Vanderbilt football survives scare against Hawaii, wins season opener
3-3 minutes 8/27/2023
Vanderbilt football got a scare Saturday against Hawaii in its season-opening game at FirstBank Stadium. The defense struggled to prevent chunk plays, but the Commodores were able to escape Week 0 with a 35-28 victory under third-year coach Clark Lea.
Vanderbilt won its season opener for the second straight season.
The Commodores played a sloppy game after inclement weather delayed kickoff by 1 hour, 40 minutes. The defense struggled mightily to defend downfield passes. Hawaii, perhaps playing inspired following the deadly wildfires that devastated the Hawaiian island Maui, outgained the Commodores 391-297, but Vanderbilt made several big plays on offense and defense to offset any losses, including two De'Rickey Wright interceptions, a Jayden McGowan 97-yard kickoff return touchdown and a red-zone stop on fourth down.
Wright's second interception of the game secured the victory with 1:43 to play.
The two starting quarterbacks, Vanderbilt's AJ Swann and Hawaii's Brayden Schager, combined for just four incompletions in 29 attempts in the first half. Both quarterbacks repeatedly had open throws.
As productive as the passing offenses were for both teams, the run games struggled. Vanderbilt's offensive line struggled to consistently generate space for its trio of running backs: Patrick Smith, Chase Gillespie and Sedrick Alexander. Hawaii, too, gained very little in its run game but still outrushed the Commodores 40-39.
While Swann was successful passing, finishing 19-for-30 for 238 yards and three TDs, but he did take some sacks.
Will Sheppard caught two of Swann's touchdown passes.
During one play in the third quarter, Swann was under duress and scrambled before finding Gamarion Carter near midfield. The play was originally called for an illegal forward pass but overturned on review. Later in the drive, Swann found freshman London Humphreys for a fourth-and-7 touchdown.
Continuing a trend from the 2022 season, Vanderbilt's pass defense struggled to generate pass rush and adequately defend downfield.
Schager had plenty of time to throw and frequently tested the Commodores' defensive backs downfield.
Vanderbilt did make a few big plays on defense. Wright's first interception came in the end zone, BJ Anderson had a pass breakup deep downfield and Nate Clifton had a key quarterback hurry on a fourth-down stop in the third quarter.
Vanderbilt football got a scare Saturday against Hawaii in its season-opening game at FirstBank Stadium. The defense struggled to prevent chunk plays, but the Commodores were able to escape Week 0 with a 35-28 victory under third-year coach Clark Lea.
Vanderbilt won its season opener for the second straight season.
The Commodores played a sloppy game after inclement weather delayed kickoff by 1 hour, 40 minutes. The defense struggled mightily to defend downfield passes. Hawaii, perhaps playing inspired following the deadly wildfires that devastated the Hawaiian island Maui, outgained the Commodores 391-297, but Vanderbilt made several big plays on offense and defense to offset any losses, including two De'Rickey Wright interceptions, a Jayden McGowan 97-yard kickoff return touchdown and a red-zone stop on fourth down.
Wright's second interception of the game secured the victory with 1:43 to play.
The two starting quarterbacks, Vanderbilt's AJ Swann and Hawaii's Brayden Schager, combined for just four incompletions in 29 attempts in the first half. Both quarterbacks repeatedly had open throws.
As productive as the passing offenses were for both teams, the run games struggled. Vanderbilt's offensive line struggled to consistently generate space for its trio of running backs: Patrick Smith, Chase Gillespie and Sedrick Alexander. Hawaii, too, gained very little in its run game but still outrushed the Commodores 40-39.
While Swann was successful passing, finishing 19-for-30 for 238 yards and three TDs, but he did take some sacks.
Will Sheppard caught two of Swann's touchdown passes.
During one play in the third quarter, Swann was under duress and scrambled before finding Gamarion Carter near midfield. The play was originally called for an illegal forward pass but overturned on review. Later in the drive, Swann found freshman London Humphreys for a fourth-and-7 touchdown.
