Vanderbilt was 4-for-4 on fourth-down attempts, three of which extended drives that accounted for 17 points in the 23-21 win over Wake Forest.
Wesley Tate, Kris Kentera, Brian Kimbrow and Jordan Matthews made plays on fourth down to extend drives, but the most important fourth-down decision may have been one that coach James Franklin decided not to risk.
Trailing 21-17 and facing a fourth-and-4 from the Demon Deacon 8 in the fourth quarter, Franklin chose to kick a 25-yard field goal with 6:58 remaining instead of testing the Wake Forest defense once again.
“We pretty consistently went for it on (fourth and) 1 or 2,” Franklin said. “Depending on the situation — the time and the momentum and all of those things — we will go for it in longer situations, but I felt like at that time we needed to get the points, and it showed up big later on.”
Vanderbilt entered the game as the SEC’s leader in fourth-down conversion rate and is now 21 of 27 (77.8 percent).
Pick streak: With Chase Garnham’s fourth-quarter interception, the Commodores extended their streak to six games. The Commodores have 11 interceptions in their last four games and 20 takeaways in their last six.
Time of possession: Vanderbilt dominated the time of possession (38:09). The second-half margin was even more telling, as the Commodores held the ball for nearly 22 minutes and kept Wake Forest from scoring any offensive points.
One penalty: After struggling with penalties in their last two games, Vanderbilt was penalized just once for 10 yards on Saturday. They had 10 penalties for 85 yards against Kentucky and seven for 74 yards against Tennessee.
The Commodores’ season-low came in the loss to Texas A&M — one for 5 yards.
Another Matthews record: Jordan Matthews now holds the top two Vanderbilt single seasons in receiving yardage, as his 2013 total of 1,334 passed the 1,323 total from his junior season.
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