Vanderbilt Commodores football

The Vanderbilt Commodores football team represents Vanderbilt University in the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

Early success

Vanderbilt and the University of Nashville played the first college football game in the state of Tennessee in 1890. cite web
url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=F026
publisher=Tennessee Historical Society
accessdate=2006-11-29
title=College Football] In 1894 Vanderbilt was among the seven founding members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association. "Ibid."] Just after the turn of the century, the team enjoyed fairly substantial success, with a composite record of 20-3-2 from 1901-03. cite web
url=http://football.stassen.com/cgi-bin/records/fetch-team.pl?team=Vanderbilt
publisher=Stassen.com
accessdate=2006-11-29
title=All-Time Records for Vanderbilt] Even so, Dan McGugin's arrival as coach from his brother-in-law Fielding Yost's Michigan program in 1904 showed an immediate impact. The 1904 squad outscored its opposition by 474 to four in winning all nine games. cite web
url=http://footballencyclopedia.com/sechome.htm
title=Southeastern Conference
publisher=College Football Encyclopedia
accessdate=2006-12-08 ]

In 1922, Vanderbilt hosted the University of Michigan to inaugurate Dudley Field. The game ended in a 0–0 tie and figures prominently in the program's history. VU football historian Bill Traughber chronicles the event:

:The game between Vanderbilt and Michigan had a carnival-like atmosphere.

:Dignitaries and politicians were invited to participate at Dudley Field, the largest football-only stadium in the South at that time. The guest of honor for the dedication game was Cornelius Vanderbilt, the great-great grandson of the university's namesake.

:Accompanied by his wife, Vanderbilt arrived at Nashville's Union Station on the morning of the game, his first trip to the city. The day's first event was a luncheon for the young Vanderbilt couple, which was held at the Hermitage Hotel and hosted by Vanderbilt University Board of Trust.

:Thousands of Vanderbilt students and alumni met downtown for a parade with Tennessee Governor Alf Taylor riding in the lead automobile. Decorated in orange and black, their automobile began the parade at Twelfth and Broadway, weaving through the side streets to a reviewing stand at the foot of the Capitol Building. [ cite web
url=http://vucommodores.cstv.com/ot/history-corner-083006.html
author=Bill Traughber
title=CHC- Vandy Ties Michigan in 1922
publisher=Vanderbilt University
accessdate=2006-12-08 ]

A young, Earnest Albert Craft, born in 1898, employed with the construction team that built the Dudley Field wooden stands was in attendance the day of the game vs. Michigan. Earnest was called on to raise the first American flag during the national anthem. Later, Rev. Earnest Albert Craft would become city councilman of in the West Nashville area and 40 year pastor of Sylvan Park Free Will Baptist Church at 4701 Wyoming Avenue, Nashville, TN 37209, 615.292.0017. Clippings of this event are documented in archives of the old Nashville Banner newspaper. A copy of this newspaper account is held today by grandson by adoption, Albert D. Mitchell. Albert, named after E. A. Craft, lives on the west side of Nashville in Bellevue. He was a graduated of Cohn High School and later return to teach and coach at Cohn High School, finally retiring from the Metro Nashville School system in 1989.

In 1932, Vanderbilt—at the pinnacle of its athletics dominance in the South [As witnessed by its win/loss records to that date] —helped found the Southeastern Conference, with Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, Sewanee, Georgia Tech, and Tulane. [See Southeastern Conference for more.]

Growing difficulty

However, Vanderbilt football has not won a conference championship since the founding of the Southeastern Conference in 1932, and its last winning season was in 1982 under coach George MacIntyre. In its entire history, Vanderbilt has only competed in three bowl games (see below), with a combined all-time post-season record of 1–1–1.

It was in the 1970s and early 1980s that it seemed this trend could be abating, with two of Vanderbilt's post-season appearances coming in 1974 and 1982, and with several near-winning season records.

The last Commodore team with a winning record, the 1982 squad (with a record of 8–4), played in the Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition to the school's third all-time bowl appearance, the 1982 team's season-ending win against Tennessee, in which Vanderbilt quarterback Whit Taylor threw for 391 yards, marked a special season -- but a season that proved an exception to years following, when a return to previous levels of mediocrity saw a veritable merry-go-round of head coaches.

