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Aug 30, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores running back Sedrick Alexander (28) hurdles over Charleston Southern Buccaneers cornerback Jayden Hancock (30) during the first half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Sedrick Alexander Keeps Hurdling, Grinning and Believing After Saturday Performance

Originally posted on Vanderbilt Commodores on SI
By Joey Dwyer | Last updated Aug 31, 2025 9:00 AM ET

Nashville—When Sedrick Alexander stands in front of the podium and gets that grin like he’s back in his days as a reality TV star on Friday Night Tykes, he’s likely reminiscing on a moment that elicited a greater response as it happened.

If Alexander were to spend his Saturday night grinning for each of the plays that he made on Saturday night, he’d likely have pushed Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea for the longest press conference of the night in Vanderbilt’s newly-renovated media room.

The Vanderbilt running back hopes to have more impactful performances than the one he had and more than his fair share of highlights in his junior season, but he’s not taking his Saturday performance–in which he ran for 83 yards with 6.9 yards per carry and caught a 26-yard touchdown–for granted.

“This is probably one of my best first games I’ve ever had,” Alexander said. “I feel like today was just a starting point. I feel like we’ve got the rest of this season to go and I can’t keep my head on all these good runs.”

Looking back at what he did Saturday won’t do the Vanderbilt running back much good as he prepares for Vanderbilt’s Saturday litmus test against Virginia Tech, but taking a second to reflect on what he’d done immediately after the game didn’t seem to phase him.

Perhaps Alexander’s biggest grin of all came as he recalled gliding through the air as Charleston Southern defensive back Champ Brantly dove and hit the ground without touching the Vanderbilt back. Alexander has always had a knack for the hurdle. He’s still working on perfecting it, though.

“I’m surprised he didn’t see me,” Alexander said. “I had some build up, that was probably the most buildup I’ve ever had on a hurdle. But, yeah, I don’t know, there’s something about these hurdles. I just be hurdling. It’s just instinct.”

Alexander’s instincts have netted him highlight plays and hurdles in Vanderbilt’s 2023 win over Alabama A&M as well as its upset victory over Virginia Tech last season, but he hasn’t often countered those plays like he did on Saturday.

The main act for the Vanderbilt running back came on a 26-yard touchdown reception in Vanderbilt’s newly-renovated south end zone that looked more reminiscent of a play that a big-bodied receiver would make than a college running back.

Alexander has always said that he can catch, though. Perhaps he gained a few more believers with that one, though.

“I feel like me catching the ball is something that I’ve always been doing, but when I get to the sideline and people are telling me ‘great catch! Man, that was a great catch!’ I’m like ‘dang, it must have been better than what I thought it was,’” Alexander said. “I can’t tell you what I saw, but I know that the quarterback told me that he wasn’t going to go to me, but then he was like ‘s***, Sedrick over there, I’ll throw it to him.’”

Perhaps the Texas native will forget about all this in the morning and will wait until the offseason to grin while reflecting upon it again, but he won’t forget to carry his belief with him everywhere he goes.

For all the talk of Vanderbilt needing to recruit a running back in the offseason, for all the talk that Alexander wouldn’t be the future of the program’s backfield, he’s still here. He feels as if it should be easy to see why.

“It’s not too many running backs that can go out there, catch the ball, block and run,” Alexander said, “And be efficient at it.”

This article first appeared on Vanderbilt Commodores on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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