Our Vanderbilt Commodore basketball team put forth a phenomenal effort last night in defeating No.18 Arizona State, 81-65, before an electric Memorial Gymnasium crowd of 9,271.

Five Commodores scored in double figures. Sophomore point guard Saben Lee led the way with 14 points on 2-for-3 from the field, 1-for-2 from trifecta and 9-for-12 from the stripe. Super freshman Aaron Nesmith added 13 on 5-for-10 from the field and 3-for-5 from triple. Talented 6’10” transfer big man Yanni Wetzell chipped in 12 points and 5 boards to go along with 2 blocks. Yanni was also 5-for-5 from the line. Super senior Joe Toye and junior sharpshooter and Notre Dame transfer Matt Ryan added 11. We shot 44% for the game, 24-for-55, and 12-for-28 from trifecta, 43%. We were on fire from 3 in the second half going 6-for-12. We also finished 21-for-29 from the stripe, 72%. Would like to see that get even better, but a solid number nonetheless.

On the defensive side we also really excelled. We held the Sun Devils high octane offense to 32% shooting from the field (21-for-65) , 29% from 3 (7-for-24) and 65 points. To give you some perspective on that accomplishment defensively, the Sun Devils came into the game averaging 83 points per contest, 46% from the field, and 34 percent from trifecta. Their leading scorer, Dort Luguentz, a 5 star freshman guard from Canada, finished with 10 points on 3-for-13 from the field and 2-for-4 from trifecta. He came into the game averaging 20 points per game. Zona State was out-rebounding teams by 11 1/2 boards per game, but we kept it close. They pulled down 42 and we yanked 39 off the glass. VU 5 star freshman 6’10”, 250 power forward Simi Shittu finished with 9 points and led the team with 7 rebounds. Wetzell and Lee both grabbed 5, and Maxwell Evans, who did an outstanding job at point along with Saben, pulled down 4 boards, and added 8 points and 3 assists. Max hit 2 critical 3 pointers towards the end of the first half. Aaron had a monster tomahawk slam in the second half off an assist by Saben that ignited the crowd and really got the team pumped up.

It was a spectacular showing by our team that took a blow when we lost McDonald’s All American and potential NBA lottery point guard Darius Garland 3 weeks ago with a torn meniscus in his knee. We miss him, but Darius is there with the team on the bench and the players are now making the adjustment and look to have put it together last night. We moved to 7-2 and Zona State dropped to 8-2. Zona State lost by 6 to No.6 Nevada on December 7th in Los Angeles, 72-66, and defeated Georgia this past Saturday Night in Athens, 76-74, after having been down by 14 at halftime. The Sun Devils also defeated No.17 Mississippi State, 72-67, in Las Vegas, November 19th.

So that team is for real. It was an unreal, herculean effort by our team. Very proud of them. It doesn’t get any easier as we face Kansas State Saturday at 6 PM in Kansas City. ESPN2 will televise. But I think Bryce and the players are now more confident in this group’s chances to make a run this season. Bryce does a tremendously great job of building teams, and this team has a chance to be pretty special. Will have more on Kansas State coming up later this week. Awesome job by the guys. They deserve a lot of credit for hanging in there through the adversity of losing Darius and through the rigors of final exams. Just a terrific effort. Hopefully, it’s sign of things to come for this talented and developing basketball team.

Football

There is a lot of electricity going on with Derek and his football team. We now have 21 commitments, many of whom will sign with us tomorrow on the first national signing day. The other is the first Wednesday in February, 2-6-19. We expect most all of these guys to sign and it looks like we could have 1 or 2 more tomorrow. It’s a very solid class. I’ve watched film on quite a few of them, and they are excellent football players. Coach Mason knows how to get good players and make them great players. He’s done that with his 2018 team and he’ll do it again with his 2019 team and beyond that. We also just got a graduate transfer quarterback, Riley Neal from Ball State. Neal will compete for the starting job in 2019. He was a 3 year starter for Ball State and is 6’5”, 217 pounds. He played in 9 games this fall as his season was cut short by injury, and completed 58 percent of his passes, for 1,917 yards and 11 TDs. He also rushed for 357 yards and 5 more TDs. He’ll join talented rising junior Deuce Wallace, rising and talented high 3 star freshman Allan Walters, and incoming freshman and great talent Jamil Muhammad, as those 4 compete for the starting job in 2019. Deuce has been reinstated to the team after serving a semester long suspension for violation of school policy. Deuce is a tremendous talent if he can get his act together. I’m sure he does now. Deuce is 6’2”, 210. As a senior at Sevier County High School in Sevierville, TN., Deuce passed for 3,505 yards and 37 TDs and led his team to the 5A state title game. Wallace also passed for 2,783 yards and 25 TDs as a junior. He was a 5,7 3 star by Rivals and an 88 by 247 Sports. He’s got it in him if he can keep his head on straight. Walters was a phenomenal high school quarterback as was Muhhamad. Should be a very compelling quarterback race this spring and summer with terrific candidates competing for the starting job.

