Sept. 6, 2009

Final Stats |   

Nashville, Tenn. - Vanderbilt racked up 320 yards of total offense and a 21-0 score at the half en route to handing Western Carolina a 45-0, season-opening defeat in front of 36,350 fans at Vanderbilt Stadium on Saturday night. Freshmen Commodore running backs Zac Stacy and Warren Norman each surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark for Vanderbilt, finishing at 133 and 105 respectively and combined for three touchdowns.

Vanderbilt chewed up 433 yards on the ground for a total of 620 yards of total offense, consuming a commanding 34:44 of game clock on offense.

"On offense, I felt like it was three plays and out almost every series. The inability to move the football kept our defense on the field way too much," said WCU second-year head coach Dennis Wagner. "Defensively, we missed a lot of tackles. We had an opportunity to make some plays and we missed tackles. I told the team we have a lot of work to do before we play Gardner-Webb."

Taking Vanderbilt's no-huddle style of offense into account, Wagner added, "I don't think we spent enough time on the field offensively, and when you run the no-huddle offense and run a lot of plays, it wears your defense down. We really felt it should have been a 28-0 ball game. We gave them too many opportunities and a good football team will take advantage of them."

For Western Carolina, redshirt sophomore quarterback Zack Jaynes finished 13-of-25 for 74 yards but was sacked three times. Redshirt freshman Jonathan Efird made his collegiate debut in the next to last series of the game, but tossed an interception that ended his drive.

Rookie running back Mike Johnson, making his collegiate debut, rushed for 46 yards on 13 carries to lead the Catamounts, adding three catches for 15 yards. Redshirt junior Marquel Pittman caught two passes for 20 yards while freshman Jacoby Mitchell duplicated the two-catch performance for 11 yards.

All told, nine different Catamounts caught passes and five players recorded rushing attempts.

After the two teams traded fumbles, Vanderbilt capitalized on a second Catamount miscue, striking the scoreboard first midway through the first quarter as Larry Smith capped a short, three-play drive as the freshman found Justin Green over the middle for a 46-yard strike. Green initially bobbled the ball as the Catamount defensive secondary converged on the receiver, but was able to corral it just before he crossed the goal line for the early, 7-0, Commodore lead.

Smith atoned for his first turnover early in the first half as WCU's Chris Collins jarred the ball loose as the quarterback lunged for the end zone. It was his first forced fumble this season and eighth in his career. Junior lineman Charles Johnson pounced on the pigskin in the end zone for the touch back and WCU's first takeaway of the season.

Vanderbilt stretched its advantage late in the first quarter on the first of two Norman scores. Then, on the first play of the second quarter, Stacy took a direct snap in the "Wildcat" formation and darted in from nine yards out for the 21-0 lead just six seconds into the frame.

Western Carolina (0-1) had its best opportunity late in the first half after a Brett Upson rugby-style punt bounced off the back of one of his personal defenders resulting in a negative-24 yard boot, setting WCU up with the ball at the Vanderbilt 37-yard line. However, a sack on first down and short completed passes on second and third down led to a fourth-and-seven, but Jaynes' pass fell incomplete ending Western's threat.

In the second half, the Commodores scratched the scoreboard midway through the third quarter on a seven-yard run by Norman before putting 17 points up in the fourth to provide the final tally.

The WCU defensive secondary duo, Collins and junior Mitchell Bell, both recorded 11 total hits in the loss including seven solo stops and four assists apiece. For Bell, the 11 tackles were a career-high, while Collins missed his benchmark by one.

Sophomore Ricky Schwarz also posted a career-high with 10 tackles while senior Gene Singletary recorded two of WCU's six tackles for loss on the night.

Western Carolina returns home next Saturday, Sept. 12 for the home opener as the Catamounts entertain the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field. Kickoff is set for 6:00 pm.