WATCH: Vanderbilt Dominates First Quarter Against Tennessee With Incredible Plays
The time for talking was over when Vanderbilt took the field on Saturday against Tennessee.
All week leading into this rivalry showdown, Commodores coaches and players discussed this matchup and how they vowed things would be different in this iteration after the previous three under Clark Lea have been anything but competitive.
A win for Vanderbilt would put a bow on what has been a special season, but it would also announce themselves as a program on the rise with things going in the right direction after prolonged years of struggles.
The Commodores were ready from literally opening kick in this one, taking an early lead against their in-state rivals when sophomore wide receiver Junior Sherrill took the kickoff back for a touchdown to give themselves a 7-0 lead.
OPENING KICKOFF TD pic.twitter.com/ap2ylnoHPM
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) November 30, 2024
Despite what analytics might say, it's hard to convince players on the field that momentum isn't a real thing, and with FirstBank Stadium rocking, Vanderbilt's defense was able to force a fumble two plays into Tennessee's drive.
Set up on the Volunteers' 26-yard line, the Commodores were in business to take full advantage.
It took a little bit, seven plays to be exact, but Vanderbilt was able to punch it into the end zone with a great run by Sedrick Alexander to go up 14-0 and put real pressure on their rivals who have everything to lose if they aren't able to leave Nashville with a win.
SEDDY FOR 6️⃣ pic.twitter.com/d0IRtl6WgM
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) November 30, 2024
But, Tennessee was able to put their early struggles behind them and answer with a score.
They showed off the capability of their explosive offense by scoring a touchdown on a drive that took five plays.
With the game now 14-7 in favor of the Commodores, they needed to stifle the momentum the Volunteers were starting to build after they went down the field and scored easily.
Vanderbilt did that, marching from their 27-yard line into Tennessee territory where they had to settle for a field goal, but put themselves up double digits.
The Commodores had one more great play in them before the first quarter was over, stopping the Volunteers on a fourth down run from their own territory that gave Vanderbilt the ball in a great position to score.
4th. Down. Stop. 😤 pic.twitter.com/KXZOjfDKNX
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) November 30, 2024
It was about as good of a quarter for the Commodores as they could have asked for, and coming into this matchup as the clear underdogs, they will need to keep up this level of play for the remainder of the game if they are going to take down their archrivals.
