By Hunt Palmer
Deigo Pavia and the Vanderbilt Commodores have been a national darling this year. The upset of Alabama was the highlight, but the wins over Virginia Tech, Auburn and Kentucky were also pretty loud for a program that had won two games against the Power 5 since 2019. You’ll see this in the numbers, but this has been a marvelous coaching job by Clark Lea. Vanderbilt doesn’t do much of anything well outside of avoiding turnovers and penalties, yet they’re in every game.
Here’s a deep dive into the statistics and how they stack up in the Southeastern Conference.
(For perspective 1st is always the best, even if the number is lowest. 16th is always worst)
Vanderbilt Offense
Scoring Offense: 11th 28 points per game
Total Offense: 15th, 331.3 yards per game
Rushing Offense: 13th, 144 yards per game
Rushing Attempts: 5th, 38 attempts per game
Yards per Carry: 15th, 3.77 yards per carry
Runs for 10+ yards: 14th, 37 rushes
Passing Offense: 14th, 187 yards per game
Passing Attempts: 16th, 24 attempts per game
Passes of 20+ yards: 15th, 32 passes
Sacks Allowed: T-1st, 13 sacks
Tackles for Loss Allowed: 4th, 46 tackles for loss
Third Down Conversions: 3rd, 46%
Red Zone Touchdowns Percentage: 5th, 69.4%
Plays: 15th, 62.3 plays per game
Yards per play: 14th, 5.32 yards per play
Time of Possession: 3rd, 32:04 per game
This is a pretty simple formula for the Commodores. Run the ball. Keep the ball. Score touchdowns in the red zone. Their third down conversions and red zone touchdowns are their only shot. They don’t run the ball especially well, 15th in yards per carry. They don’t create explosive plays via the ground or the air.
Against Alabama, Vanderbilt converted on 12-of-18 third downs and held the ball for over 42 minutes. In the loss to South Carolina, they converted just 6-of-13 and narrowly lost time of possession. That formula produced just seven points.
Vanderbilt Defense
Scoring Defense: 11th, 21.7 points per game
Total Defense: 12th, 349 yards per game
Rushing Defense: 8th, 122 yards per game
Yards Per Carry Allowed: 12th, 3.9 yards per carry
Passing Defense: 12th, 236 yards per game
Opponents Completion Percentage: 15th, 66%
Opponents Third Down Conversions: 15th, 43.5% conversions
Sacks: 10th, 22 sacks
Tackles for Loss: 9th, 59 tackles for loss
Opponent Plays of 20+: 14th, 47 plays
Opponent Runs for 10+: 6th, 36 runs
Opponent Passes of 20+: 15th, 36 passes
Opponent Red Zone Touchdowns Percentage: 14th, 57.7%
Turnovers Forced: 12th, 12 turnovers
Penalties Per Game: 1st, 5.4 per game
Vandy only cracks the top half of the league in two categories here, rushing defense and chunk rushes allowed. Everything else looks rather bleak. Georgia State went for 426 yards and 36 points early in the season. The Commodores did bottle up Auburn, holding Hugh Freeze’s team to just seven points. They intercepted Quinn Ewers twice and sacked him four times in the Texas game.
But on the whole, it has been a very average unit that is generally aided by its offensive holding the ball.
Vanderbilt doesn’t have a player in the Top 20 in the SEC in sacks. They don’t draw penalties, though.
Ultimately, Vanderbilt is a heck of a lot better than the sum of its parts, and Lea deserves a pile of credit for it. This group was not a flash in the pan against Alabama. They’ve been tough as nails all season long.
