1.
Earl Bennett
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Earl Bryan Bennett is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Vanderbilt, a three-time All-SEC selection at Vanderbilt, Bennett left school as the all-time SEC leader in receptions with 236. Although later surpassed by Jordan Matthews, Bennett still ranks near the top of Vanderbilts career receiving leaderboards and he has totaled more receptions than any other Southeastern Conference receiver after two years. He set the record with 223 receiving yards against the Richmond Spiders in the Commodores 2007 opening season win. He is the first ever SEC receiver to record 75 receptions in three different seasons, the Chicago Bears chose Bennett in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He didnt catch a pass his entire rookie year and was mostly on the sidelines. On April 2,2009, Bennetts former teammate at Vanderbilt during the 2005 season, Bears head coach Lovie Smith said Bennett would be given every opportunity to win a spot as a starting receiver alongside Devin Hester in 2009. Bennett did just that during the course of mandatory mini-camp and training camp, as he showed an ability to make tough grabs in traffic, Bennett and Cutler quickly regained the chemistry they shared on and off the field during their college years playing together at Vanderbilt. During that offseason, Bennett also changed his number from 85 to 80, Bennett was the only Bears receiver to catch at least 1 pass in each game played during the 16-Game regular season in which the Bears missed the playoffs. Bennett got off to a start in season in the Week 1 match-up against the Green Bay Packers. Two weeks later against the Seattle Seahawks, Bennett caught four passes for 80 yards, a week later against the Detroit Lions, Bennett returned four punts for a 15-yard average and a long of 25 yards in place of an injured Devin Hester. In Week 9 against the Arizona Cardinals, Bennett caught seven passes for 93 yards, in Week 16 against the division rival Minnesota Vikings, Bennett caught three passes for 35 yards, along with his second career receiving touchdown. Bennett had a key two-point conversion against the Seattle Seahawks for his first points of the 2009 season, Bennett caught his first career touchdown from Jay Cutler against the St. Louis Rams in Week 13 as well completing a career-long 71-yard pass reception. On December 20 against the Baltimore Ravens, Bennett returned a punt 49 yards for a touchdown in place of the Bears injured returner Devin Hester, Bennett finished the season with 717 yards on 54 catches with two receiving touchdowns and a punt return touchdown as well. During Week 6 against the Seahawks, Bennett laid a block on Seattle punter Jon Ryan. Bennett caught his third career receiving touchdown in Week 9 against the Buffalo Bills in Toronto, in Week 2 against the Saints, Bennett was injured, and did not return to the game. This eventually created controversy in 2012 after the Saints were caught using a bounty program, in Week 9, Bennetts return helped the Bears defeat the Eagles with a touchdown pass
2.
Vanderbilt Commodores football
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The Vanderbilt Commodores football program represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football. The Commodores compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and they are currently coached by former Tennessee Titans wide receiver Derek Mason. Vanderbilt plays their games at Vanderbilt Stadium, located on the universitys Nashville. Adopting the nickname the Commodores after the 1897 season, the team has played in 1,250 games over 126 seasons. In that time, six coaches have led the Commodores to a bowl appearance, Art Guepe, Steve Sloan, George MacIntyre, Bobby Johnson, James Franklin. Four have led them to a championship, R. G. Acton, W. H. Watkins, James H. Henry. McGugin is the leader in seasons coached and games won, with 198 victories during his thirty years at Vanderbilt and he was awarded two National Championships retroactively by Clyde Berryman. Of the twenty-eight different head coaches who have led the Commodores, McGugin, Ray Morrison, Henry Russell Sanders, the current head coach is Derek Mason. Ole Miss is Vanderbilts cross-divisional rival in the SEC, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss have played 87 times since 1894. Ole Miss leads the series 50–38–2, the largest margin of victory was by 91 points won by Vanderbilt in 1915. Vanderbilt also holds the longest win streaks in the series from 1894 to 1938, having started in 1893, the Georgia-Vanderbilt football series has been played annually since 1968. The two are divisional opponents in the SEC East, the two are divisional opponents in the SEC East. The series, which rotates between Nashville, Tennessee and Lexington, Kentucky, is tied at 42–42–4 with the score being Vanderbilt 17-Kentucky 15.6. Vanderbilt and Tennessee have played 107 times since 1892, Tennessee leads the series 75–30–5, when the rivalry first started Vanderbilt dominated by taking 19 of the first 24 with 3 ties. After 1928, UT has dominated the rivalry with a record of Vanderbilt 71–11–2, the largest margin of victory for Vanderbilt was by 76 points in 1918 at Old Dudley Field in Nashville. The largest defeat was 65 points in 1994 at Vanderbilt Stadium, the longest win streaks for Vanderbilt is from 1901 to 1913. The longest win streak for Tennessee is 22, from 1983 to 2004, Vanderbilt and the Sewanee Tigers were both founding members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the Southern Conference, and the Southeastern Conference. It is the oldest of Vanderbilts rivalries, dating back to 1891 when Vanderbilt played its football game
3.
