Vanderbilt Football Game Ends With Weather Delay

Coaches of Vanderbilt and Austin Peay agreed to end the game a couple of minutes early.

Sep 5, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea looks on from the players tunnel before a game against the Austin Peay Governors at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

NASHVILLE -- The result of Vanderbilt football's game against Austin Peay ended up being called a couple of minuntes early due to weather.

With two minutes and 16 seconds remaining, Austin Peay had the ball on its own 25-yard line before a lightning strike reported in the area, prompting a 30-minunte weather delay between the two teams. At the time of the lightning strike, Vanderbilt had a 28-9 lead.

About five minutes after the initial delay was announced, Vanderbilt football head coach Clark Lea and Austin Peay head coach Jeff Faris agreed to end the game early, forfeiting the final 2:16 of the game. As a result, the Commodores earned a 1-0 start to the 2026 season with a victory over the Governors.

It was a slow start to the season offensively for Vanderbilt. The Commodores scored just two offensive touchdowns during the whole game. The first came in the later stages of the first half, where Blaze Berlowitz kept the ball on a quarterback draw and ran it in the end zone for seven yards for a touchdown.

Then, in the middle of the third quarter, Vanderbilt running back Sedrick Alexander dodged a couple of defenders at the line of scrimmage on fourth down and ran 18 yards to the end zone for Vanderbilt's second offensive score of the day.

All in all, Vanderbilt finished the game with 396 yards of total offense. Wide receiver Junior Sherrill led the pass catching corps with four receptions for 70 yards while Alexander led the rushing attack with 60 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

Defensively, Vanderbilt also got off to a slow start but it picked up quickly. Despite Austin Peay going down the field on its first offensive possession for a touchdown, the Commodores quickly put a stop to the Governors' momentum shortly after. Vanderbilt allowed just 176 yards to total offense. Vanderbilt safety CJ Heard and linebacker Nick Rinaldi led the defense with six total tackles each.

"I hopen that's the worst game we play all season. It was sloppy. We had played a little carless in the first half on defense. In the second half I think we had three consecutive three-and-outs defensively. Credit to them for stepping up. Like I said it's hard to win. That's a good team to play against. I'm excited to get this one past us to celebrate, but more importantly, to turn the page to Delaware," Lea said.

Vanderbilt will be back in action next week when the Commodores host Delaware at 3:15 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

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