Lack Of Heady Play Dooms Vanderbilt at LSU

I said a couple of days ago Vanderbilt would have to play smart to beat LSU Saturday. The Commodores played hard, they didn’t give up, but they sure didn’t play smart.

Wet, tired and hurt, Vanderbilt played LSU tough Saturday night, but in the end committed too many mental errors to overcome the Tigers’ superior athleticism in a frustrating 23-9 loss.

“I’m proud of the way our team hung in there until the end and battled,” said Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson.

Battled they did, but the usually heady Commodores were far too mentally sloppy to overcome LSU on Saturday. This one's not on the coaching staff; Vandy looked prepared and looked like they  belonged on the field. Just one too many self-inflicted gunshots to the foot.

The usually disciplined team committed mistakes that extended both LSU touchdown drives, not the sort of thing a team can easily overcome on the road. In the second quarter, redshirt junior defensive tackle Adam Smotherman was a called for a facemask penalty near midfield to move the Tigers deep into Vanderbilt territory.

Then, with Tiger receiver Terrance Toliver stopped a yard short of a first down at the 13-yard line, redshirt senior safety Ryan Hamilton came charging in to a pile of players making the tackle and grabbed Toliver’s facemask for an automatic first down.

Williams scored the next play, the first points of the season allowed by the Vanderbilt defense.

“That is just people going hard trying to make plays,” Johnson said regarding the penalties.

Maybe so, but Hamilton's got to know better than that. It's good to see him wanting to help make a play, but there was absolutely no reason for him to grab a facemask.

While both those calls were clear, the backbreaker was a (questionable) defensive holding call on Chris Marve that wiped out an interception by Joel Caldwell in the fourth quarter. With the score 16-9 Tigers and the issue still in doubt, LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson overthrew his receiver and Joel Caldwell picked it at the goal line, but Vanderbilt hearts sank when the call went against Marve. Given new life, Williams scored four plays later for the final margin.

Another costly error was a false start in the first quarter; the Commodores were on LSU’s 33-yard line about to go for it on 4th-and-three. That forced a punt and put an end to a promising drive.

All told, Vanderbilt committed an uncharacteristic seven penalties for 52 yards. The Commodores also fumbled the ball three times but recovered each one.

Nothing burned worse than a first-down-turned-turnover in the fourth quarter.

After scoring a safety to pull within a touchdown, the Commodores had a promising drive in LSU territory. On third-and-seven, Smith hit a wide-open Alex Washington over the middle, but Washington bobbled the ball in the air at the 16, where it was caught by LSU’s Brandon Taylor for an interception. That was as close as the Commodores would get to scoring again.

Washington's a fifth-year senior and has got to make that catch. We can sit here and second-guess all day. If he makes that catch, it's a first down and some more with the end zone in their grasp.

"We were going to make the first down," Johnson said. "When you make it tighter in the fourth quarter, you have a chance."

Only if the Commodores played more heads-up, though. If Washington makes that grab, if Marve isn't flagged for holding, if, if, if. That word's the most infuriating in all of sports. All the Commodores can do is learn from these mistakes.

Like I've said, this isn't a team with the offensive firepower that can afford to mess up what's totally in their control.