NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Talk about seniority, Vanderbilt
has it in Jordan Matthews, the most prolific receiver in SEC
history.
So, how fitting that as the leader of the
most successful senior class in Commodores history, it was Matthews who
would make the play to save Senior Day in Vanderbilt's thrilling 23-21
win here Saturday over visiting Wake Forest.
Trailing
the upset-minded Demon Deacons (4-8) by one point with just over a
minute to play, the Commodores (8-4) faced fourth down with 11 yards
needed to keep a final drive of desperation alive. Vanderbilt senior
quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels lofted a pass to Matthews, who arose
above two Demon Deacons defenders draped all over him to come down with
an improbable reception at the Wake Forest 23-yard line.
Four plays later, senior kicker Carey Spear would
nail a 38-yard field goal with 39 seconds to play to give Vanderbilt
consecutive years with at least eight wins for the first time in program
history since the 1927-28 seasons.
"I still don't
know how Jordan Matthews made that catch," Vanderbilt coach James
Franklin said of the play that thrilled the 33,019 that attended the
sun-splashed game at Vanderbilt Stadium.
"Schematically, we shouldn't have thrown the ball
there," he added. "That's who he is, though. Jordan Matthews had an
unbelievable catch that put us in position to win the
game."
Matthews
said that Carta-Samuels lofted the ball nicely so that he would be the
only player possible of catching the ball.
"Even if
I'm not able to come down with it, at least get (pass interference) or
something like that," Matthews said of the catch. "That is just an older
guy like Austyn playing with savvy, knowing the game plan, knowing the
situation, then just making a great throw.
"When he
does that and trusts me, I have no choice but to go up there and make a
play for him. I had a good idea it was going to come to me, so I just
had to go make a play."
Matthews added another SEC
record to his resume on Saturday. His 11 catches for 125 yards helped
him finish with a league-record 107 receptions this season. Matthews is
also the SEC's all-time leader in career receiving yards (3,616), career
receptions (257) and 100-yard receiving games
(18).
Carta-Samuels completed 24-of-33 passes for 231
yards and a touchdown while sharing time at quarterback with redshirt
freshman Patton Robinette, who rushed for 44 yards and passed for
another 40.
"We were expecting to see that," Wake
Forest coach Jim Grobe said of Vanderbilt's two-quarterback system.
"Robinette was more of a runner, and Carta-Samuels the passer. They are
both good quarterbacks."
Among the many program
historical markers for success in three seasons under Franklin, the
Commodores (8-4, 4-4 in SEC) are bowl eligible for a third-straight year
for the first time. After losing to Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl two
years ago and beating N.C. State in the Music City Bowl last season, the
Commodores are hoping to reach a more notable bowl this season,
possibly the Gator Bowl.
But Franklin said the
Commodores will be doing "back flips" wherever the team is sent once the
bowl schedule is released a week from Sunday.
"We
are not bowl snobs," Franklin said. "Wherever they tell us to go, we
will be happy to go there."
After Vanderbilt took the
lead for good, Wake Forest still had 39 seconds to get into field goal
range for a possible game-winning kick. Without any timeouts, the Demon
Deacons went from their own 25-yard line to the Commodores' 44 before a
sack by senior defensive end Walker May forced Wake Forest into a failed
Hail Mary pass as time expired.
"It's one of those
things you just take a mentality," May said of the defense having to
come up with four successive stops of the Wake Forest offense to allow
for the comeback win. "You don't really care what is going on in the
game.
"You take one snap at a time, and you dominate
that snap. That was our mentality coming into the game, and that's what
we try to do."
Holding a shaky 17-14 halftime lead,
it appeared the Commodores would drive their opening possession of the
second half and widen the lead. However, a pass from Carta-Samuels was
deflected by Wake Forest senior nose guard Nikita Whitlock and
intercepted by senior linebacker Justin Jackson, who raced 63 yards for a
touchdown and a 21-17 Demon Deacons lead.
The
Commodores pulled within 21-20 with 6:58 to play when a methodical drive
from their own 22-yard line resulted in a 25-yard field goal by Spear.
On the drive, Carta-Samuels completed all four of his pass attempts, and
a 16-yard run out of the wildcat formation by sophomore back Brian
Kimbrow converted a key third-and-1.
The Commodores'
defense got the ball right back less than a minute later when senior
middle linebacker Chase Garnham intercepted a pass by Wake Forest senior
quarterback Tannner Price and returned it to the Demon Deacons' 33-yard
line. But Vanderbilt senior running back Wesley Tate fumbled the ball
right back to Wake Forest three plays later.
The
Commodores' defense then kept Wake Forest from getting a first down on
the next possession, however, and they got the ball back at their own
43-yard line with 3:31 remaining to set up the game-winning
drive.
"Thought it was disappointing we didn't win,"
said Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe, whose team has lost to Vanderbilt
three straight times in the regular-season finale for both teams.
"This would have been a nice final game for our
guys," he added. "We've had some tough losses down the stretch, and
these guys didn't pack it in. They played really
hard."
The Commodores marched their opening
possession 88 yards on 11 plays to take an early 7-0 lead, culminating
with senior quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels connecting on a 7-yard
scoring pass to senior fullback Fitz Lassing.
The
key play of the drive was a 41-yard reception over the middle by senior
wide receiver Jordan Matthew. It was his 98th catch of the year,
breaking the Southeastern Conference and team single-season receptions
record previously held by former Commodore Keith Edwards, who had 97
catches in 1983.
Wake
Forest, however, answered with an opening scoring drive of their own,
marching 12 plays on 65 yards to tie the score at 7-7. Price scored on a
3-yard run up the middle to cap the drive.
Midway
through the second period, the Commodores surged back ahead 14-7. After
being the beneficiary of a 20-yard shanked punt into a brisk wind that
gave Vanderbilt the ball at the Demon Deacons' 41-yard line. Less than 2
minutes later, Robinette capped a five-play drive with an 8-yard
scoring keeper around the right side. On the previous play, Robinette
ran for 20 yards off the left side to set up the scoring
run.
But like it had done following Vanderbilt's
opening drive for a touchdown, Wake Forest answered once again to tie
the game at 14-14 with 3:09 remaining in the first half. The Demon
Deacons went 75 yards on 10 plays, getting the final nine yards on a
scoring run up the middle from redshirt freshman running back Dominique
Gibson.
Vanderbilt settled into a 17-14 halftime lead
following a 41-yard field by Spear with 10 seconds remaining before
intermission. The Commodores started the drive from their own 12-yard
line and had to overcome two bad snaps to Robinette lined up in the
shotgun that resulted in a combined 23 yards lost.
