Vanderbilt Defeats Auburn in Overtime Shootout, Moves to 8-2
Against arguably the team with arguably the least productive offense and most dominant defense in the SEC, Clark Lea’s Vanderbilt squad got into a high scoring shootout, because of course. The Commodores emerged victorious in overtime with a final score of 45-38.
The unquestionable MVP of the day was Diego Pavia who accounted for 489 yards of total offense and 4 touchdowns. He threw for 377 yards and 3 TDs on 25/33 attempts while rushing for another 112 yards and 1 TD. Tre Richardson had his best game of the year, hauling in 3 catches for 124 yards, including a 57 yard touchdown pass. Eli Stowers also continued his dominant form with 12 receptions for 122 yards.
Defensively, there were not many true standouts, but Bryan Longwell and Langston Patterson led the team in tackles with 12 and 11, respectively. By far the best defensive player on the evening was Randon Fontenette, who had 8 tackles including 0.5 TFLs and 2 passes defended. Bryce Cowan and CJ Heard each had a sack, too.
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Game Recap
The game got off to a nightmarish start for Vanderbilt with the ‘Dores’ first drive stalling out at the Auburn 48 and the Tigers promptly going 89 yards down the field over 13 plays for a touchdown. Ashton Daniels torched Vanderbilt in the short passing game, converting three 3rd and longs with screens or short passes over the middle
Vanderbilt’s offense responded with a classic Vanderbilt drive that went 70 yards over 13 plays and more than 7 minutes of game time, but Auburn’s defense held strong at their own 4 yard line and forced a Brock Taylor chip shot field goal.
It was the same story for the Vanderbilt defense, though, as Auburn went effortlessly down the field for a touchdown. It took just 7 plays for the Tigers to score thanks to Ashton Daniels completing 4 passes between 11-17 yards on the drive. The Vandy defense simply had no answers for the elite Auburn receiving corps as they took a 14-3 lead.
After that things began to look really dire for the ‘Dores. Pavia and co. were once again driving, but a fumble at the Auburn 38 yard line doomed them to not score when they desperately needed to. Auburn then only needed 3 plays to get into the red zone and it appeared as if they were going to waltz into the endzone once again. The defense finally found a foothold as they held Auburn to a field goal from the VU 6 yard line. Auburn took their biggest lead of the day at 17-3.
Finally, a glimmer of hope emerged for Vandy as their offense put together a full drive. Tim Beck opened up the passing game and brought some tempo to the offense as they executed a 2 minute drill. Pavia completed passes of 43 and 20 yards to Tre Richardson and Junior Sherrill, respectively, the latter of which went for Vanderbilt’s first touchdown of the day. The Brock Taylor extra point cut the Auburn lead to 17-10.
While the touchdown was great, the fact that it happened in just 3 plays meant that Auburn’s offense got another shot at things with over a minute remaining and all 3 timeouts. Auburn used the same recipe that had been working all game with intermediate passes and the occasional run and it got them into Vanderbilt territory easily. Kicker Alex McPherson then tied his season long field goal as he knocked a 47 yarder through the uprights to make it 20-10 heading into halftime.
Coming out of half Auburn got the ball and Vanderbilt desperately needed a stop. To Vanderbilt fans’ relief, the defense finally came through. They forced a 3 and out and got the Tigers to punt for the first time.
From that moment on, it was the Diego Pavia show. He took Vanderbilt 73 yards in 6 plays for another touchdown to make it a 17-20 game. That drive was highlighted by 29 and 14 yard passes to Eli Stowers and a 19 yard quintessential Diego Pavia scramble before Sedrick Alexander punched it into the end zone. Credit deserves to go to Tim Beck as well, he identified that Auburn was holding strong against Vanderbilt’s run game and used tempo and a pass-heavy attack to offset their gameplan.
