Vanderbilt football prides itself in its ability to win on the margins.
One of the biggest ways that's shown up has been an improvement in special teams. The improvement showed up once again in the Commodores' 28-9 win over Austin Peay in its season opener Sept. 5 at FirstBank Stadium.
The most obvious way was in its punt return touchdown. Punting deep in their own territory, the Governors (1-1) muffed the punt snap and tried to get a kick off anyway, but it resulted in a line drive straight to linebacker Josiah Broxton, who normally serves as a blocker on punt returns rather than a returner.
Broxton, however, did return kicks in high school. A sophomore, he has played almost exclusively on special teams in his career and had never previously recorded
a stat.
"(Special teams coordinator Jeff) LePak told me things like, hey, maybe one day you can be a kick returner," Broxton said. "I didn't envision that being my − but I returned the punt."
Brock Taylor also made both of his field goals, an expected outcome for a player who was one of the best kickers in the country in 2024 and could've been in 2025 as well had he had more opportunities to kick.
And then there was the blocked extra point after Austin Peay's first touchdown of the game. Yilanan Ouattara blocked the kick and Martel Hight ran it back for a defensive 2-point conversion.
"It's going to take three phases for us, and I'm proud of the guys on special teams to toe the line and do their part," coach Clark Lea said.
Why penalties were an area of concern for Vanderbilt
As good as the special teams were at generating wins on the margins, penalties were the opposite.
Austin Peay had three penalties for 25 yards and Vanderbilt had nine penalties for 73 yards. Those included seven offensive penalties, including a whopping four false starts and a delay of game, plus a holding and face mask.
The Commodores also had a late hit penalty on defense and an illegal block in the back during a kick return.
"If I leave with anything tonight, it's that we need to go a little further in syncing up if we are going to do the things that we set out to do," Lea said. "Whether that has to do with penalties, whether that has to do with being in the right call defensively, communication, getting off the field."
The Commodores (1-0) host Delaware (1-0) on Sept. 12 (3:15 p.m., SEC Network).
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How special teams, penalties impacted Vanderbilt football in season opener
