Inside Vanderbilt Football's Game-Saving Stop in Win Over LSU

NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt’s defense was huddled on the home sideline as it came on. “I can feel it in the air tonight,” Phil Collins sang over the Vanderbilt loudspeakers as its defense’s highlights played on the videoboard in the north end zone as to indicate something significant was looming.

LSU’s offense–which had played uncharacteristically well on Saturday–had a chance to tie this thing as it took its first snap with 4:40 to go in Saturday’s matchup at FirstBank Stadium. For a second it felt as if Collins’ declaration that something was in the air could apply to LSU’s imminent comeback that was going to be sparked by its upcoming drive.

Vanderbilt didn’t appear to be all that rattled, though.

“Just attack,” Vanderbilt defensive end Khordae Sydnor said. “Just get after them in the pass rush, keep the cage and you saw it. We hit home and the whole group was just relentless at the end.”

In the ensuing downs, Vanderbilt forced a three and out and all but sealed its eventual 31-24 win over Brian Kelly’s LSU team. The Commodores hadn’t converted on a moment like that against this program since 1990.

This was their moment, though. They weren’t letting LSU back into this thing.

“It was huge,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said of the stop. “I thought the way the defense held the line there at the end was courageous. It represented our program, and it was their moment to shine, and they stepped up and did that. And so again, credit to them and Steve Gregory and that staff. I'll go back to what we talked about this as a game of action, a game of response. They responded the right way and stepped into belief and were able to shut down a really talented opponent in a moment when we needed them.”

It wasn’t always smooth sailing for this Vanderbilt defense–which gave up more points to LSU than any FBS team had to this point–but it opened the final drive it was on the field by forcing LSU receiver Zavion Thomas to lose three yards on the opening play of the drive, only allowing Thomas a five-yard reception on the following play and forcing an incompletion to Nashville native Barion Brown on 3rd and 8.

As a result LSU was forced to punt and to bet on its defense getting it the ball back with two timeouts in its pocket. Vanderbilt’s offense ultimately paid its defense back for its favor by going 54 yards and eventually kneeling it out.

It was complementary football at its finest and an exclamation point on Vanderbilt’s first win over an AP Top 25 opponent this season. It feels as if the moment says something about its defense, in particular.

“Our identity on defense is we're gonna make them every blade of grass on that field,” Vanderbilt cornerback Jordan Matthews said. “We have to do it in the run game, pass game, it really doesn't matter.  So we're just playing hard every snap, and it really meant a lot to this game.”

It meant enough on Saturday that Vanderbilt’s defense embodying its identity allowed it to leave FirstBank with a win as 2.5-point favorites and declare that “this is a new Vandy,” rather than explaining how it let one slip away. Yet again, this Vanderbilt team proved those words to be true.

Turns out a stop was in the air.