Vanderbilt Football (6-6) welcomed Tennessee (10-2) into Nashville for the two teams’ 119th matchup on Nov. 30. Head coach Clark Lea and his Commodores entered the game hungry for a win, having lost five straight games to their in-state rivals, dating back to 2018. A 14-0 start in the game’s opening minutes had Commodore Nation hopeful, but it didn’t last for long. In the end, the Volunteers cruised to a 36-23 victory. Lea spoke on the momentum shifts that went on throughout the first half after the game.
“There was a clear shift of energy in that game,” Lea said. “It felt like I didn’t recognize the team that was on the field.”
As is often the case with the Tennessee-Vanderbilt rivalry, the Volunteer faithful invaded the eastern bowl of FirstBank Stadium. The Black and Gold quieted them early on, jumping out to a 14-0 lead, but couldn’t keep that momentum past the first quarter. Tennessee’s offense was unstoppable all afternoon, steamrolling through Vanderbilt’s defense with a balanced passing and rushing attack en route to 538 total yards.
First quarter
The Volunteers won the toss and elected to defer, and Junior Sherrill made them pay immediately. He wasted no time getting the action started, taking the opening kick 100 yards along the left sideline and into the end zone on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Sherrill’s efforts marked a picture-perfect start for the Commodores, putting them up 7-0 early on. Sherrill spoke on his sensational play after the game.
“It was a beautiful thing to start the game off,” Sherrill said. “I’ve always dreamed of that.”
The magical start didn’t end there — CJ Taylor stripped running back Dylan Sampson on the Volunteers’ second snap of the game and Nick Rinaldi fell on top of the loose ball. The play set the Commodores up right outside of Tennessee’s red zone, and they capitalized. A 4-yard run from Diego Pavia and a 6-yard completion to Sherrill officially moved the chains inside the Volunteers’ 20-yard line.
Offensive coordinator Tim Beck — as he’s done so frequently this season — kept it on the ground from there. Runs from Moni Jones and Pavia set the ‘Dores up with a goal-to-go opportunity, and Sedrick Alexander didn’t waste it. The sophomore back bruised through Tennessee’s defensive line en route to his fifth touchdown of the season. Less than five minutes into the game, the ‘Dores led, 14-0.
Sampson came back with a vengeance, breaking away from a Randon Fontenette tackle attempt and scampering 28 yards along the left sideline to move the ball into Vanderbilt territory. A false start and a couple of inconsequential plays left quarterback Nico Iamaleava staring at a third-and-long, and he delivered. The redshirt freshman found Chris Brazzell II in stride for a 21-yard gain to move the chains. He stayed locked in on the next play with a 28-yard touchdown toss to a wide-open Dont’e Thornton over the middle of the field. The play, which capped off a 5-play, 73-yard drive, woke the raucous crowd of visiting Knoxvillians up.
Tennessee kicked the ball out of the back of the end zone on the ensuing kickoff, keeping Sherrill neutralized. Pavia and Co. took over from their own 25-yard line but were faced with an early third-and-eight. The offensive line’s pass protection was stellar and gave their quarterback plenty of time to find a streaking Eli Stowers for a 15-yard gain. An option pitch to Alexander and a quarterback draw from Pavia both went for 10-plus yards and moved the Commodores into Volunteer territory. A face mask penalty on superstar pass rusher James Pearce Jr. kept the drive going and put the Commodores well within Brock Taylor’s field goal range.
The drive ultimately stalled out after Pavia’s pass to Kameron Johnson went incomplete on third down, forcing a kick. Taylor connected on a 32-yard attempt to put the Commodores up 10 points, with the scoreboard showing 17-7.
A trio of runs from Iamaleava and Sampson came up just short of a first down right around midfield, with head coach Josh Heupel opting to go for it in his own territory. De’Marion Thomas made the play of his young collegiate career, shedding Cooper Mays’ attempted block and meeting Miles Kitselman in the backfield to turn the Volunteers over on downs.
Alexander went back to work immediately after that, ripping off three rushes to bring the ball to Tennessee’s 28-yard line as the first quarter expired. The Commodores’ 17 points marked the most they’ve scored in a first quarter since 2007.
Second quarter
Tennessee recaptured the momentum, as Jermod McCoy broke up a 50-50 ball to Sherrill, tipped it to himself and hauled in the interception. The play marked Pavia’s fourth interception of the season and gave the Volunteers a chance to strike.
Iamaleava couldn’t capitalize, underthrowing his receiver on an attempted deep ball on the very next play. Martel Hight zoomed in for the interception — the Commodores’ second forced turnover of the game — to give Pavia the ball right back.
Just when it seemed like Tennessee might have gotten a stop, Joshua Josephs was flagged for roughing the passer. The 15-yard penalty gave Vanderbilt a fresh set of downs. A slew of short rushes left the Commodores facing a fourth-and-two from Tennessee’s 46-yard line, and Lea chose to go for it. His decision proved less than fruitful, however, as Tennesse blanketed Stowers — Pavia’s only passing option — and forced a sack.
“The fourth down was tough. I don’t mind the call we made,” Lea said. “We just didn’t execute it.”
