Gridiron Now · Jan 13, 2016
Vanderbilt season review: Good defense, bad offense
Derek MasonVanderbilt was breathing rarefied air in 2012 and ’13 — well, rarefied air for Vanderbilt, anyway, with back-to-back nine-win seasons. It was the best two-season stretch in school history.
But coach James Franklin left for Penn State and the bottom basically fell out in 2014, when Vandy went winless in league play under new coach Derek Mason. There were questions about Mason’s worthiness to be a head coach going into the 2015 season. But there were two league wins in 2015, thanks to a defense that made big strides after Mason himself the defensive coordinator. Vanderbilt beat Kentucky and Missouri and kept things close against Florida, Ole Miss and South Carolina.