Defensive end Kyle Woestmann isn’t sure how many takeaways Vanderbilt needed.
But he knows five weren’t enough for a defense that was strictly all-or-nothing on Saturday at Kyle Field.
Vanderbilt created its most takeaways since last year’s Music City Bowl win over North Carolina State, a number that should belong to the winning team most of the time. Yet Texas A&M rolled to a 56-24 rout, its punter seeing the field only once.
“We didn’t force enough,” Woestmann said. “We didn’t get it done on defense. Although we forced the turnovers, we were extremely inconsistent. If we didn’t force a turnover on the drive, we gave up a touchdown. We let them drive the field, and that was the whole issue.
“To be enough, we should have forced a turnover every drive.”
The turnovers didn’t begin until Vanderbilt’s onside-kick recovery of a Texas A&M fumble in the second quarter, and by then the deficit was 28-3.
The Commodores had opportunities to stop Johnny Manziel and the Aggies on their first two touchdown drives. Tra Carson mowed through the line for a 4-yard gain on fourth-and-one from the Vanderbilt 12 on the opening series. On Texas A&M’s next series, Manziel eluded pressure and found Derel Walker for a 32-yard catch down the sideline on third-and-9 from the Aggies 35.
“Defensively, we’ve got to find a way to consistently, against all types of offense, be more challenging,” Vanderbilt coach James Franklin said. “We’ve got to challenge more routes. We have to be more aggressive against the run. Right now, there’s times where we do that and there’s other times where we don’t.”
Vanderbilt may not see another offense like Texas A&M’s this season, but the issue lingers as to whether this defense can contain an up-tempo offense or a mobile quarterback.
The Aggies nullified a portion of Vanderbilt’s pass rush by having Manziel complete short passes within one or two seconds of taking the snap in the shotgun, and then hurrying to the line of scrimmage to do it again before the Commodores could really get set on defense.
With the Commodores rarely utilizing press coverage, that option remained available most of the game.
“There were a lot of those quick passes, regardless of the tempo and where it is, the D-line, if we peel and hustle down the field hard enough, we can still be part of the play,” Woestmann said. “He had a lot of passes where he got to sit back there … that we did not do a good job collapsing.”
Woestmann notched the only two sacks against Manziel, and Kenny Ladler enjoyed a huge day with two forced fumbles and his sixth career interception.
But the Commodores are likely recall the more unflattering numbers such as Texas A&M’s 558 yards of offense, six scores in seven trips to the red zone and a combined 9-of-14 conversion rate on third and fourth downs.
“The bye week is coming at a great time,” Franklin said. “We can sit down as coaches and look in the mirror and come up with some things to play to our personnel’s strengths. … We’ve got some work to do.”
