Vanderbilt pulled another upset with a 17-7 win at Auburn, and here are some thoughts on that.

Vanderbilt’s heading to a bowl game and coach Clark Lea has to be the front-runner for Southeastern Conference coach of the year. After losing all nine games against Power 5 teams by 17 points a year ago, Vanderbilt has now qualified for a bowl—with three games to go. It’s the first time Vanderbilt’s been bowl-eligible since the 2018 season, and one more win would make for the first winning season since 2013 (coach James Franklin’s last).

It’s probably the most stunning turn-around in the country, and if the Commodores can pull another upset (that’s four already!) then Lea will likely be a national coach of the year contender, too.

They just find a way.

This wasn’t exactly a light-up-the-stat-sheet win.

Vanderbilt didn’t complete a pass in the second and third quarters, had a long run of seven yards and had a span of four drives between the end of the second half and the start of the first that netted 14 yards in 15 plays. (Somehow, the Commodores managed a first down in the midst of that). Yards per play went 5.6-to-3.7 in Auburn’s favor and the Commodores were just 4-of-16 on first downs.

And yet it goes in the books as a 17-7 win because…

… the defense that stopped the run and also got it done when it mattered…

Vanderbilt knew it had to stop the run and limit timely plays, and it would be hard to execute better than the Commodores did on Saturday.

The stat of the day was probably Auburn’s 2-of-13 on third downs. A big key was three sacks (they came from Miles Capers, Khordae Sydnor and Aeneas DiCosmo) and, though it’s hard to tell from TV, what looked like good defensive back play (Martel Hight and Jaylin Lackey had pass breakups).

And a week after Jarquez Hunter torched an outstanding Kentucky front seven for 278 of Kentucky’s 327 rushing yards, the Commodores held Hunter to 50 yards on 12 carries, and Auburn to 88 total.

… because special teams were enormous…

With the score tied at seven at half, the TV crew noted that punter Jesse Mirco (who had punted five times for a 54.8-yard average) might have been the game MVP to that point. He may not have been far off and even though Mirco’s average dipped with three second-half punts (he averaged 52.9 yards for the day), he might have been bigger in the second half. That’s because Mirco’s 44-yard, third-quarter boot pinned Auburn at its 2. That drive ended with Auburn punting from its 1, and Martel Hight scooting 39 yards with his lone return, which ended at the Tiger 21.

The offense stalled out, but Brock Taylor nailed a 31-yard field goal, giving Vanderbilt a 10-7 lead.

Other things of note:

Despite just one return, Hight did a good job of aggressively fielding kicks rather that giving Auburn chances to down balls near the goal line.Mirco placed three punts inside the 20.The only real blemish was a Taylor kickoff that went out of bounds near the goal line, setting Auburn up at its 35.

… and because Diego Pavia was good enough when it mattered.

It’s clear that the burst Pavia had earlier in the season, which turned third-and-whatever into a first down/touchdown/whatever Vanderbilt needed in amazing fashion, wasn’t there today. (More on that in a minute). And Saturday, Pavia’s passing failed, him, too, as he threw an uncharacteristic nine-straight incompletions in the middle of the game.

But what did Pavia do? He led the team on two scoring drives that he ended with scoring strikes—one, a perfectly-thrown touchdown down the sideline to AJ Newberrry and the other, a ball in the flat to Eli Stowers, who did the rest on a 4-yard reception that essentially clinched the game.

Vanderbilt just needed Pavia to make a couple of plays today and avoid mistakes—and that’s just what he did.

The defense is winning games.

Five games ago (the day Vanderbilt upset Alabama), the team’s biggest concern was whether the defense was good enough to keep the Commodores in games when the offense couldn’t after giving up 8.8 yards per play.

Since then, the Commodores have allowed 13 points (Kentucky), 14 (Ball State), 27 (Texas) and seven (Auburn) and have carried the day as the offense has struggled relative to what it did earlier in the year.

One key: the continued outstanding play of Randon Fontenette, who had three tackles (two-and-a-half for loss) and a pass break-up vs. Auburn.

There’s no explosiveness in the running game and that’s an issue.

This isn’t to knock Pavia or Sedrick Alexander, who are doing the best they can. But it’s clear neither is near 100%; Alexander even trotted out with a knee brace on the first drive, which he quickly discarded.

Anyway, running 38 times for 2.2 yards per carry, with a long run of 7, probably won’t cut it going forward. Vanderbilt doesn’t seem to want to use Newberry for extended work (for whatever reason) tried Moni Jones a bit, and Chase Gillespie some, and both were a little better.

And maybe a bye weeks solves some of that with letting guys heal, but in the meantime the Commodores face a terrific South Carolina defense next week. Safe to say offensive coordinator Tim Beck has his work cut out between now and then.

This was especially sweet for Bryan Longwell.

We documented Longwell's story of Auburn pulling his scholarship on Christmas Day earlier this week, leaving the then-senior with zero Division I offers with his last high school football having been played. About an hour after the game, Longwell went public with receipts and some early Christmas wishes for the Tiger staff:

The sophomore had four tackles in Vanderbilt's win on Saturday.