Vanderbilt Football Can Play Spoiler, But Has Bigger Business to Attend To; Column
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NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt never led as it pushed back and fourth with an eventual College Football Playoff Texas team last season, but it appeared to prove something that day. That Vanderbilt team–although it finished 7-6–looked like it belonged on the same field with that Texas team–which most appeared to believe was well out of Vanderbilt’s league.
That Vanderbilt team looked like it could hold up on the line of scrimmage and was a play or two away from pulling an upset akin to the one it did against No. 1 Alabama, but didn’t have quite enough juice to find a way to win that game on that day.
A year later, it appears to be in a position juxtaposing the one it was in a season ago. This Vanderbilt team appears to believe it’s a downhill train heading toward the College Football Playoff, it’s got to go 3-1 the rest of the way in order to secure a spot in the field. Texas is fighting for its proverbial lives and its home field advantage on Saturday as 1.5-point favorites, but the momentum that this Vanderbilt team has heading into Austin is reminiscent of the feel around Steve Sarkiaian’s team a year ago.
Vanderbilt left FirstBank Stadium dejected that day because it knew it had a chance to win. Now, it’s working to remember the feeling it had as it walked out of the building. Most of its players won’t have another chance to avenge it.
“I feel like this year is gonna be a different outcome,” Vanderbilt STAR Randon Fontenette said. “It was heartbreaking losing by three, it was a tough game, man.”
This one will be tough in its own way for this Vanderbilt team. All of its dreams and hopes are out in front of it as it heads to Austin, but it’s got to be disciplined enough to be sharp against this Texas team. The idea that Texas is down doesn’t account for the loads of NFL talent it’s got filling the two-deep as well as the ability it has to turn this around as a result of having its back against the wall.
Saturday means something for Texas in that if it loses, its playoff dreams will be dead. It’s a big game in that regard, but a bigger deal for Vanderbilt in that it’s got a chance to continue its torrid pace through the SEC and make its margin for error significantly bigger down the stretch of SEC play. A normal Vanderbilt team would be concerned with playing spoiler, but this one has bigger buisness to tend to than that. Vanderbilt has earned a stage like this, now it gets to make an effort toward taking advantage of it.
“Exciting matchup to go down to what's a great college football environment against a really talented Texas team,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said. “We’ve played to a level that's put us in position to play in some really exciting games and obviously this one's incredibly meaningful for so many reasons, but the most significant is that it's two good teams and it gives us a chance to keep aim towards our long term goals.”
Texas will look to force Vanderbilt to play left handed offensively behind its No. 3-ranked rush defense and will look to exploit what a few SEC teams have appeared to believe is a weakness in Vanderbilt’s secondary, but it’s a test that Vanderbilt appears to be ready for at this point.
Time for this group of “misfits” to go find a way to win again. They did it a few times last season, but this group has weathered the storm nearly every time it’s come. It’s won pretty, it’s won ugly, it’s won when it probably shouldn’t have won.
It’s also got a knack for revenge.
“Watching back to film last year from the game, they definitely gave that game away to them,” Vanderbilt offensive lineman Isaia Glass—who joined the Commodores this summer as a transfer from Oklahoma State—said. “I know we're gonna do everything in our power to take the game over this year and not let that happen again, for sure.”
_(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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