Commodores stepping up defense
They had to preserve a one-score lead on the final possession in wins over Wake Forest, Arkansas and Mississippi, and all three times the Commodores came up with a big play to seal the win.
“We actually played pretty good on defense except for a couple of plays,” Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said Monday about their 31-23 win over Ole Miss. “We allowed them to cut back. They had to huge gains on plays like that. Otherwise, we played well, especially against the run.”
Against Wake Forest, Herdley Harrison made an 18-yard sack in the final minute to thwart a final scoring drive with the Commodores up four. Against Arkansas, Moses Osemwegie ended the game with an interception as the Dores nursed a 28-24 lead.
And last weekend against Ole Miss, Osemwegie came up with a sack, strip and fumble recovery after the Rebels drove to the Vanderbilt 16 trailing by eight.
“Right now, we’re playing with some confidence,” Johnson said. “That is the biggest thing.”
Entering the season, Vanderbilt knew defense would be a question after defensive end Jovan Haye and cornerback Domonique Morris left early for the NFL. Osemwegie earned preseason all-conference honors, but beyond that, there are few recognizable names on that unit.
But a group that looked shaky when Wake Forest running back Micah Andrews ran for 254 yards has come up with the big stops when necessary.
“They don’t go out their with their heads down,” Johnson said. “They expect to stop them. We don’t always do it, but they expect to stop them. At times, we play very well on defense.”
At Arkansas, Vanderbilt put together a goal-line stand in the first quarter, stopping the Razorbacks on four straight plays inside the Commodores 5. Against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt gave up 400 yards but allowed the Rebels to convert only four of 15 third-downs, a key reason why Vanderbilt won the time of possession battle by nearly 15 minutes.
“We talked about on putting emphasis on not waiting until the fourth quarter to finally make a stand,” Harrison said. “Unfortunately, we did it again, but we came out on top. We came out with the attitude of getting three-and-out.”
Vanderbilt has improved its run defense and limited Ole Miss to 124 yards on 28 carries, a total boosted by an unusual 53-yard touchdown by Mico McSwain that appeared headed for a loss before McSwain reversed field and looped around the entire defense to score. Without that play, the Rebels averaged 2.6 yards per carry.
“Every week, we try to make steady improvement,” Harrison said. “First week it was 254, Arkansas was 196, and last week would have been under 100 if we didn’t give up that one 50-yard touchdown. We are going to keep emphasizing stopping the run.”