Turnovers, Special Teams Doom Vanderbilt in 31-24 Liberty Bowl Loss to Cincinnati
by Christian D'Andrea on Dec 31, 2011 7:16 PM EST
in Vanderbilt Commodores Football
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PrintVanderbilt's offense never got off the ground, and in the end, it snuffed out any chances of a Liberty Bowl win.
The Commodores lost the 2011 Liberty Bowl to Big East co-champions Cincinnati, 31-24 Saturday afternoon. Despite a valiant comeback effort, Vanderbilt fell short of securing just their second winning season in the past 29 years. The team fell to 6-7 on the season with the loss.
While this season may have been a showcase of the "Brand New Vanderbilt," the team's offense was disappointingly similar to the struggling squads of the Bobby Johnson and Robbie Caldwell eras. Vanderbilt struggled to throw the ball downfield all day against a below average secondary. Without a passing game to relieve pressure at the line, Zac Stacy was limited to just 57 yards on 18 carries.
Vanderbilt started strong in a first half that was dictated by defensive strength. The 'Dores broke a string of three-and-outs behind Casey Hayward's first quarter interception. This pick set up a seven-yard Stacy touchdown run that gave James Franklin's team a 7-0 lead early in the game. However, UC responded by grinding out a pair of touchdowns behind a powerful running attack. Isaiah Pead and George Winn cut Vandy up for 228 rushing yards on the day, and the Bearcats held a 14-7 lead at the half.
The team lost Jordan Rodgers in the third quarter to an apparent injury, but the redshirt junior didn't accomplish much in his playing time before then. Rodgers was just four of 14 for 26 yards passing before Larry Smith took over in relief. Smith helped lead the Commodores to a 21-17 advantage in the fourth quarter after engineering a 68-yard screen pass touchdown to Chris Boyd. However, their lead was short lived. Ralph Abernathy returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. Vanderbilt would not lead again.
Vanderbilt had a chance to drive for a game-winning score after the 'Dores blocked UC's 39 yard field goal attempt. Trey Wilson picked the ball up near the right sideline and had room to run for a touchdown, but his momentum carried him out of bounds at the 32 yard line. Two plays later, Smith threw behind a stationary Jordan Matthews, leading to a UC interception and Isaiah Pead's game clinching touchdown two plays later.
Trailing 31-21, Vanderbilt had one last chance to get back into the game. A roughing the passer call and 24 yard completion from Smith to Matthews put the team in scoring position, but time ultimately ran out of the 'Dores in 2011. Ryan Fowler kicked a 34 yard field goal to cut UC's lead to 31-24, but the team couldn't recover the ensuing kickoff with just 23 seconds left to play.
The bowl loss drops Vanderbilt to 2-2-1 all-time in bowl games. It was the final game as a Commodore for defensive standouts like Hayward, Chris Marve, and Tim Fugger. All-SEC tight end Brandon Barden also closed out his collegiate career with a bowl loss. Despite the defeat, Vanderbilt will head into 2012 with high hopes behind an offense that returns almost all their key players and will be adding a pair of high school All-Americans.
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Turnovers, penalties, big plays
14 points for them off the kick return and the 69-yard gallop by Wynn. Take those back and it’s a lot closer. We also extended drives for them with untimely penalties and curtailed our own with some badly placed turnovers…and there you go.
We will get there, but this is a sharp reminder that we’re not there yet.
"Well, if that ain't a show, I'll kiss your ass." - Gov. Jim Folsom Sr. (D-AL), 1948-52
Well, take away the turnovers/special teams short field situations
and it’s very hard for UC to score. But you can say the same thing about Vandy.
This was a sloppy game. The Bearcats capitalized on the sloppiness better than we could. And we had to rely on Larry Smith for an extended period – which, no matter how good a captain and teammate he is, he can’t sustain drives down the field without superhuman efforts from his skill players.
Hats off to Cincinnati. They deserved this one. Both defenses played great ball, but it was offensive mistakes that dictated how this one went.
by Christian D'Andrea on Dec 31, 2011 7:26 PM EST up reply actions
Meanwhile, I'll throw this out there for consideration...
Pead got the ball 28 times on the ground. Zac Stacy and Jerrod Seymour combined for 20 carries, Rodgers and Smith for 14, and Kent on the fake punt had the longest carry of the day at 17 yards. For whatever reason, we didn’t choose to run the ball as much as we could have and it wasn’t effective when we did. Couple that with the pressure on the QBs and it looks like the O-line didn’t have their A-game today. Something for Coach Hand to work on, or maybe just evidence that they also got a month to plan for us and they’re a team that plays for tackles behind the line.
I don’t know what got into Jordan Rodgers, but next year, the fallback options are Austyn Carta-Samuels (who has live Division-I experience) and Josh Grady (who if willpower and enthusiasm count for anything may be the best player ever). So I’m not despondent over the QB situation going forward.
Now, let’s get our guys in the fold on signing day and start working toward August.