Continuing a trend from the 2022 season, Vanderbilt's pass defense struggled to generate pass rush and adequately defend downfield.
Schager had plenty of time to throw and frequently tested the Commodores' defensive backs downfield.
Vanderbilt did make a few big plays on defense. Wright's first interception came in the end zone, BJ Anderson had a pass breakup deep downfield and Nate Clifton had a key quarterback hurry on a fourth-down stop in the third quarter.
Players mentioned in this article
A.J. Clark
Khari Vanderbilt
Aaron Wright
AJ Swann
Brayden Schager
Patrick Smith
Chase Gillespie
Sedrick Alexander
Abdul Carter
London Humphreys
BJ Anderson
Recent Stories
How a Wisconsin legend got his German protégé into Badgers pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Marlon Werthmann put his life on hold for the opportunity in front of him Friday at the McClain Center.Werthmann — a 6-foot-4, 290-pound offensive ...
Why former Wisconsin football running back Braelon Allen didn't run the 40 at pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Braelon Allen’s sweat covered his shirt and dripped off his beard as he approached a group of reporters Friday.The former University of Wisconsin football ...
How can UW recruit its best class ever? It starts with these five prospects
By Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Jedd Fisch has lofty recruiting goals at Washington. He didn’t waste any time laying out his expectations to “do ...
Texas football kicks off spring practice Tuesday. We answer 24 questions for the 2024 team
Things certainly look fresh for the 2024 college football season, especially on the Texas campus.There’s a new conference for the Longhorns, if you haven’t heard. ...
College Football Playoff: Conferences solve their differences (for now) and agree on general framework for 2026 and beyond
The FBS conferences and Notre Dame agreed on Friday to continue the College Football Playoff beyond the 2025 season, signing a memorandum of understanding that paves ...
Latest Player Notes
How a Wisconsin legend got his German protégé into Badgers pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Marlon Werthmann put his life on hold for the opportunity in front of him Friday at the McClain Center.Werthmann ...
Why former Wisconsin football running back Braelon Allen didn't run the 40 at pro day
Mar 15, 2024
Braelon Allen’s sweat covered his shirt and dripped off his beard as he approached a group of reporters Friday.The ...
How can UW recruit its best class ever? It starts with these five prospects
By Andy Yamashita
Seattle Times staff reporter
Jedd Fisch has lofty recruiting goals at Washington. He didn’t waste any ...
Texas football kicks off spring practice Tuesday. We answer 24 questions for the 2024 team
Things certainly look fresh for the 2024 college football season, especially on the Texas campus.There’s a new conference ...
College Football Playoff: Conferences solve their differences (for now) and agree on general framework for 2026 and beyond
The FBS conferences and Notre Dame agreed on Friday to continue the College Football Playoff beyond the 2025 season, signing ...
Ball security, leadership key as Aztecs look to identify starting quarterback
San Diego State seemingly auditions a new starting quarterback on an annual basis.In the past 12 years, the Aztecs have opened ...
Results and more: A look at what happened at Penn State football’s Pro Day inside Holuba Hall
Most of those at Penn State’s Pro Day Friday were relatively quiet throughout the afternoon’s workouts, but there was one ...
Defense dominates first two weeks of Oregon State spring practice as Beavers ready for 2-week breather
CORVALLIS – Oregon State hit the break of spring practices Saturday, not exactly the midpoint but a good place to assess ...
Dillon Gabriel to have similar input, autonomy as Bo Nix had in Oregon’s offense
Published Mar. 16, 2024, 6:26 p.m.By James CrepeaEUGENE — Dillon Gabriel will have much of the same autonomy as Bo Nix did ...
Two transfers, one underclassman who impressed in Missouri football's spring game
With that, spring camp’s a wrap.Missouri football held its Black & Gold spring game Saturday in front of a healthy crowd ...