A dominating defensive effort and a turnover-free evening helped Vanderbilt to an easy 55-0 victory over Alcorn State at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday evening.
Vanderbilt held the visiting Braves to just 1.6 yards per play and six first downs (three by penalties) on 44 snaps.
It was the Commodores’ first shutout since 2019.
Alcorn State didn’t cross midfield all evening and had fewer yards of total offense (71) than Vanderbilt’s Martel Hight (127) had on punt returns.
Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia completed 10-of-13 throws for 83 yards and rushed 13 times for 51 yards and a score.
He was replaced at the start of the fourth quarter by Nate Johnson, who raced for a 56-yard touchdown on his first snap.
After the Braves’ sixth drive of three plays or less, Hight took a Franklin Rogers punt and raced 57 yards for a score with 12:17 left.
Six seconds later, Vanderbilt’s Alan Wright closed out the scoring with his first career touchdown on an 18-yard interception return of a Roderick Hartsfield Jr. throw.
AJ Newberry scored on a 20-yard run on the longest play of the night for either team, giving the Commodores a 34-0 lead with 2:37 left in the third quarter.
The Commodores scored on every first-half possession and led 27-0 at the break thanks to a 205-28 edge in total yards.
Vanderbilt got a Brock Taylor 35-yard field goal with 5:15 left in the first quarter to open the scoring.
On the Braves’ ensuing drive, Vanderbilt’s Linus Zunk popped quarterback Tyler Macon as he was throwing, with CJ Taylor returning it 23 yards to the ASU 17.
On the next play, tight end Eli Stowers took an end-around and found tight end Cole Spence open for a touchdown toss with 2:40 left in the quarter.
After another ASU punt, Pavia led another methodical drive ending on his 5-yard keeper off a fake for a 17-0 advantage.
Sedrick Alexander’s 2-yard run and Taylor’s 46-yard field goal accounted for the half’s final points.
–Field Level Media