A pair of false starts and an incomplete pass on third-and-long ended what seemed to be a promising drive from Iamaleava and Co., forcing Max Gilbert to attempt a 50-yard field goal. The redshirt freshman just barely connected as the ball clanked off the bottom of the goal post and in to make the score 17-10 in favor of the Commodores.
The Black and Gold could do nothing on their next drive, going three-and-out and forcing the first punt of the game from either team. Jesse Mirco sent a line-drive kick 57 yards to the Tennessee nine-yard line. Lightning struck for Thornton Jr. two plays later as he found space on a slant route and ran 86 yards untouched to tie the game at 17.
Pavia responded immediately with a nifty 20-yard run on a quarterback keeper that pushed the ball up toward midfield. Beck ran an eerily similar play on the very next snap, as Pavia scampered up the middle for an 11-yard gain and into Tennessee territory. A holding call pushed the Commodores back over midfield and would ultimately prove to be a drive-killer, as Pavia was sacked on a third-and-long. Mirco produced another masterful punt on the next play pinning Tennessee on its four-yard line.
The Volunteers had no trouble moving the ball thanks to a chunk rush from Sampson and a pass interference on Kolbey Taylor. Tennessee kept the chains moving on third down after Iamaleava found Kitselman for 15 yards, officially putting Tennessee into Gilbert’s range. The ‘Dores forced another third down after a Sampson drop, but it was all for not as Brazzell II hailed in a 14-yard catch to bring his team inside the red zone. Iamaleava tossed the ball to a wide-open Kitselman over the top of Vanderbilt’s defense for an 18-yard score to give his team its first lead of the game. Pavia kneeled for the final play of the first half as Vanderbilt entered the locker room down 24-17 despite its hot start.
Third quarter
Tennessee received the ball to start the third quarter and got right back to its first-half offensive flow. Iamaleava ran for 13 yards and DeSean Bishop went for 9 yards as the Volunteers worked the ball into Vanderbilt territory. The Commodores turned up the heat in the trenches, finally getting some pressure on Tennessee’s backfield, as Langton Patterson made a shoelace tackle on Bishop to force a third down. Patterson’s efforts were for naught, though, as Bishop pushed forward for a first down.
Iamaleava ran another play action to perfection as he found wide-open Mike Matthews, for a 14-yard touchdown. The play continued the stretch of dominance — 24 unanswered points — for the Volunteers.
Sherrill finally recaptured some momentum with a massive 49-yard return — or so it seemed. Cole Spence was flagged for a hold, which sent the ‘Dores back to their 15-yard line. A horse collar tackle penalty on McCoy gave Vanderbilt a fresh set of downs, but it couldn’t capitalize, as an illegal shift penalty killed the drive. Mirco punted and downed Tennessee inside its 20-yard line as the pressure fell on Lea’s defense to string together a stop.
The ‘Dores couldn’t string together anything productive on defense at first, as Tennessee’s up-tempo offense marched right down the field. Lea’s unit forced the Volunteers into a fourth-and-six from the 35-yard line. Jackson Ross got a friendly bounce on his first punt of the game as Matthew Salansky downed the ball on Vanderbilt’s four-yard line, creating a tough mountain for Pavia and his offense to climb.
They couldn’t scale the mountain, as Alexander was brought down inside the end zone on an outside handoff that resulted in a safety, putting Tennessee up 33-17. Mirco’s punt attempt after the safety went out of bounds, setting the Volunteers up in prime position at the 50-yard line.
Fourth quarter
Vanderbilt’s defensive struggles continued as Tennessee marched right down the field thanks to Sampson’s efforts. The superstar rusher made Lea’s “bend-don’t-break” defense pay as he ripped off medium-yardage rushes. The ‘Dores made a goal-line stand, but it didn’t matter, as a Gilbert field goal made the score 36-17 and extended their deficit to three possessions. The kick marked a 29-point run for the Volunteers.
“They scored 29 unanswered points [and had] a second half in which our offense snapped the ball 11 times,” Lea said. “[Tennessee] had 44.”
Pavia made his way out onto the field of FirstBank Stadium for what was very likely his final sequence at FirstBank after a kickoff from Gilbert. He refused to go out with a whimper, connecting with Sherrill and Loic Fouonji to move the ball across midfield before finding Richie Hoskins on a 31-yard touchdown over the middle of the field. The play got Vanderbilt’s supporters fired up, but a two-point rush attempt from Alexander fell short, keeping the game at a two-touchdown deficit.
Still, Vanderbilt refused to go away, forcing a quick third-and-long for the Volunteers. Sampson found plenty of space up the middle on a 20-yard gain to end any hope of a quick stop for the Commodores. He ripped off a few more chunk rushes as the clock continued to drain, eventually ending the game.
Tennessee’s leading rusher was dominant all game, accounting for 178 yards on 7.1 yards per carry. His backfield mate, Iamaleava, had arguably the best game of his young career, passing for 257 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Lea, a proud alumnus of Vanderbilt Football, was “upset” postgame with the team’s sixth consecutive loss to Tennessee.
“Some of those guys won’t get another chance,” Lea said. “[I’m] very disappointed and [there’s] a lot for me to take away.”
Vanderbilt Football will now sit and wait until Dec. 8, when it receives its bowl-game placement.
