In the wake of a rainy, 35-point home defeat that was barely competitive, I’m going to offer an outrageous take about Vanderbilt’s slumping football team:
These Commodores aren’t this bad.
No, really. They’re not.
They have respected coaches and seasoned players who understand what success in the SEC entails, because they’ve done it. They won 10 games last season. A track record of success isn’t something Vanderbilt football has often boasted, and this team can.
Here's another thing Vanderbilt hasn’t often had: Talent.
But these Commodores, they have talent, too. They have a five-star quarterback with an NFL arm. They have formidable skill guys on offense. They have proven veterans on defense. Special teams look more strength than weakness.
People
elsewhere are going to see a lopsided 52-17 score against No. 11 Ole Miss, and they aren’t going to believe any of the above. Because they'll just assume that these are the same hopelessly overmatched Commodores who stunk it up before Diego Pavia, and lo and behold, they are predictably smelly again without him.
Who could argue? All that matters is what the scoreboards say, and Vanderbilt has lost its past three SEC games by a combined 65 points. Most troubling is how these Commodores are getting worse, not better. Evidence of that was as irrefutable during a mistake-filled loss to Ole Miss as it was inexcusable.
Vanderbilt football is underachieving.
Which, somehow, feels a lot worse than simply not being talented enough.
“We haven't felt this way in a while,” said Vandy coach Clark Lea, still smarting from the defeat. “What’s different is because we can play better. Early on in my time here, we were doing the best we could. This group has more for it. …
“We have the ability to make that a tight game. We have the ability to separate at some point and win it. What we can't do is play an undisciplined brand of football.”
For all that Lea has accomplished in building up his alma mater’s football program, this season hasn’t been his best. It is trending toward being his worst, in fact. These Commodores are an undisciplined mess. They turned the ball over four times against the Rebels, including two fumbles late in the first half to gift the Rebels a 42-3 lead.
Entering this weekend, Vanderbilt had the most penalties (45) of any team in the SEC, and that was before they logged 11 against Ole Miss, including a couple of crushing flags that allowed this game to get away quickly.
Offensive lineman Clinton Azebuike and defensive lineman Jaylon Stone each were penalized for unnecessary personal fouls via post-play scuffles in the first half. The first cost Vandy’s offense a likely touchdown. The second nullified a key third-down stop by Vandy’s defense and put Ole Miss’ offense back on the field to score a TD.
“I love Clinton, and I love Jaylon. That's unacceptable,” Lea said. “Those are emotional football plays that don't have a place in our program and are going to keep us from winning challenging games.”
This Vanderbilt team still plays with Pavia’s edge and swagger, yet without an understanding of how to channel it into winning football as Pavia once did.
Any opportunities the Commodores had to swipe momentum, they couldn’t. They had to settle for that field goal after Azubuike’s penalty. Defensive back Mason Lewis dropped what could’ve been a pick-six.
So it went, seemingly all afternoon. And how it gone for most of this season.
Early victories over Austin Peay and Delaware were closer calls than they should’ve been. Beating NC State required a miracle finish. The run game hasn’t been as hoped. The offensive line isn’t what it was a year ago. The offense hasn’t been explosive enough, even as quarterback Jared Curtis shows more flashesof freshman brilliance to go with continued freshman moments. The defense, too, keeps struggling more than anticipated.
This is not a good football team.
And it should be a good football team.
That's the part that should disappoint the Commodores the most as they stumble back into the muck to which their program has long been accustomed. They are capable of much better.
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and hang out with him on Bluesky @gentryestes.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football is underachieving, and that's worse than not being good enough | Estes
