The Most Important Thing: Vanderbilt Football is Still Alive; Column

NASHVILLE—Ashton Daniels crossed the goal line in the south end zone of FirstBank Stadium and just like that, it was all in front of Vanderbilt football on Saturday. There it stood staring down a loss that would end its College Football Playoff hopes, a day that would represent the end of its magical run in which it never appeared to back off of the national stage. The death of all of its hopes and dreams appeared to be imminent.

To give in to the potential realities that faced it wouldn’t be like this Vanderbilt team, though.

This group of underdog fighters had to take a few heavy-handed blows on Saturday and was down 17-3 at one point, but was never down for the count. Whenever it appeared as if Auburn was finally nearing the separation it needed, Vanderbilt stayed in the fight. Whenever Vanderbilt needed to make a play in a big moment, they answered the call.

By the end of the day, Vanderbilt could’ve put together a montage of signature plays that could go on its season highlight reel when this is all said and done. How about Diego Pavia’s overtime touchdown pass to Cole Spence? How about Eli Stowers taking a shot over the middle, popping back up and getting back into the fight? How about Jaylin Lackey and Randon Fontenette letting everyone know what their defense did after the ball dropped and Vanderbilt secured a 45-38 win over Auburn? It’s a rolodex of moments that some within this program will remember forever, College Football Playoff or not.

“It feels like we're growing something here, which is exciting,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said. “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.”

This was the type of game that most borderline playoff teams bow out in, it had all the makings of a trap game. Auburn was fired up after a coaching change and a quarterback change. Vanderbilt was worn down and battling illness heading into one final fight prior to the bye week. But, it was strong enough to be celebrating by the end of this thing.

Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea says he’s got a “psychologically mature” team and isn’t hiding from the reality that the College Football Playoff is in front of it and that it’s got a small margin the rest of the way. It knew what was at stake. It wasn’t defined by the pressure it faced, though.

“We don't ignore that,” Lea said of the playoff situation. “We embrace it. I mean it, not even embrace it. I mean, that's our talk. Like we own that, because we've talked about it since January 7. So that's something we embrace, and we were striving for. And I said this to the team today in the hotel. I mean, that we're out of opportunities. I mean, everything's at stake, and the mission is winning. So if at some point we're dealt a blow, we'll still be on mission, but until otherwise, we're aiming for those playoffs, and that's important to us right now.”

Saturday’s game itself was among the most entertaining of the Lea era and had everything in it that has made college football the sport it’s become, but it’s the type of meaningful game that this Vanderbilt team has strived to play in for so long. The story of the night is that Vanderbilt was playing in a meaningful November game and found a way to win it.

That makes this thing all that much more fun the rest of the way. Vanderbilt’s games against Tennessee and Kentucky would’ve been deciders on what bowl game it could find itself in, instead it’s playing for a chance to something its school has never done; be in the field of 12 teams at the end of the season.

For now, it’s got reason to celebrate. This thing is about something bigger than what happened on Saturday night, though.

“We're in a position that our school hasn't been in in a while,” Stowers said on Tuesday. “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.”