Commodores try to build on opening victory

Mission No. 2 starts this week: Win a Southeastern Conference road game.

With the Commodores 24-20 season-opening victory against Wake Forest, coach Bobby Johnson recorded his first win away from home since taking over the program in 2002, a span of 15 games. Not only was it the Dores’ first road victory, it was the first season-opening victory since 1997.

Vanderbilt will go for another milestone this week when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark. The Commodores are 0-12 on the road in SEC games under Johnson and have lost 16 straight, recording their last SEC road victory against Kentucky in 2000.

“It is human nature to feel good about what you accomplished,” Johnson said. “You have remind them that if you keep thinking about Wake Forest, it is going to be too late to beat Arkansas. You have to get on it right away.”

Vanderbilt’s win over Wake Forest was keyed by the play of senior quarterback Jay Cutler, who considered jumping to the NFL after his junior season. Cutler calmly led a four-play, 49-yard touchdown drive in the latter stages of the fourth quarter that led to the win and an unfamiliar 1-0 start.

Cutler has put together a solid resume at Vanderbilt and was voted preseason First-Team All-SEC by the coaches this year, but the one thing missing in his career had been fourth-quarter comebacks. Against Wake Forest, Cutler threw for 276 yards and ran for 89, but more important, came through with the game on the line.

“We executed,” Johnson said. “That was the key. Everybody, not just Jay. We threw a nice little five-yard pass and Earl Bennett turned it into a 25-yard gain. That gave us the luxury to run or pass. It was a lot easier drive to execute. We passed it once, ran it twice and got it into the end zone.”

The biggest concern for Vanderbilt heading into the Arkansas game is its run defense. The Dores surrendered 274 yards against the Demon Deacons, including 254 yards to Wake’s second-string tailback Micah Andrews, who started in place of the suspended Chris Barclay.

Vanderbilt will be facing a team that features three different runners who gained over 100 yards in the season opener. Felix Jones (137), Peyton Hillis (130) and De’Arrius Howard (120) led an Arkansas rushing attack that compiled 483 yards and five touchdowns against Division 1-AA Missouri State, the most for Arkansas since 1975.

“We don’t have a choice but to put the Wake Forest win behind us,” linebacker Moses Osemwegie said. “Arkansas is a good team that is going to try to run the ball like they did last week.”