Football on West End is fun again.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article about how Vanderbilt Football couldn’t afford to waste the momentum it built after taking down Alabama. It delivered with back-to-back wins over Kentucky and Ball State. Neither win was pretty, but the Commodores did enough to keep their momentum.
There’s no denying it — something special is brewing on West End that current students haven’t seen before. Something that even the oldest Vanderbilt fans haven’t experienced in decades. Seven games into its season, Vanderbilt Football is ranked — the first time the ‘Dores have cracked the Top 25 of an in-season AP Poll since 2008.
Now, head coach Clark Lea and his team will welcome No. 5 Texas into town for a shot at their second-ever win over a top-5 team. The eyes of the entire nation will be on FirstBank Stadium on Saturday — Vanderbilt has a chance to vault itself into contention for an SEC title and the College Football Playoff.
Generations of students, players and coaches have poured their hearts and souls into Vanderbilt’s football program, waiting for a moment like this. A moment to finally show the world what it means to bleed Black and Gold.
Vanderbilt Football has done its part with five wins through seven games and an undefeated home record. Vanderbilt administration has also done its part, changing its ticketing policy to allow students to find seating in other parts of FirstBank Stadium once the student section fills up.
Many of you won’t remember this, but I know my fellow seniors will. On Sept. 4, 2021, we sat in Sections Q and P of FirstBank Stadium and watched Lea’s tenure start with a whimper. Bright-eyed and ready for our college football experiences to finally begin, the Class of 2025 witnessed our Commodores suffer a 23-3 loss to Eastern Tennessee State.
I came to Vanderbilt because I wanted an SEC experience. I was horrified walking back to Commons that night, but not just because of the final score. The student turnout was even more horrifying than the game’s result. Fans started leaving in droves after the first quarter. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around, there were less than 100 students in Sections P and Q.
I eventually learned that Vanderbilt is the only college in the SEC where students tailgate through the games. Every other fanbase tailgates until around an hour before the game and then begins the mass exodus from parties to their respective stadiums. Vanderbilt’s students tailgate up until the game begins, and while a select (and brave) few go to the game, most opt to either nap, grab food or keep the party going on Broadway.
After the ETSU loss, I made it my mission to attend every Vanderbilt Football game: Rain or shine, morning or night, I vowed to support the Black and Gold in any way I could. I had my “welcome to the SEC” moment when Georgia fans took over FirstBank Stadium during a 62-0 loss, and every game from there felt like more of the same. Vanderbilt kept losing, and the turnout from students got worse and worse every week.
I had resigned to mediocrity by the start of the 2024 season — three years had worn me down to the point where my dreams became afterthoughts. I was once again prepared for student turnout to fall short this year.
I’ve often said that Vanderbilt Football’s attendance struggles represent a vicious and never-ending cycle. Fans don’t want to watch a bad football team, so they stay home instead of attending home games. In turn, the Commodores don’t boast the same home field (or any, for that matter) that other SEC programs do, and they struggle because of it. Vanderbilt loses, and fans stay home. Fans stay home and Vanderbilt loses because of it.
Then, on Aug. 31, 2024 — nearly three full years after I witnessed the atrocity that was Lea’s first-ever game — Vanderbilt broke the cycle. I watched from the press box as the student section got closed off due to overflow as the two-touchdown underdog Commodores knocked off Virginia Tech.
Fast forward to Week Six, when the Black and Gold welcomed No. 1 Alabama into town. That game featured the best fan atmosphere I’ve ever seen: Sections P and Q overflowed again as fans spilled into the rest of the eastern bowl and the seats of traveling Alabamians.
I got a bit emotional in the press box as I watched Diego Pavia kneel the game away while Commodore Nation stormed the field, ripped down the goalpost and carried it out of the stadium (and later to the Cumberland River). I thought that moment would reinvigorate a lost fanbase.
Maybe I was wrong. The turnout last weekend against Ball State was, in a word, disappointing. With Vanderbilt riding the momentum of back-to-back quality SEC wins, I expected fans to “Pack the ‘Bank” against Ball State. Sections P and Q were almost full at the start of the game, but they started filtering out at halftime. I was befuddled.
The 17-year-old in me — the same one that watched Vanderbilt lose 23-3 to an FCS school at my first-ever college football game — was screaming.
Why on earth were people leaving? Were they bored? Were they disappointed that the heavily-favored Commodores hadn’t already run away with the game? Did they have dinner reservations? Were they going to Broadway?
There’s no excuse.
Every single one of you should be at FirstBank Stadium this weekend. Tickets are free, the weather will be spectacular and we’ve (largely) made it through midterm season. More importantly, though, students finally have a team to rally behind.
Pavia, Lea and the rest of the Commodores have done their part — they broke the cycle. They showed that they are a legitimate football team and a threat to win any game, no matter the goliath that they face. Now, it’s time for Vanderbilt’s campus to do its part: show up and pack the ‘Bank.
Vanderbilt’s administration announced Oct. 23 that the Texas game is completely sold out. Burnt-orange clad fans will make up a significant majority of those sales.
This isn’t to be overly negative. To all the students who have filled the stands of Sections P and Q — especially against Alabama and Virginia Tech — thank you. But there’s more work to do. Find a friend who’s been on the fence about attending games and get them over that fence. Convince them that FirstBank is the place to be on Saturdays.
Every single student counts. Anyone who can represent the Black and Gold will play a pivotal role in offsetting the Longhorns’ burnt orange and creating a hostile FirstBank environment for Vanderbilt to thrive. We all have a part to play.
Lea himself knows the role that students play in Vanderbilt’s success. He’s said it after every home game this season, and Saturday night after his win over Ball State was no different.
“I want to credit the student section for being there and for showing up for us,” Lea said. “None of that is lost on me, and I’m grateful for it all.”
If you don’t want to hear it from Lea, take it from the players themselves. CJ Taylor — a multi-year starter and captain for Vanderbilt — has been here since the beginning. Taylor didn’t mince words when asked about the Commodores’ matchup with No. 5 Texas.
“Next week, everyone should be here,” Taylor said.
The magnitude of this moment is not lost on Lea, the players, or the students who have seen the highs and lows of this program. Vanderbilt has a chance to rewrite the course of history on Saturday. Don’t you want to be a part of it? Broadway will still be there come January.
