How a Subtle Personnel Change May Have Sparked Vanderbilt’s Defense against Kentucky

NASHVILLE — Entering Saturday’s game against Kentucky, Vanderbilt’s defense needed to find itself. Badly.

After a strong showing against Missouri on Oct. 25, the Commodores surrendered 34 points to a Texas offense that had been struggling to find its rhythm all season under quarterback Arch Manning. That Saturday, the Longhorn offense opened with a 75-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and never looked back. A late surge from Diego Pavia and the offense wasn’t enough to overcome the early deficit.

Nonetheless, the defense looked primed for a home bounce back against Auburn. Surely it could stifle a team that had just lost 10-3 to Kentucky and undergone a head coach and quarterback change, right?

Not exactly.

The Commodore defense allowed 38 points to the Tigers two weeks ago as quarterback Ashton Daniels diced up Vanderbilt’s secondary for 353 yards and 2 touchdowns — 143 of which went to star wideout Cam Coleman. Defensive coordinator Steve Gregory was left searching for answers and — despite a late stand in overtime — he failed to find them.

"We've had a tough couple weeks on defense," head coach Clark Lea said. "I think that has less to do with the people and more to do with organization."

If someone were to pinpoint Vanderbilt’s biggest weakness this season, they would probably land on the team’s pass defense. The Commodores came into Saturday’s contest ranked No. 14 in the SEC in passing yards allowed per game — a result of its oftentimes lackluster pass rush and cornerback play.

A lot of the secondary's underperformance has been a result of a reluctance to adapt its personnel usage. Martel Hight entered the season as Vanderbilt’s most highly touted cornerback, a title he claimed in addition to his contributions on offense as a wideout and on special teams as punt returner. But since his first quarter interception of Ty Simpson at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Week 6, Hight had been oftentimes outmatched down the field heading into Saturday's contest.

Meanwhile, Mark Davis — who’s finally back to full strength after an Achilles tear at the beginning of last season — has quietly emerged as one of the Commodores’ most impactful cornerbacks. The Florida native recorded four solo tackles and a TFL against Auburn en route to recording the team’s fourth best PFF grade.

Seeing the strong play of both Davis and Tennessee transfer Jordan Matthews inspired Gregory to deploy a four-man rotation at the outside cornerback position, a plan that came to fruition against Kentucky. Those two — paired with Week 1 starters Hight and Kolbey Taylor — form a suddenly much more imposing cornerback room that’s able to keep its legs fresh and energy high throughout the game. Sophomore Jaylin Lackey has also mixed in with the foursome, creating a unique formula in the secondary built on depth, trust, and energy.

"We're not selfish at all in our cornerback room," Hight said after the game. "We all trust each other — that's why it's a rotation like that. The growth in that room has been tremendous."

That formula finally showed its benefits this week, as the Commodores shut down the Wildcat offense — boosted by the secondary’s best game all season. Davis and Taylor got the start, playing the team’s first two drives, before Matthews and Hight played the next two. As a unit, the secondary limited Kentucky to 284 passing yards — a majority of which came in garbage time on Vanderbilt's third-string defense — and forced 3 interceptions.

"Defensively, we were organized, we communicated well, and we played with confidence," Lea said. "I don't want the [late fourth quarter] numbers to lose what I felt like was a really strong defensive performance. I thought we covered well, were able to disrupt the ball, and get turnovers."

It wasn’t just Davis and Matthews who were impactful, though. Hight and Taylor looked fresher than they have in weeks, with both players coming up with interceptions late in the first half. Perhaps pairing Davis with Taylor and Matthews with Hight in a rotational model was all the secondary needed to start clicking. It’s also part of Lea’s larger model to keep his team healthy and fresh late in the season — something he’s been preaching since training camp.

In addition to using his secondary in a more uniform distribution, Gregory rediscovered some of his creativity that worked so well early in the season against Virginia Tech and South Carolina. Randon Fontenette and Marlen Sewell were consistently playing down in the box, often blitzing Kentucky’s offensive line. Sewell got home to the Kentucky quarterback in the second quarter, recording his first sack of the season in his final game at FirstBank Stadium.

Vanderbilt's offense has proven to be one of the best units in the country, but if the Commodores want to beat Tennessee in Neyland Stadium next weekend and make a compelling case to the College Football Committee, its defense will need to play at a high level. Saturday was a huge step in that direction.

"We got back to some of the things we needed to do," Lea said.