"Well, if that ain't a show, I'll kiss your ass." - Gov. Jim Folsom Sr. (D-AL), 1948-52
UC has an insane defensive line
That played a huge role in everything. They were great when it came to penetrating upfield and disrupting plays. They deserve credit for altering today’s game plan – and showing how important an effective Zac Stacy is to this team’s offense.
by Christian D'Andrea on Dec 31, 2011 7:31 PM EST up reply actions
Honestly
That has been our biggest issue since the Nickson era, we can’t overcome a really strong d-line. I think it is because we rely so much on the qb scramble/run that when a defensive line creates pressure and keeps containment we lose a huge part of our offense. Hopefully we get some bigger O linemen over time, but right now I think it is the biggest single indicator on how the game is going to go.
How much of the blame should Franklin get?
I say a fair amount. I give him a lot of praise for the many, many things he’s done right this year, but he’s still learning to be a head coach.
1. The guys did not come with the proper combination of fire and calmness that you need to perform. And it was across the board.
2. When things started going poorly, he did not have adjustments in mind. It’s like he never really considered that Plan A might not work. He didn’t really make any adjustments whatever until the second half.
We just played a team from a mediocre league with a half functional QB and lost. Had Franklin been able to bring the team that played Georgia or Arkansas, we’d have won by three touchdowns. Instead, he brought the 2010 Vandy team. He needs to spend serious time thinking about what he did wrong.
I’d agree that he can’t make the tackles himself. Nor can he block the D line single handed. But it’s not like just a few players came out without their A game. The whole team did. And that’s generally a coaching thing.
by Andrew D. Smith on Dec 31, 2011 9:02 PM EST reply actions
As a casual observer I am really impressed with James Franklin
I think he is bright guy with a ton of ability who will continue to improve the Vandy program. Today was a rough outing. I thought coming in that UC had the best player in this game with Isaiah Pead and the best unit with the defensive line. Both brought their full weight to bear in this game. Hats off to the Dores though. The future looks bright from where I am sitting.
Agree on both points.
The D-Line’s ability to ruin Vandy’s offense was the biggest factor in this game. The second biggest was Pead’s ability to rip off first downs seemingly at will. Vandy knew that these were UC’s biggest strengths and still couldn’t neutralize them. Hats off to your guys for the Liberty Bowl win.
by Christian D'Andrea on Dec 31, 2011 11:01 PM EST up reply actions
Tackling
From my couch, it looked like we missed a lot of tackles in the second level. Most runs, including the 69 yarder for a TD, there was a cut back by the RB followed by a missed tackle. Very uncharacteristic for this team.
Questions:
1) how was the fan turnout?
2) how was the atmosphere surrounding the game?
Both great.
Turnout was great, scarcely an empty seat on the Vandy side. Some empty seats on the Cincy side, but good turnout for them as well, considering the distance.
The atmosphere was good as well. It wasn’t quite as hyped as it could have been, but it is the Liberty Bowl, and to be realistic, it was about as expected. From what I saw, there wasn’t much fan hostility, akin to what you see across some of the SEC. So that was nice.
My biggest complaint would be the absurd amount of ticket-scalping that went on at the game. You couldn’t take 10 steps without being solicited to either buy or sell tickets. It was very annoying, and something should be done to stop it to improve the atmosphere.
Overall, that was my only complaint. Aside from the team’s clear rustiness, just about everything about the game was really solid and well-done.
I was there..
It was the most Vanderbilt fans in one place I may have seen in my life.
And if I EVER- EVER hear that stupid UC cheer (if you can call it that) again in my life I will go crazy.
by Brett McReynolds on Jan 2, 2012 9:38 AM EST up reply actions
To add...
The (majority) Cincinnati fans I met were great… I just absolutely hate that cheer.
by Brett McReynolds on Jan 2, 2012 9:44 AM EST up reply actions
They were great.
The only fan complaint I had was with our fans. We need to learn how to act when we’re losing. You don’t do the wave when you’re losing – unless you’re out of the game, and there’s nothing better to do.
Agreed.
We looked like noobs out there. As stupid as that chant was, it was working. And at least all the fans knew what to do at the same time. Is it that hard to make up ONE thing- and get everyone to do it? I’m desperate now.
It just needs to make noise, and be in unison.
Go.
by Brett McReynolds on Jan 2, 2012 2:41 PM EST reply actions
Did appreciate the fan support
It would be nice to see that number of fans at each home game next year – and maybe it is time for us to have our own obnoxious cheer – UT has Rocky Top (hate it with a passion), Ole Miss has that “gosh-a-mighty” thing, UGA has the dog barking thing, etc…agree with you Brett just needs to be together and make a lot of noise – it would be helpful if it really gets on the nerves of the opponents….
An 'obnoxious cheer'
starts with the student section. Until we get our students to show up, and show up on time, it will be hard to accomplish.
Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid. - John Wayne
by RebelDore on Jan 3, 2012 5:41 AM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
Student section...
Had a giant “we are the 1%” banner out at the game during the third quarter. I am pretty sure that an equivalent cheer would surely get on the nerves of opponents. Downside: it would be pretty douchey.
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