Inside Vanderbilt Football's Comeback Win Over Auburn

Around 10 minutes after the final whistle blew, a “who you with?” chant sprung out so loud in the half-full stands of FirstBank Stadium that it was audible within the back hallways of Vanderbilt’s stadium. The stadium was as loud and invested in Saturday’s game as it had been all season. It was that type of joy that was warranted for Clark Lea and this group on Saturday.  

Vanderbilt football is alive and well despite walking through what appeared to be the valley of the shadow of death on Saturday afternoon. It trailed 17-3 one point and allowed Auburn back into the drivers’ seat after taking a 24-23 lead that appeared to change the outcome of Saturday night’s game, but it endured every punch Auburn threw and stayed in the fight with a relentlessness that appears to be unique to this team. 

In the second half, Eli Stowers took a massive hit over the middle on a late-fourth quarter drive, sat on the field for around a minute, popped up and walked off with trainers. A few plays later, Stowers was back on the field going back into the fight. The moment was significant for Vanderbilt in the regard that Stowers went for 12 receptions and 122 yards on the afternoon, but appeared to mean more than just his availability. 

“It is [a microcosm of the team’s effort],” Lea said of the sequence in which Stowers got back up. “He took a bunch of hits, and he's a warrior, and he's tough. I'm just in awe. I think what he's doing there is absolutely a representation of Vanderbilt football. That's who we are. So he gutted it out and helped us win a big game.”

That play appeared to encapsulate the spirit of what it took for Vanderbilt to gut it out on Saturday. At times it was down on the mat. At times it felt as if this thing was nearly out of reach for this Vanderbilt team. In the end that had about as much of a chance of happening as Stowers staying on the sideline for the rest of the afternoon. 

This group of fighters–which Lea said is “mature”--wasn’t going down easily. Perhaps it would have in the past, but not today. 

“It takes a lot [of resilience],” Vanderbilt running back Sedrick Alexander–who scored two touchdowns on Saturday–said. “I feel like the team went deep down today. I feel like we were in a position to where we could’ve held our head down, but we did some great things out there.” 

Alexander supported the idea that Vanderbilt was far from perfect on Saturday, but made the timely play consistently enough to leave Saturday’s game with a win against Auburn for the second-consecutive game. Last season that included bowl eligibility, this season included this group staying alive in the College Football Playoff race. Both included a level of maturity that high-level teams need to have. 

Vanderbilt wasn’t at its best physically. It appeared to be dead in the water. Those who know this team know not to count them out from doing what it did Saturday, though. That says something about it. 

“It takes a lot of maturity,” Vanderbilt linebacker Bryan Longwell said of Saturday’s comeback win. “I think in other years, past years we would’ve cracked under that first half. I think it takes a strong mentality to be able to rally back from all the combos that they landed on us early in the game. I think it really shows as a testament to how much we’ve grown as a program and how much we trust and believe in each other.”