive enough to fully count it down when it was down 17-3 and went into the half down 10, but the doubt naturally started to seep in. A College Football Playoff berth was on the line and this group’s back was against the wall. It had to find some magic to keep itself alive.
“If at some point we're dealt a blow, we'll still be on mission,” Lea said. “But, until otherwise, we're aiming for those playoffs, and that's important to us right now.”
What’s important to Vanderbilt on Monday–as it works to recover physically at the beginning of its bye week–is the same kind of things that were important to it on Saturday morning. Its aspirations haven’t changed. All it’s got to do in order to get itself into the 12-team field is pick up two more wins.
A younger team that couldn’t handle the pressure of that likely wouldn’t have its situation brought up by its head coach, but Lea believes his team has earned the opportunity to be addressed as a playoff hopeful. He believes he’s got a group mature enough to be confronted with everything that could be ahead of it.
It’s walking and talking like it can handle that.
“We're in a position that our school hasn't been in in a while,” Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers said. “I think that we understand that, and it's not necessarily putting pressure on us, but we know that we have a responsibility to take care of every single week, every single day, and we're trying to attack every single day like that.”
_(1)-b3e453dfe426b2dd4b83a12540ebdb37.jpeg "Joey Dwyer")
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, Southeastern 16 and Mainstreet Nashville.
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