From the period 1982 to 2002, when Bobby Johnson was hired, Vanderbilt was led by six coaches, who averaged barely four years per coach. [Source: "Vanderbilt 2006 Football Media Guide"]

Recent Years

The Bobby Johnson era

Bobby Johnson was hired in 2002 as the head football coach. At the time, many questionedFact|date=October 2007 the University administration's decision to elevate a Division I-AA coach to what manyFact|date=October 2007 perceive as the nation's premier college football conference, the SEC. Johnson had previously coached at Furman University, a Southern Conference team, leading the Paladins to the Division I-AA title game in 2001, his final year. Vanderbilt administrative officials had pursued and offered the position initially to Gary Barnett and Tyrone Willingham, both of whom had steered small, private universities (Northwestern and Stanford, respectively) to football success. Both turned down the job for different reasons.fact|date=October 2008

The same critics that questioned Johnson's initial hiring also derided the loyalty given to Coach Johnson by the Vanderbilt administration after his first three seasons at the school led to three consecutive 2–9 records. During this time, however, Johnson was continuing to recruit players that had been passed over by major-power schools, but who Johnson and his staff believed could be molded into SEC-caliber players.

Radical administrative restructuring

Along with this concerted program-development, Johnson joined Vanderbilt's Chancellor E. Gordon Gee and Vice Chancellor David Williams II in creating what the Administration called "a new culture in college athletics" at Vanderbilt. The University Administration, with Johnson's public support, abolished the Department of Athletics as a separate entity within the University's administrative structure, along with the job of Athletics Director -- a first among universities in a major Division I-A athletic conference.

The Administration's loyalty to Johnson, which had paid dividends in his support for the radical changes in administration of the inter-collegiate athletics program also yielded on-the-field results in Johnson's fourth season at the helm of the Commodores.

Twenty-first Century

In 2005, Vanderbilt finished with a 5–6 record, the program's best finish since 1999. For the first time since 1982, and for the first time in Knoxville since 1975, Vanderbilt defeated its in-state rival, the Tennessee Volunteers, in a thrilling 28–24 victory.

All-SEC Quarterback Jay Cutler, the team's offensive captain that season and the offensive player of the year in the SEC, was selected 11th overall in the 2006 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos and named starting quarterback for the last five games of his rookie season.

In the 2006 season, Vanderbilt finished with a 4–8 record with sophomore Chris Nickson at quarterback. The 2006 team's peak performance came with a 24–22 defeat of conference rival #16 ranked Georgia at Sanford Stadium, the first time Vanderbilt had ever defeated a ranked opponent on the road. The team came within seconds of defeating Arkansas and Alabama in consecutive weeks.

In 2007, Vanderbilt upset #6 ranked South Carolina 17–6 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, beating a top 10 team for the first time in 33 years. It was the highest ranked team Vanderbilt had beaten since defeating #6 LSU in 1937, and came one week after losing 20–17 to #21 Georgia on the final play of the game in Nashville. In the following home game against Miami (Ohio), junior wide receiver Earl Bennett made history by breaking the SEC record for most career receptions. Vanderbilt would go on to win the game 24–13.

In 2008, after playing 5 games the Commodores are 5-0 for the first time since 1943, 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference for the first time since 1950, one victory away from being eligible for their first bowl appearance since 1982. In the 5th game, they defeated SEC rival Auburn for the first time since 1955, when backup quarterback Mackenzi Adams led them back from an early 13-point deficit.

Records

Win/loss records

As of December 2006, the Vanderbilt Commodores have won more games than they have lost. [Source: "Vanderbilt 2006 Football Media Guide" and media reports (for 2006 records)] However, records show that in the mid- and late-twentieth century, the Commodore football program experienced a considerable down-swing in success on the playing field. [Ibid.]

* All-time record: 537-527-50 (.505)
* Against current SEC teams: 179-340-22 (.345)
* Since 1950: 177-376-17 (.320)
* Under current head coach (Bobby Johnson, 2002-present): 15-43-0 (.259)
* Against SEC opponents under current head coach: 6-40-0 (.130)

Bowl records

:"Southeastern Conference games in bold, away games marked with @"

Year by Year Records

Hall of Fame

Vanderbilt Commodore football personnel have been inducted into the National Football Foundation's National College Football Hall of Fame. [According to the "Vanderbilt 2006 Football Media Guide".]

Players

Offensive player of the year

Best wide receiver

Coaches

Coach of the year

References

Links

* [http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/vand-m-footbl-main.html Official Vanderbilt Football Page]