Monday musings: The good and bad of Saturday, playing-time surprises, LSU, more

Here are some thoughts following a weekend of football that included Vanderbilt's 28-9 win over Austin Peay. Happy Festivus Monday! According to the Internet, fans had plenty of grievances about the Commodores' Saturday night performance. So in the interest of finding common ground with my audience, I'll start with some of my own. On the whole, lack of discipline and focus were problems. There were several significant penalties, one of which wiped out a touchdown run. It was not in step with what I saw in camp, but maybe the hints were there on Tuesday, when coach Clark Lea was livid with how his team performed in practice. Offensively, I wasn't that impressed with what I saw. There wasn't much explosiveness in the offense—just two of 62 snaps went for 20 yards or more. The Commodores should have been able to run for more than 4.9 yards per play. There were drops of catchable balls. The offense should have been able to put up at least 30 points at a minimum; it accounted for 19. Defensively, I didn't like the start. At half, it had the feel of a game that might be decided into the fourth quarter with the way Austin Peay's Chris Parson led the Governors' offense. Pass coverage on the touchdown was awful. Lea talks about synching up offense, defense and special teams. The best evidence the Commodores didn't do that comes by looking at their average starting field position: Vanderbilt's possessions started, in order at its 25, its 8, its 12 and its 24 in the first half. I the second half, those came at its 45, 36, 22 and 9. There's an argument that it's an FCS team and they played down to the opponent. It's not apples to apples because (according to Jeff Sagarin), this year's Austin Peay would be favored by about 13 points over last year's Charleston Southern, but the Commodores averaged scored 45 points, had 481 yards of total offense and averaged 8.2 yards per snap in last year's opener compared to 29, 396 and 6.3 this year. On the whole, I'd give the performance a "D-plus." It wasn't a failure—they won the game and by the fourth quarter it was pretty clear that was happening—but there was certainly a feeling afterwards that a lot was left on the table, a sentiment that Lea shared in his postgame press conference. If you'd like a more sunny-side-up outlook… While the execution got in the way at times, Vanderbilt mostly won the way I figured it would, which was to use its physical advantage on the lines of scrimmage to wear Austin Peay out. It worked. The Governors ran 16 third-quarter plays for 28 yards and had two first downs, running eight plays for 29 and no first downs in the fourth quarter. At no point did they threaten to score, which probably had a lot to do with Vanderbilt rushing 16 times and throwing just seven in the second half. And credit the Governors for some of the field-position things, too. People will remember Austin Peay's one bad punt (because of a bad snap) but the other four all went over 50 yards. None went for touchbacks and two were fair-caught. In short, the ugliness of the game overshadowed that Vanderbilt won the game in the way in the boring fashion that the staff had hinted it might do: run the ball a lot (38 times to 25 passes) and lean on defense and special teams to win the games—which it did. There's also the thought that it's better to be the team that's played a game rather than the one that hasn't, which didn't hurt the Governors. Not that it makes anyone a lot happier, but at least some of it could be foreseen under the circumstances. The season will tell how good the Commodores are, but I believe they're a better team than we saw on Saturday and that we'll see a better version vs. Delaware. Playing-time notes and surprises I always wonder what changes between the last we see of practice and the opener (this year, that gap was exactly two weeks) and how that dictates snap counts. And there were a few things that, had you asked me two weeks ago, I wouldn't have expected to see. The first was not seeing freshman running back Evan Hampton get at least a carry or two. I know to discount fall camp happenings greatly because a lot of times, making plays against a fourth-team defense isn't a great indication that'll translate to games. In Hampton's case, I don't think his terrific camp was a product of poor competition; I think there's real ability there. PFF did not list Hampton as getting an offensive snap, though Vanderbilt's participation report did list him as playing; I presume that came on special teams (which PFF did not chart) as Hampton was listed on the kickoff return depth chart. Walter Taylor—probably helped in terms of opportunity by the injury to Cole Spence—got nine reps on Saturday in his first year at tight end. A month ago, I expected Cole Adams to get a lot more than the three snaps he got. But again, Adams missed a couple of weeks with various ailments in August and that probably cost him on Saturday. Nor did Alabama guard transfer Micah DeBose see time. DeBose appeared in line for starting duties early in August but an injury set him back. He was listed as the second-team strong guard behind Kevo Wesley (37 snaps), the playing time went to Gunnar Givens (25). Cade McConnell (who played all 64 snaps) got all the time at the other guard. PFF listed Beau Johnson with 18 snaps at left guard, but I think those came at tackle, where Orion Irving (46 snaps) started. PFF listed Mitchell Smith as a left tackle but he started the game as a jumbo tight end. Smith was wearing No. 91 after wearing No. 77 in camp (and also having that number on the depth chart). Smith, quarterback Jared Curtis (18 snaps), safety Mason Lewis (18) and cornerback Bishop Starling (two) and Hampton were the only five true freshmen to play. That wasn't a huge surprise, though I thought wide receiver Kahden Smith might see a snap or two. Temple defensive line transfer Khalil Poteat, a mid-August roster addition, got two snaps. So did Oklahoma State transfer cornerback Jaylin Davies, who got healthy midway through camp. Center Keegan Weschler was listed on the participation report, but not in PFF's snap counts. That marks the first game action for Weschler, who was a walk-on who's been a key part of practice depth. Thoughts on other football Love it or hate it (and I think most of America outside of Louisiana probably hated it), LSU won the weekend. The Tigers had to endure a weather delay postponed kickoff to 8:40 Central (the latest kickoff time in school history) but absolutely took it to Clemson with a 51-10 demolition of the other Tigers. LSU never took its foot off the gas, with coach Lane Kiffin going for a 2-point conversion up 41 in the second half, and out-gained Clemson, 644-145. That was the crown jewel of the SEC's 16-0 weekend. The closest call came when Auburn stopped Baylor's 2-point conversion inches from the goal line with nine seconds left, escaping Atlanta with a 17-16 win. Auburn's offensive line had fits blocking for Byrum Brown, who threw three picks and no touchdowns in his Tiger debut. The week's biggest upset was Rutgers (on Thursday) losing to Massachusetts (0-12 last year) as about a 30-point favorite. Michigan—nearly as big a favorite—needed a last-second Hail Mary to top Western Michigan, 13-12, in the weekend's most-talked-about play. Other Week 1 upsets: Tulsa beat a rebuild-portal-heavy Oklahoma State team (24-10) and Colorado was a 14-13 winner at Georgia Tech, while there were three FCS-on-FBS upsets in The Citadel over Charlotte (43-41), Idaho State over Utah (29-17) and Tarleton State beating Bowling Green, 20-13. (Oddsmakers had Bowling Green a 2 1/2-point favorite, though the analytical model I run had TSU favored by a point and a half.) Delaware--Vanderbilt's foe next week--walloped Merrimack, 42-7 on Saturday. Ever thought about starting a business? Feeling burned out in your career, concerned about job security or capped income? Or maybe you're simply looking to diversify your income, build another business, or create something beyond your W-2. Jordan Black (sponsor of football season at Vandy247), founder of Beyond a W-2, spent 10 years as a public school teacher before becoming an entrepreneur and building a multi-million-dollar franchise business. 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