Meanwhile, Kyle Shurmur, Kalija Lipscomb, Jared Pinkney, Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Justin Skule, Bruno Reagan, Jordan Griffin, LaDarius Wiley, Joejuan Williams and this talented Commodore football team gets ready to square off with Baylor on Thursday, Dec. 28 in the Academy Sports + Outdoor Texas Bowl in Houston. We are presently a 4 point favorite. The game kicks off at 8 PM CT and will be televised by ESPN. Can’t wait to see the guys compete again. Awesome reward for Kyle and the seniors for their incredible efforts for 4 and 5 years on the West End and for the underclassmen who have worked their tails off in the weight room, and during spring and summer drills along with the grind of the season, especially the SEC part of it. So proud of these guys for hanging tough and defeating Ole Miss and Tennessee to earn the right to play in the Texas Bowl. It’ll be somewhat of a home field advantage for Baylor, as Waco is 3 hours from Houston, so they’ll have quite a few fans there. Hopefully our fans will be there, too, to cheer on this fantastic team that has been through so much adversity and come out as winners regardless of the result in the Texas Bowl. But we’re there to win. This is a business trip as well as a reward trip for our players. We’ll be locked in come 8 PM December 28th at NRG Stadium in the Rocket City. Could be a high scoring game though our defense really excelled against Tennessee. Need to win the turnover battle and cash in in the red zone. Our offense has been pretty solid all season and our defense looks like it’s getting pretty terrific as well. This is a treat for Commodore Nation and is a building block for the future along with a tremendous reward for the seniors, all the players. But it’s serious on December 28th. It’s serious now. Our guys will be ready.

Will preview the Texas Bowl next week and have a major spread on signing day tomorrow.

New Athletics Director

Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos and a 5 person committee including himself named Malcolm Turner as our new Athletics Director last week. Malcolm comes with impeccable academic credentials having been an exclusive Morehead Scholar and finalists for a Rhodes Scholarship at the University of North Carolina. He also earned an MBA and a law degree from Harvard. That’s impressive in itself, but he also has engineered successful ventures running the NBA G League capping off major accomplishment upon major accomplishment for the triple A league of the NBA and had excellent success working with and for the PGA. He comes highly recommended and endorsed by many people in the sports world including former NBA Commissioner David Stern and PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan. Malcolm is described as a great communicator, great listener and overall superb human being. He will work tirelessly with our stellar coaches in football, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, soccer and bowling to make Vanderbilt Sports the best it can possibly be and continue the legacy of excellence in the classroom. Malcolm said he loves the energy of Vanderbilt and the city of Nashville, he loves the relationships with the student athletes and the relationships with the coaches. Malcolm starts on February 1, 2019. Welcome aboard Malcolm.

The 10-3 UAB Blazers are locked in tonight for their second straight bowl appearance and third in program history (also, 2004) under Eddie Robinson Award recipient Bill Clark.

‘The great Clark won the prestigious Award for being the top coach in the country. The UAB story is fascinating and rich. There could be a book written on this amazing comeback of football on the Southside with a sparkling year and a half old football facility and ground broken for a new stadium to be completed in 2021. And Clark and his team are delivering. They not only finished the season with 10 victories, they also claimed the Conference USA Championship with a 27-25 victory over Middle Tennessee at Murfreesboro, where they had lost the week before, 27-3.

It’s a phenomenal story that has been written about by highly reputable sports writers throughout the country including Washington Post and numerous New York Times best selling author John Feinstein. It’s not just a feel good story. It’s a spectacularly good story.

The Blazers finished 2017 with an 8-5 and a disappointing loss to Ohio in the Bahamas Bowl, 41-6, but Clark and his team rebooted in January of this year. Clark said, as his team was running stadiums, he and his team talked about championships. They didn’t shy away from that. And it came to fruition on December 1st when the Blazers defeated Middle Tennessee to claim the Conference USA Championship. Now the Blazers set their sights on finishing off the season on majorly high note as they compete in the Boca Raton Bowl versus the 8-5 Northern Illinois Huskies, which also claimed a conference championship in the Mid American by virtue of a 30-29 victory over Buffalo in the MAC championship game at Ford Field in Detroit on November 30th.

This is a fascinating matchup between 2 teams that are built on defense and ball control offense with both teams featuring explosive playmakers. With a victory, the Blazers are almost assured of a top 25 ranking at season’s end.

Tonight

Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl

UAB (10-3) vs. Northern Illinois (8-5)

FAU Stadium, Boca Raton, FL., 30,000

6 CT

ESPN

Dave Lamont, Dez Howard, Jonathan Vilma, Alyssa Lang

Whistles, Mountain West, Cal McNeill, lead official

UAB by 2 1/2

This matchup features 2 of the most prolific defenses in the FBS. Northern Illinois leads the country in sacks with 50, while the Blazers check in at 2nd with 46. The Blazers are 5th in the country in tackles for loss with 89, while the Huskies are 6th with 87. A key stat to look at is 3rd down conversion percentage allowed by the defense, how the defense defends opposing offenses on 3rd down and gets off the field. UAB is 2nd nationally holding opponents to a 25% conversion rate, while Northern Illinois is 58th at 38%.

