Lessons in Vanderbilt Football: Stanford

The Commodores were going toe to toe with Stanford. The game was tied at 14 then Stanford hit a FG with 1:53 to play until halftime. As the Vanderbilt offense took the field, many fans must have been feeling unexpectedly hopeful. Stanford had just thrashed the mighty USC badly enough to get Clay Helton fired 2 games into his 7th season. Now, the Commodores coming off a last-minute win over Colorado State and a 20-point loss to ETSU were eyeing the possibility to tie the game or take the lead heading into halftime before receiving the second half kickoff.

Instead of capitalizing on the opportunity, Ken Seals threw an interception. Then, the defense allowed a TD on 2 plays. The offense came…