Pavia Powers Vanderbilt Past Utah State as Commodores Stay Perfect, Move to 5-0
Just about everyone was talking about the potential for a letdown game for the red-hot Vanderbilt Commodores against Utah State with an 11:45 AM kickoff and Alabama coming up the next week. While it looked for a while as if that potential may be realized, the grit and skill of Deigo Pavia’s offense ensured that Vanderbilt would come out of FirstBank Stadium 5-0 for just the 2nd time in 80 years. In the end Vanderbilt beat Utah State by a score of 55-35 in a game that was not as close as the score implied.
The offense was led by an outstanding day by Diego Pavia, who went 26/34 for 321 and 5 TDs while rushing for 79 yards and a touchdown. He was Vanderbilt’s leading rusher, behind him was Jamezell Lassiter who had 52 yards on 2 carries. This was arguably one of the best games by Vanderbilt receivers in recent memory as they accounted for nearly 250 yards of offense and 4 touchdowns. Junior Sherrill led all receivers with 6 catches and 91 yards along with 3 touchdowns. Tre Richardson and Richie Hoskins also had strong days with 6 receptions for 74 yards and 4 for 70 yards and a touchdown, respectively. Eli Stowers had 6 catches, 68 yards, and a touchdown as well.
Defensively, Marlen Sewell led Vanderbilt with 7 tackles, but edges Miles Capers, Khordae Sydnor, and Linus Zunk were the most impactful defenders. Capers continued his amazing season with 5 tackles including 1 sack and 2.5 TFLs, Sydnor had 3 tackles with 1 TFL, and Zunk had 2 sacks. Linebackers Langston Patterson and Bryce Cowan had strong days too, with Patterson recording 5 tackles and 1 TFL and Cowan forcing a crucial fumble.
Game Recap
Utah State received the opening kickoff and quickly went 3 and out. Vanderbilt wasn’t able to capitalize, though, as they returned the favor thanks to an unforced false start on 3rd and short.
On their second drive Utah State looked much improved going 75 yards in 8 plays. Vanderbilt’s secondary had trouble covering Utah State’s receivers both over the middle and on intermediate routes.
The offense righted the ship on their next drive, though. Tre Richardson started things with an outstanding 41 yard kickoff return to set up the ‘Dores with great field position. Several screens to Richardson and some strong running got Vandy into the red zone before a 21 yard bullet to Junior Sherrill opened up Vanderbilt’s scoring for the day and tied it up 7-7.
Now is when the controversy starts. On Utah State’s next drive they went 3-and-out and punted deep from their own territory. The Aggies punted, but after the punter literally whiffed and barely touched the ball with his foot, he picked the ball up and threw it out of the endzone, giving Vanderbilt a safety. Officials threw a flag late, though, and ended up calling holding on Vanderbilt. While there was a legitimate hold, Vanderbilt fans were quick to point out that it appeared to occur AFTER the initial “kick” and therefore should not have given Utah State an automatic first down. After this first controversy, the Vanderbilt defense forced yet another 3 and out, but more drama ensued on the next punt attempt. Marlen Sewell came streaking in and dove into the punter and got called for roughing the kicker, giving Utah State yet another first down on a punt. However, Sewell came up emphatically insisting that he tipped the ball and the call should be reversed. While it did appear that Sewell at least grazed the ball, after a video review the call was upheld and Utah State was granted another chance. To rub salt in the wound, on the play Utah State would eventually score a touchdown on, it also appeared as if the refs missed a blatant cut block or trip by the Utah State running back on a blitzing Vanderbilt defender. After all that drama and controversy, though, it was 14-7 in favor of the Aggies.
Now is when the tide started to turn in favor of the ‘Dores. In classic Tim Beck fashion, Vandy went 65 yards in over 5 minutes of game time using screens, short passing, and the QB run game. This drive was highlighted by a 30 yard screen to Tre Richardson and a 6 yard Diego Pavia run that tied it up at 14.
Steve Gregory’s defense then forced a 3 and out to give Pavia the ball once again, and he didn’t waste that chance. This time it only took the Vanderbilt offense 2 minutes to go 58 yards down the field and score a touchdown. Pavia completed passes of 14 and 18 yards to Stowers and Sherrill, the latter of which was Sherrill’s 2nd score that made it 21-14 and gave Vanderbilt its first lead.
The Aggies once again went 3 and out as Vanderbilt continued to dominate the line of scrimmage on the defensive end, and Vandy’s offense once again took advantage. In just 3 plays, Vanderbilt went 60 yards and scored a touchdown arguably too quickly. Junior Sherrill mossed a defender in the end zone for another 18 yard touchdown catch and a first half hattrick.
With the score at 28-14 with under 2 minutes remaining in the 1st half, Utah State’s offense gave them life. Once again operating efficiently in the intermediate passing game they went down the field in just 1 minute and narrowed the Vanderbilt lead to 7.
Not to be outdone, with just 20 seconds remaining in the first half Diego Pavia created a scoring opportunity all by himself. On what appeared to be a play where all receivers were covered, Pavia took the ball himself and shed several would-be tacklers to give Brock Taylor a field goal opportunity. Taylor hit a 48 yard field goal to give Vandy a 31-21 lead going into half.
After halftime, Vanderbilt’s offense led a balanced drive to open up a significant lead over the Aggies. Gains through the ground, whether they were scrambles by Pavia or designed runs for Sedrick Alexander, set the ‘Dores up in Utah State territory and then Eli Stowers took over. A 27 yard pass over the middle to the superstar tight end gave a Vandy 1st and goal, then he punched it in on a short pass where he broke 2 tackles to get into the end zone. At 38-21, it started to feel like the blowout Vandy fans were hoping for at the beginning of the day.
Utah State then turned it over on downs as they were unsuccessful on a fake punt from their own 28. While Vandy was not able to make them pay fully for this, Taylor nailed his second field goal of the day to make it a 41-21 game.
Utah State went 3 and out yet another time in the 3rd quarter and Vanderbilt fully blew it open early in the 4th. Pavia and Beck abused Utah State weaknesses in the secondary as they completed passes to Richardson, Stowers and Brown before Richie Hoskins blew it open. Hoskins got behind the secondary and Pavia found him on a deep ball. Hoskins then shed both would-be tacklers as he scored a grown-man touchdown that gave Vandy a 48-21 lead.
In the 4th quarter, Vandy forced their first turnover of the game as Bryce Cowan punched the ball out of Bryson Barnes’ hands on a scramble. Vandy gave it right back on the next play, though, as Pavia floated a deep ball too far over the middle and it was picked in the endzone.
Despite the momentum shift, Vandy forced a punt from the aggies that pinned them deep in their own territory. A drop by Martel Hight doomed the Vanderbilt drive and they punted it back with 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
At this point Vanderbilt opted to put in backups on the defensive side of things and with this the Utah State offense found its footing again. The Utah State starters went down the field in just 2 plays thanks to an explosive 58 yard run and 18 yard pass, making the score 48-28.
Blaze Berlowitz then saw the field for the 5th time in 5 games as he came in to relieve Pavia. Vanderbilt leaned on the run game to continue to drain the clock. Jamezell Lassiter had a 48 yard run to open the drive up, then MK Young scored his first touchdown of the game on a 15 yard dash.
The Utah State starters once again orchestrated an efficient drive down the field, but at this point all that was accomplished was making the stats somewhat less lopsided. The Aggies made it 55-35 on a 6 yard pass before Vanderbilt kneeled it out to end the game.