On Auburn’s next possession, Cam Coleman made a ridiculous catch (not the last time you’ll hear that…) to immediately set the Tigers up in Vanderbilt territory, but the defense held strong after that. They forced a 39 yard field goal which McPherson once again knocked through, keeping it a 1 score game.
Once again, Vanderbilt responded with a Diego Pavia led a drive that went 75 yards in just 4 plays. Two passes to Stowers for 5 and 15 yards set Vandy up on their own 43 yard line and then a busted coverage left Tre Richardson wide open for a 57 yard touchdown catch. Brock Taylor’s extra point gave Vanderbilt their first lead at 24-23.
The Vandy defense kept up their strong form, as they forced another Auburn punt and gave Vanderbilt the opportunity to take a commanding lead. The Vanderbilt offense had its one dud of the 2nd half, though, as they went 3 and out.
Auburn wouldn’t go away quietly, though. Just as Vanderbilt thought they had momentum and the defense started playing better, Ashton Daniels put the Auburn offense on his shoulders to give the Tigers the lead again. He rushed for over 30 yards on this possession, including a 16 yard touchdown run, as Auburn reclaimed a 30-24 lead.
Diego Pavia would not be outdone, though. He orchestrated yet another touchdown drive that included a 28 yard scramble from Pavia, a 21 yard pass to Junior Sherrill, and a 7 yard Diego Pavia keeper that went for a touchdown. Vanderbilt took a 31-30 lead early in the 4th quarter.
Vanderbilt’s defense then came up big once again as they forced two fumbles in a row, including a strip sack by Bryce Cowan, that Auburn miraculously recovered, allowing them to punt.
The machine that was the Vanderbilt offense kept working, though, Pavia tore Auburn’s defense up to the tune of a 13 yard pass to Seddy Alexander, 13 yard pass to Sherrill, and a 16 yard pass to Stowers. Alexander then punched the ball into the end zone on a 9 yard run. Vanderbilt elected to kick the extra point instead of going for 2 and took a 38-30 lead.
With their backs against the wall, Auburn responded once again. Cam Coleman took over as he caught 3 passes on the drive. The first was a 26 yard catch over the middle to give Auburn the ball in Vanderbilt territory. The next was an absurd diving, 1-handed catch while Martel Hight was draped over him for a touchdown. Auburn converted on the 2 point try as Daniels chucked up a fade to Coleman, which he of course reeled in with one hand. The game was tied up at 38 with 5 minutes remaining.
With a chance to end the game, Vanderbilt turned back to their typical offense, electing to bleed clock and run it down Auburn’s throat. It was successful for the most part, as Vandy bled the clock down to 1:12 seconds and forced Auburn to take all 3 of their timeouts. But the ball was at the Auburn 25 on 4th and 1. Clark Lea then made the controversial decision to go for it on 4th down and effectively end the game right there. Diego Pavia stumbled as he tried to run outside the numbers, though, and Vanderbilt came up short of the 1st down, giving Auburn a golden opportunity to win the game.
The defense did just enough, though. They forced short passes and tackled well, not allowing any runners to escape and bleeding the clock. Auburn had to try a hail mary from the Vanderbilt 43 as time expired, which was almost intercepted by Dontae Carter and fell harmlessly to the ground.
In overtime Vanderbilt got the ball first. In just 3 plays they scored a touchdown thanks to a 21 yard pass over the middle to Junior Sherrill and a jump pass touchdown to Cole Spence, his first catch of the ball game. Clark Lea once again elected to just take the extra point, giving Vandy a 45-38 lead.
The Vanderbilt defense, although it struggled all game, came up big when Vandy needed it most. After allowing a 10 yard run by AUburn to start their drive, they hunkered down and didn’t allow any more easy yards. They forced 2 incompletions on short passes, and on 4th and 6 CJ Heard and Kolbey Taylor prevented Cam Coleman from coming down with another fade in the end zone.
Vanderbilt won 45-38 and moved to 8-2, their best record in over 80 years.
