Play Smarter: The Commodores Need To Use Their Heads Saturday at LSU

Vanderbilt got off to a 5-0 start last year, and it wasn’t peculiar just because the team hadn’t accomplished that since World War II.

In three of the games, the Commodores were outgained by their opponent, and not just by a little. South Carolina (325-225), Rice (407-344) and Ole Miss (385-202) all handily outproduced Vanderbilt yardage-wise; yet it was them scratching their heads in defeat while the Commodores were laughing all the way to their first national ranking in 24 years.

How did they pull off such a feat? Very simply. They were smarter. “The Geeks Shall Inherit The Turf” was one of the more memorable signs made by a Vandy fan when College GameDay broadcast on campus for the first time for the Auburn game last October. Indeed, it was brains triumphing over brawn.

The Commodores did all the little things right. They took care of the football, didn’t commit turnovers and capitalized on every scoring opportunity they had. Through their 5-0 start, they committed just 16 penalties compared to 36 by their opponents, and turned the ball over just six times while earning 15 takeaways. 

Oh, and in the red zone, they converted 18-19 times (the one time they didn’t, it was when they were killing the clock against Rice).

After that great start though, Vanderbilt got away from such heady play. In losing six of their last seven games, the 'Dores made the mistakes they couldn’t afford to make.

While the offense was never spectacular last season, it was efficient enough in the early going to take advantage of the other team’s mistakes. When Vanderbilt started missing field goals, committing stupid penalties and not taking good care of the football, it exposed an offense that didn’t have the firepower to overcome such errors.

Vandy returned to its old ways for the Music City Bowl against 24th-ranked Boston College, though, and it worked.

The bowl win was a microcosm for the entire crazy 2008 season. Outgained by over 100 yards yet again, Vanderbilt looked like it should have lost on paper but didn’t. The Black and Gold committed no penalties or turnovers, while Boston College had several of both.

The Commodores squeezed three field goals out of their 199 yards of offense and got a lucky break on special teams, bouncing a punt off an Eagle player and recovering it in the end zone for their only touchdown.

It was just enough in a 16-14 win.

Lucky, some might say. But Vanderbilt made its own luck by playing intelligently. Impeccable special teams and solid defense masked a not-so-great offense.

Against LSU on Saturday, it’s no different. The Tigers have better personnel and speed, plus the intangibles of the home field advantage. Vandy will have to win the way it did last year; leave the other team scratching its head wondering what in the world happened.

No-duh comment of the day:  the new no-huddle offense isn’t going to rack up 600+ yards against the Bayou Bengals like it did against the hapless Western Carolina Catamounts. But the offense does have the ability to make plays when they present themselves.

Use those brains, Commodores. Play smart, play within yourselves and leave another opponent thunderstruck.