Vanderbilt Gets Redemption Against Georgia State, Wins 70-21
On a night that could not have been any different from the horrors of a year ago, Vanderbilt dominated Georgia State to the tune of a 70-21 victory in front of a sold out First Bank Stadium.
Vanderbilt was led by superstars Diego Pavia and Eli Stowers offensively. Pavia went 18/24 for 245 yards and added 86 yards and a touchdown on the ground (he ended as Vanderbilt’s leading rusher). Stowers led the team in both receptions and receiving yards with 5 catches for 73 yards. Other key performers were Tristen Brown with 3 catches for 73 yards, MK Young with 2 rushes for 72 yards and a TD, and Junior Sherrill with 3 catches for 55 yards and 1 TD.
On defense it was a group effort as no Vanderbilt player had more than 4 tackles, but the top performers were Khordae Sydnor and Miles Capers. Sydnor had 4 tackles, half a sack, a pass defended, and a blocked PAT; Capers continued his outstanding season with 3 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 2.5 TFLs. Jordan Matthews also had 4 solo tackles and forced a fumble which was the only turnover of the game.
Recap
Things did not exactly get off to an auspicious start for the ‘Dores as 2 of Georgia State’s first 3 plays went for 19 and 20 yards, respectively, and it looked like a repeat of last year could be in the cards. The drive stalled out at the Vanderbilt 34 after Georgia State was unable to convert on 3rd and long after a false start penalty. The Panthers’ kicker Braden McAllister made his first field goal of the season as he bombed a 52 yarder straight through the uprights to give Georgia State an early 3-0 lead.
After that shaky start Diego Pavia and the Vanderbilt offense quickly asserted that this game would not go like the one a year ago as they orchestrated a dominant drive. Pavia completed passes to Richie Hoskins, Junior Sherrill, and MK Young and added a 19 yard scramble of his own before Sedrick Alexander powered over the goal line to open Vandy’s scoring for the evening.
The defense responded to that shaky first drive with a dominant showing as (after a defensive holding on first down by Bryan Longwell) they forced the Panthers backwards into a 3 and out.
It was too easy for the Vanderbilt offense (something that you’ll hear a lot in this article) again as it only took the ‘Dores 4 plays to go 71 yards. Pavia rushed for 7 yards on a designed run before hitting Eli Stowers wide open on a shallow route which Stowers turned into a 48 yard gain down to the Georgia State 16. Pavia then took it himself into the endzone on a QB draw that worked to perfection and extended Vandy’s lead to 11.
On Georgia State’s next offensive play Jordan Matthews punched the ball out of running back Rashad Amos’ hands and Jaylon Stone fell on it at the Georgia State 35.
Pavia used that passing game to blow things open as he hit Cole Spence in the flat who took it 26 yards down the field. The ‘Dores punched it in on a swing pass to Sherrill where he made 2 men miss on his way to the end zone. At this point Vandy led 21-3 with 1:33 seconds left in the first quarter and things felt as good as over.
The Panthers weren’t done yet, though, as their next drive went 75 yards in 13 plays and ended in a touchdown. Poor tackling in run defense and soft coverage resulted in a dominant Georgia State drive where they overcame a 2nd & 25 and put Vanderbilt’s typically stingy defense on their heels. The Khordae Sydnor blocked PAT kept the score at 21-9 in favor of Vandy, though.
While the defense had problems with inconsistency all night, the same could not be said for Vanderbilt’s offense when Diego Pavia was in. He once again led a nearly perfect 10 play, 52 yard drive (set up by an outstanding 47 yard kick return by Tre Richardson). While there were no standout plays, the offense consistently gained 4-7 yards per rush throughout the drive and AJ Newberry punched it in from the 3 for his first touchdown since the season opener. Brock Taylor nailed the PAT to make it 28-9 Vandy.
The final 4 minutes of the 1st half included two 3-and-outs forced by the Vanderbilt defense and 2 touchdown drives, neither one of which took longer than 1:16 seconds of game clock. Vandy took the ball 69 and 83 yards down the field in what can only be described as an exorcism of last years’ demons. Vandy used the intermediate pass game almost exclusively during those drives (something they could not do last year) and carved up the struggling Panthers defense. They were highlighted by a 40 yard completion to Junior Sherrill, a 17 yard catch by Tristen Brown, and two Pavia scrambles of 19 and 11 yards. AJ Newberry punched in the first touchdown and Sedrick Alexander scored on a pass from Pavia to make it 42-9 to end the first half. Alexander has scored a rushing and receiving TD in each of the last 3 games now.
In what was really the only offensive misstep of the night for Vanderbilt, the ‘Dores opened the 2nd half with a turnover on downs at their own 34 yard line after Pavia couldn’t connect with Richie Hoskins or Kayleb Barnett on short passes. Georgia State capitalized on this as they scored a touchdown (but failed to convert a 2 point attempt), making it 15-42.
After this drive Clark Lea, Tim Beck, and Jerry Kill made the decision to bench Diego Pavia and several other offensive starters and give Blaze Berlowitz some run as quarterback. He did not get a chance to shine in this drive though, as on the second play MK Young took a run 60 yards up to the house, his second run of 60+ yards this year. The score made it 49-15 Vandrebilt and wiped away all hope from the Georgia State sideline.
To add insult to injury, Vanderbilt’s defense forced a 3-and-out and sophomore linebacker Jamison Curtis blocked the punt, scooped up the ball, and ran it into the endzone making it 56-19.
Georgia State put together a solid drive after this, getting down to the Vanderbilt 31 thanks, in part, to two facemask penalties by Matthews and Fontenette. On the field goal attempt however, Emmanuel Adebi got his fingertips to the ball and blocked the 48 yard attempt.
Vanderbilt’s offense moved the ball down the field pretty well, getting to the Georgia State 23 before turning it over on downs. Starting on this drive no offensive starters saw the field.
Vanderbilt’s defense kept some starters in for the first drive of the 4th quarter, forcing Georgia State to punt after 6 plays. Berlowitz ran a much smoother drive this time, going 70 yards in 6 plays. Berlowitz did most of his damage on the ground as he ran for 57 yards (one run was for 50 yards) and scored a TD with his legs.
After another 3-and-out forced by the defense, Drew Dickey came in at QB to get some much deserved opportunity to show what he can do. Dickey orchestrated a 5 play, 41 yard touchdown drive that included an outstanding 28 yard completion dropped in the bucket to Tristen Brown while on the run. Dickey scored on a 7 yard QB keeper making it 70-15.
Vanderbilt put in almost entirely freshmen and walk ons to close the game and Georgia State went 75 yards in 11 plays to make the score slightly less lopsided. This drive included the best play of the game for the Panthers where QB TJ Finley threw an absolutely perfect pass on 4th and 15 to score a 31 yard touchdown. The 2 point conversion attempt was once again unsuccessful for Georgia State.
Vanderbilt would kneel out the game with Whit Muschamp at QB to win by a final score of 70-21.
