Vanderbilt Bounces Back In Live-Period Filled Thursday Practice; Fall Camp Takeaways

Nashville–Vanderbilt appeared to be energized by its Wednesday off day as it took the field in pads again at FirstBank Stadium for plenty of live periods on Thursday morning and had as much parity between its offense and defense as it’s had to this point of camp.

Here’s a few takeaways and trends from the action.

Vanderbilt’s offense was really sharp around the end zone

For as much as Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea talked about Vanderbilt’s mental errors on the line of scrimmage and lack of “juice” in Tuesday’s practice, its quarterbacks appeared to consistently make the right decision with the ball in its goal line period. As a result, it appeared to win the period by a somewhat significant margin and had a loud celebration on the sideline after nearly every play.

Vanderbilt’s defense has appeared to come out on top of most of its early practices, perhaps Vanderbilt’s offense coming out and sticking it to the defense early on Thursday indicates that it could start having the edge in some of these practices eventually.

It’s natural that Vanderbilt’s defense has looked better than the offense to this point as a result of it having all of its installs in already, but perhaps the offense can catch up in the coming days.

It still seemed as if the defense won the day overall

It wasn’t as drastic as it’s been, but it felt as if between live periods and one on ones, Vanderbilt’s defense still appeared to win the day by a slim margin.

Vanderbilt’s offense didn’t appear to be as sharp as it was in the early period and its defensive linemen won their fair share of one-on-one reps.

All of that is natural at this stage and Tim Beck’s offense looks to be progressing, though.

Diego Pavia isn’t a practice hero, but the flashes are there more than they were last camp

Pavia had just a ‘so/so’ camp last fall and while this one hasn’t been wowing like his in-season play was last season, there’s still some magic mixed in.

The Vanderbilt quarterback is more built for game settings than non-contact practice ones, but Thursday demonstrated that he’s still taking the opportunities to run and gun a bit.

Pavia has turned it over more than some would expect, but as he’s intrenched in what he says is a quarterback competition he’s still moving his offense more than any other Vanderbilt quarterback.

Austin Howard is back in action

The highly-touted freshman linebacker from the Memphis area had been off to the side over the last few days and is now back in action.

Howard said in the winter that his his game is reminiscent of a “crash out” and that he is focused on maximum effort at all times.

He’ll have an uphill battle to playing time in a deep linebacker room, though.

One stock up receiver and one stock down receiver

Tre Richardson had one of his better days on Thursday as he often appeared to be open and had a few explosive plays mixed in.

The adjustment to Division-I football appears to be easier for Richardson as a result of his speed and he appears to be an immediate impact guy for Vanderbilt.

One of the plays he made at the end of practice left former Vanderbilt star Jordan Matthews strutting and putting his hands up.

Things haven’t been as smooth for Virginia Tech transfer Chance Fitzgerald as he’s acclimated to the SEC.

Fitzgerald has struggled to create separation at times and appears to be a step behind Vanderbilt’s top-end receivers.

Backup quarterback stock report

Berlowitz hasn’t been nearly as sharp as he was the first few days of camp and the thought that he’s turned the corner may have been a tad premature.

The junior quarterback still looks better than he did a year ago—and had perhaps the throw of the day along the sideline to Lebron Hill—but there are still times where he’s making Ill-advised decisions with the ball.

It still appears as if Berlowitz is clearly Vanderbilt’s backup.

Drew Dickey appears to be getting the most action of any quarterback not named Diego Pavia or Berlowitz, but has struggled to move the ball downfield throughout camp. He’s still the leader in the clubhouse as Vanderbilt’s third-string quarterback.

Vanderbilt’s three young quarterbacks seem to have had some reps cut, but if someone is going to challenge Dickey for the third-string spot it’s likely to be freshman Jack Elliott.

Elliott has still looked like a freshman that’s getting up to speed at times, though. That leaves the door open for sophomores Jeremy St. Hilaire and Whit Muschamp—both of which have flashed but haven’t appeared to gain a substantial amount of ground on Dickey.

Jaylin Lackey stands out

Lackey appeared to have his best day in coverage on Thursday and got his hands on the ball as a result of a lackluster route, as well.

The sophomore corner is competing for the starting role alongside Martel Hight and will likely see the field as much as any corner besides Hight.

If Lackey consistently does what he did on Thursday, Vanderbilt may have a chance to play more man than it has in the past.

Davin Chandler made his first substantial play of camp

Chandler stopped a significant gain by getting his hand on a ball and subsequently being congratulated by Marlen Sewell.

It was a right of passage of sorts for the freshman safety.

Marlon Jones also made a play on the ball in the same period.