#19 Vanderbilt upsets #13 auburn in sec action

For years, Vanderbilt football has been a joke.  The college itself is far from a laughing stock, of course, with its high academic standards and impressive list of graduates including literary heavyweights like James Dickey and Robert Penn Warren.  That doesn’t mean much in the SEC, however, where many of the big “football factories” take what can charitably be described as a less rigorous approach to academics. 

Not only has Vandy football been bad for years, but they team has long been notorious for simply not competing.  That’s all changed over the past few years under former Furman head coach Bobby Johnson.  Johnson took on a similar challenge at Furman, and made the Paladins a 1-AA powerhouse despite their academic superlatives.  Clearly if anyone could achieve the same feat at Vanderbilt, he was the man.  Since assuming the Commodores coaching job in 2001, he’s rebuilt the program from the ground up.  Improvement has come steadily but incrementally—an upset here and there, and improved level of competitiveness week after week.  Despite obvious upgrades in all phases of the program, they didn’t translate into a better W/L record in the rugged SEC.

Until now.  Vanderbilt improved their record to 5-0 on Saturday with a 14-13 home victory over Auburn.  The last time Vandy started the season with five consecutive victories was during WW II (1943 to be specific).  After falling behind 13-0 nothing in the first quarter, the Commodore defense stepped up big and shut down Auburn for the rest of the game.  Meanwhile, the offense began to peck away at the lead with a TD in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.  The victory was no fluke—Vandy held the edge in total yardage, passing yardage and were outgained on the ground by a mere 4 yards.  They also held a time of possession edge and played a much more intelligent and disciplined game—as evidenced by their 5 penalties for 37 yards compared to Auburn’s 11 for 87 yards.

The result was perhaps the biggest win in the history of Vanderbilt football.  The historical significance of the victory is staggering—it represented Vandy’s first win over a ranked opponent since 1956, and their first win over Auburn since 1955.  The team is now one win from becoming bowl eligible, which they haven’t done since 1982—the nation’s longest active “bowl eligibility” run of futility.  The win was their third in the SEC, marking the first time in 25 years that they’ve enjoyed a 3 game conference winning streak.  And there’s been nothing easy about their schedule—all five wins have come against 1-A/FBS schools including a road win at Ole Miss and a home win against a tough South Carolina team.

Vandy has a decent shot of extending their successful run—and locking up bowl eligibility—as they travel to play 1-4 Mississippi State next Saturday.  They’ll then face what will likely be their toughest challenge of the year on October 17th as they head to Athens for a game against #11 Georgia.  After that, they return home for a game against another vastly improved institution with high academic standards as Duke comes to Nashville. Auburn, who dropped to 4-2 on the year with the loss, hosts a struggling Arkansas team next weekend before a bye week.  After that, they’re on the road for two games against West Virginia and Ole Miss.