Rejoice! Coming off a bye week, the Vanderbilt Commodores finally got their first win of the season. To be fair to Derek Mason’s team, it was also their first game against a non-Power Five school. After all, two of their first three games came against the Georgia Bulldogs and LSU Tigers, a brutal start to the season.
At the same time, to be unfair to them, the Northern Illinois Huskies are not a good team. And they only won the game 24-18. As a result, any hopes of moving up in our SEC Power Rankings were quickly dashed with such an ugly victory. Vandy joins the Vols to help make Tennessee the worst state in the conference at this moment.
The good news is the Commodores do have some weapons. Ke’Shawn Vaughn was back to his old self in this game, and despite how ugly they looked, a win is a win. Add in the fact that Riley Neal is getting more efficient, and this team has some positives.
But coming up, they have a huge opportunity at the Ole Miss Rebels. Pulling off the upset puts this team in great position to make a bowl, as their next game would be at home against the UNLV Rebels to get them to 3-3. With the Missouri Tigers at home and the South Carolina Gamecocks to follow, this next stretch will define them.