Vanderbilt Commodores Football: 2015 Season Preview

Nov 29, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Josh Dobbs (11) is sacked by Vanderbilt Commodores defensive lineman Adam Butler (69) and linebacker Stephen Weatherly (45) during the first half at Vanderbilt Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Defensive Breakdown

When Vanderbilt hired Derek Mason in January of 2014, their defensive expectations were high, as Mason was an extremely successful defensive coordinator while at Stanford, but as the season progressed, the Commodore defense looked awful and the Stanford defense still looked strong without Mason.

In Mason’s defense, however, it wasn’t all the defense’s fault. The Commodores allowed 33.3 points per game last season, 106th in the FBS, but their lack of success could be attributed to the extremely inefficient and unsuccessful Commodore offense.

Constantly, throughout last season, the Commodore offense were quickly going three and out, three and out, which eventually took a tole on a team’s defensive energy level. It also didn’t help that the Commodore offense was literally a turnover machine in 2014. It wasn’t rare for an opponent to start their drive on the Commodore side of the field, which typically resulted in points.

Enough with the excuses, though, the Commodore defense in 2014 was bad. I mean real bad. The Commodores were romped throughout the season, and at the end of the season, Mason knew changes needed to be made, as he appointed himself as the new defensive coordinator of the Commodores.

The Mason appointment is a big improvement over last season’s coordinator because Mason knows defense. He doesn’t know how to be a head coach, but he sure knows defensive scheming and coordinating.

At the end of last season, Mason took over the defensive coordinator role in the last game against Tennessee. Mason’s Commodores allowed only one offensive touchdown that game and looked much improved in comparison to the week prior.

I don’t know what happened or what he changed, but I liked it. It got results, and hopefully we will see more positive results from Mason’s defense this upcoming season.

The Commodores are also returning nine of their eleven defensive starters this fall, but unlike the offense, this defensive group is young and talented. It will be very interesting to see how this defense grows in the off season, as they await a very high powered offensive attack in Western Kentucky to open up the season.

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