There are several words to describe what happened Saturday at Neyland Stadium – historic, decisive, disappointing, humbling.
Others are to be avoided. This is Sunday and KnoxTNToday is a family-friendly website.
Vanderbilt knocked down Tennessee and stepped on it, 45-24.
“Extremely disappointing second half that leads to an extremely disappointing ultimate result,” said Josh Heupel.
This was a new experience for the coach. His four previous teams defeated the Commodores. Three years ago, the Vols romped, 56-0.
This time Vandy did all the romping. It got a tying touchdown 12 seconds before halftime, totally dominated the third quarter, gave up a field goal in the fourth and slammed in two more touchdowns to be sure the Vols got the message.
Tennessee couldn’t contain Diego Pavia. Tennessee couldn’t block the blitz. The running game was snuffed out. Tennessee lost the line of scrimmage on offense and defense.
Vanderbilt gained 582 yards. Pavia passed for 268 yards and a touchdown. He ran for 165 yards and a score. He backed up what he said in the summer, that the Vols wouldn’t know what hit them come November.
“We can beat Tennessee literally any given Saturday.”
For the first time, Vanderbilt has 10 victories in a season. This might be the best Vandy team in a century or so. It pretends to think it belongs in the playoffs.
In case you are interested, success was purchased, not developed. Pavia, several other key players and at least four offensive coaches came to Nashville as a package from New Mexico State.
Retooling the offense was a brilliant move by coach Clark Lea. He was 1-23 against Southeastern Conference competition before he “adjusted” his staff.
Tennessee has an 8-4 record. The team is not as good as that sounds. It did not make consistent improvement. It almost beat Georgia but didn’t – and didn’t defeat any other really strong opponent. It made many of the same mistakes all season. It never achieved dependability on pass defense.
Heupel did not say this loss will lead to a fire drill. He did not say any assistants will be replaced. He did say he will evaluate the entire program.
“I’ll certainly take a hard look at all of it.”
Heupel said “the performance was not anywhere near the standard of what Tennessee football is.”
He said there were a lot of things the program had to deal with in the beginning and middle parts of the season. He didn’t get into specifics but he probably was talking about key injuries and Boo Carter.
“I told our players we’ve had some disappointing results, but this second half was extremely disappointing. Coaches and players, not just one.”
Defensive lineman Tyre West #42 tackles Vandy wide receiver Junior Sherrill #0 at Neyland Stadium on Saturday. (Photo By Andrew Ferguson/ Tennessee Athletics)
There were some Saturday examples.
DeSean Bishop, a warrior, scored two touchdowns in the first half. He finished with 98 rushing yards. He gained two in the second half. I don’t think the drop-off was his fault.
Joey Aguilar played quarterback with Commodores in his face or all around. It looked as if Vandy surprised all concerned with the blitz plan.
Joey was not ultra-accurate but he and Chris Brazzell combined for a 52-yard touchdown and he threw another strike that Mike Matthews dropped at the goal line.
Aguilar finished 29-of-44 for 299 yards. One of those completions was a sensational shoe-topper by freshman Radarious Jackson. Joey did not lose an interception.
Jalen McMurray was flagged for a late hit to Pavia’s head on an incomplete pass. It wasn’t a fierce blow but the penalty led directly to the Vandy touchdown a few seconds before intermission.
Heupel said what everybody knew – “not smart football.”
Pavia didn’t blow a lot of smoke after the game but he did wave goodbye to the Tennessee multitude.
Vandy fans (or maybe just his relatives) were chanting “Heisman, Heisman, Heisman.”
Why not?
Score by quarters:
Vanderbilt 7 14 10 14 – 45
Tennessee 7 14 0 3 – 24
Scoring summary:
- TENN – DeSean Bishop 2-yard run (Max Gilbert kick)
- VANDY – Sedrick Alexander 28 yd run (Brock Taylor kick)
- VANDY – Makhilyn Young 3 run (Taylor kick)
- TENN – Chris Brazzell 52 pass from Joey Aguilar (Gilbert kick)
- TENN – Bishop 35 run (Gilbert kick)
- VANDY – Tre Richardson 6 pass from Diego Pavia (Taylor kick)
- VANDY – Alexander 5 run (Taylor kick)
- VANDY – Taylor 35 field goal
- TENN – Gilbert 25 field goal
- VANDY – Pavia 24 run (Taylor kick)
- VANDY – Alexander 39 run (Taylor kick)
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com
“…success was purchased, not developed. Pavia, several other key players and at least four offensive coaches came to Nashville as a package from New Mexico State.” Definitely true, but this is where we are in college football. From my perch in Nashville, where I’ve watched Vandy for decades, I first thought NIL would finally prompt the “academic school” to leave the SEC, because I didn’t think its administration and supporters would direct their money into athletics, nor relax their vaunted admission policies, nor generally play the game. Boy, was I wrong. While their facilities are still modest in comparison, they HAVE upgraded considerably (in addition to the “investment” in players and coaches). Now the question is, will they sustain it. They’ve just extended Lea’s contract, and doubtless he got investment commitments in the deal. As UT people, we should be concerned where this is headed, unless we like having a competitive in-state rivalry.
Vol fans better get used to losing (Again) as the schedule just got tougher with 9 SEC games going forward. Heuple’s team beat ONE team with a winning record; ETSU. That’s right. From Johnson City. If major changes aren’t made, look for Heuple and boss Danny Boy(with all his “Talent Fee” add ons) to exit stage left this time next year when the Vols go 4-8. (still out with Danny over losing Tony V)
This was year FIVE. No excuses for that debacle. Tennessee (Fulmer) could have swallowed its pride and given Kiffin another chance (that he asked for) instead of hiring Cornbread. How stupid does that look now? Heuple apologists will say “At least we beat Florida @ Florida”! Check their record. The worst Florida team we’ve ever seen.
It is time to send the Uhaul. Do it now, and get an SEC quality head coach and staff. That awesome stadium and devoted fans deserve the very best. Raise your hand if you think we have that. If you don’t think UT deserves the best, you are party to the problem.
8-4 is great in some circles. Harvard, maybe. The Harvard of the South (some say) is 10-2 and clearly a better team than Tennessee. 8-4 gets coaches fired in some circles. Some would say, “be careful what you pray (and pay) for.” (See LSU) A very disappointing season for the Vols; much better is expected. Better, because we have grown accustomed to better by Heupel & Co. Can that be sustained? Only time will tell, so we have to just let time tell us. Marvin’s appraisal is as objective as we will get.
Virgil, Heuple’s performance at UCF declined steadily by the year. Look at the 2026 schedule and tell me how many wins you see. This is not working, never going to work. Heuple is not Major College Coaching material. Vandy made halftime adjustments, scored 24 in the second half. Tennessee made none (obviously) and scored 3. People need to stop defending and hoping Heuple can turn it around. After five years, with top players available through the portal, that “building process” no longer applies. Watch what Kiffin does in year ONE at Lsu. And Florida just hired a real football coach too. If most of the fans are not impressed with Heuple’s persona, do you think potential recruits/transfers are? No Leadership qualities. Period. I’m done with the Hype. After that debacle, Plowman should forego the Music City Bowl.
This one hurts.
I’m just glad Coach Cafego isn’t here to see this loss.
Keep up the good work, Marvin.