Outside linebacker Antonio Jones- Davis (5’11”, 226) leads the Huskies in tackles with 119, and he’s also posted 13 1/2 tackles for loss and 4 sacks. The bellcow of this defense though is junior defensive end Sutton Smith (6’1”, 237), who is 4th in the country in tackles for loss with 24 1/2 and tied for lead nationally with 15 sacks on the season. Smith is tied for the national lead in sacks with Louisiana Tech defensive end Jaylon Ferguson. Fellow defensive bookend Josh Corocoran (6’3”, 251) has posted 12 1/2 tackles for loss and 10 sacks, good for 8th nationally. Middle linebacker Kyle Pugh (6’0”, 235) added 99 tackles this season. The Huskies have recorded 7 ints on the season led by cornerback Jalen McKie’s 2.

On offense, quarterback Marcus Childers completed 212 of 368, 58%, for 1,996 yards, 15 TDs against 10 ints. Running back Tre Harbison (5’11”, 227) rushed for 985 yards and 4 TDs. Marcus Jones (5’8”, 199) added 523 yards and 4 TDs, while Childers chipped in 496 yards and 6 TDs. The Huskies leading receiver is D.J. Brown (5’9”, 185). Brown caught 55 passes for 484 yards and 5 TDs. Jauan Wesley (5’11”, 182) added 49 receptions for 585 yards and 2 TDs, while wide out Spencer Tears posted 34 receptions for 372 yards and 4 TDs. All these players are juniors and seniors. The offensive line features 2 seniors, 2 juniors and a redshirt sophomore. Center Luke Shively (6’3”, 300, SR.) is the leader up front.

For the Blazers, middle linebacker Chris Woolbright (6’3”, 235, Sr.) leads the team in tackles with 74 and added 13 1/2 tackles for loss and 2 sacks. The team leader in tackles for loss and sacks is towering senior outside linebacker Jarnell Garcia-Williams (6’8”, 245), who posted 15 1/2 TFLs and 9 1/2 sacks. Senior outside linebacker Tre Crawford (6’3”, 225) added 12 TFLs and 8 sacks. The Blazers registered 9 ints on the season led by Woolbright, strong safety Mar’Sean Diggs and corner Brontae Harris, who each picked off 2 passes. Woolbright took 1 back to the house.

On offense, the Blazers are anchored by a veteran offensive line. 4 seniors start up front along with a redshirt sophomore. Right tackle Justice Powers (6’3”, 300), a first team All-C-USA selection, is the leader, though left tackle James Davis (6’2”, 300), left guard Rishard Cook (6’3”, 340) and right guard Malique Johnson (6’3”, 320) are all seniors as well. Center Greg Fecanin (6’3”, 325) is a redshirt sophomore.

First team All-C-USA running back Spencer Brown (6’0”, 235, sophomore) rushed for 1,152 yards and 16 TDs. Behind his trusted line, Brown had a phenomenal season. Expect Clark and offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent to get Brown 25 or more carries tonight to get him crankin. Brown is a between the tackles, power runner, who also has the speed to make house calls. Quarterbacks A.J. Erdely (6’4”, 220, SR) and Tyler Johnston (6’2”, 212, Soph) have both performed well under center. Erdely has completed 111-of-198, 56%, for 1,539 yards, 7 TDs against 7 ints. Johnston, maybe a little more of an explosive player, completed 63-of-111, 57%, for 950 yards, 7 TDs against 8 ints. Johnston gives the offense more big play making ability, so I’m speculating he will get the start tonight. But if he struggles, expect to see Erdely fairly quickly. Not guaranteeing that Johnston will get the start, but he did get the start against Middle Tennessee in the C-USA championship and played well. Erdely has been battling an injury, but should be good to go tonight. The leading receivers for the Blazers are big play guys Andre Wilson (5’10, 180l SR) and Xavier Ubosi (6’2”, 217, SR). Wilson registered 30 receptions for 486 yards and 5 TDs, while Ubosi pulled in 28 throws for 610 yards and 5 TDs also. Senior Collin Lisa (5’10”, 168) is a terrific possession receiver. He caught 29 passes for 398 yards and a TD.

The Decision

This is a very evenly matched game with talented players on both sides of the ball for both squads. I do like UAB’s 3rd down defense, the o line and Spencer Brown. I’d say Johnston is a better call at quarterback than Erdely. With all that, along with a very good UAB defense, I like the Blazers to get over the top in an edge of your seat game in South Florida. UAB finishes a phenomenal 2018 campaign with 11 victories and a massive amount of momentum heading into 2019 and beyond.

UAB 27, Northern Illinois 24