Forward pass
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In several forms of football a forward pass is a throwing of the ball in the direction that the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive teams goal line. In some football codes, such as football, the kicked forward pass is used so ubiquitously that it is not thought of as a distinct kind of play at all. In these sports, the concept of offside is used to regulate who can be in front of the play or be nearest to the goal, however, this has not always been the case. Some earlier incarnations of football allowed unlimited forward passing, while others had strict offside rules similar to rugby, the development of the forward pass in American football shows how the game has evolved from its rugby roots into the distinctive game it is today. Illegal and experimental forward passes had been attempted as early as 1876, another change in rules occurred on January 18,1951, which established that no center, tackle, or guard could receive a forward pass. Today, the only linemen who can receive a forward pass are the ends, current rules regulate who may throw and who may receive a forward pass, and under what circumstances, as well as how the defensive team may try to prevent a pass from being completed. In American and Canadian football, a pass, usually referred to simply as a pass. This is permitted only once during a scrimmage down by the team before team possession has changed, provided the pass is thrown from in or behind the neutral zone. An illegal forward pass can incur a penalty and the loss of a down, although it may be legally intercepted by the opponents. If an eligible receiver on the passing team legally catches the ball, the pass is completed, if an opposing player legally catches the ball it is an interception. That players team immediately gains possession of the ball and he may attempt to advance the ball toward his opponents goal, if no player is able to legally catch the ball it is an incomplete pass and the ball becomes dead the moment it touches the ground. It will then be returned to the line of scrimmage for the next down. If any player interferes with an eligible receivers ability to catch the ball it is pass interference which draws a penalty of varying degree. The person passing the ball must be a member of the team. The moment that a forward pass begins is important to the game, the pass begins the moment the passers arm begins to move forward. If the passer drops the ball before this moment it is a fumble, in this case anybody can gain possession of the ball before or after it touches the ground. If the passer drops the ball while his arm is moving forward it is a pass, regardless of where the ball lands or is first touched. The quarterback generally either starts a few paces behind the line of scrimmage or drops back a few paces after the ball is snapped
4.
Rush (gridiron football)
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Rushing has two different meanings in gridiron football. The first is a taken by the offense that means to advance the ball by running with it, as opposed to passing. The other is a taken by the defense that means to charge towards the quarterback. When players on the defense are collectively rushing the passer, it is called the pass rush, in both offense and defense, any rushing player is called a rusher. Rushing, on offense, is running with the ball starting from behind the line of scrimmage. While this usually means a play, any offensive play that does not involve a forward pass is a rush - also called a run. It is usually done by the back after a handoff from the quarterback, although quarterbacks. The quarterback will run when a passing play has broken down - such as when there is no receiver open to catch the ball -. A team with a quarterback who is fast and skilled at running may regularly call intentional running plays for that quarterback, but this is rare due to the increased risk of injury. A wide receiver can act as a rusher on several kinds of plays, such as on a reverse, on an end-around, or on a pass behind the line of scrimmage. However, a wide receiver screen play is intended to be a forward pass so that if the receiver drops the ball it is an incomplete pass instead of a fumble. A rushing attempt may also be referred to as a carry, with any yards gained referred to as rushing yards, as in the running back had 20 carries for 100 rushing yards
5.
Field goal
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A field goal is a means of scoring in American football and Canadian football. To score a goal the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick. The vast majority of goals, in both codes, are placed kicked. Drop kicked field goals were common in the days of Gridiron football but are almost never done in modern times. In most leagues, a field goal awards three points. A field goal may also be scored through a fair catch kick, since a field goal is worth only three points, as opposed to a touchdown, which is worth six points, it is usually only attempted in specific situations. The goal structure consists of a crossbar suspended 10 feet above the ground. In American football the goals are centered on each end line, in the first half, there is enough time remaining to execute only one more play. In the second half, there is time remaining to execute only one more play. The game is in overtime, and a FG is the quickest, easiest, even under ideal conditions, the best professional kickers historically had difficulty making kicks longer than 50 yards consistently. If a team not to attempt a field goal on their last down. A punt cannot score any points in American football unless the team touches the ball first and the kicking team recovers it. The longest field goal kick in NFL history is 64 yards, the previous record was 63, originally set by Tom Dempsey and then matched by Jason Elam, Sebastian Janikowski, and David Akers. High school, college and most professional football leagues offer only a three-point field goal, however, NFL Europe encouraged long field goals of 50 yards or more by making those worth four points instead of three, a rule since adopted by the Stars Football League. Similarly, the sport of football sought to repopularize the drop kick by making that worth four points, it failed. The overall field goal percentage during the 2010 NFL season was 82.3, in comparison, Jan Stenerud, one of only two pure kickers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, had a career field goal percentage of 66.8 from 1967 to 1985. The holder is usually the teams punter or backup quarterback, instead of the regular center, a team may have a dedicated long snapper trained especially to snap the ball on placekick attempts and punts. The holder usually lines up seven to eight yards behind the line of scrimmage, upon receiving the snap, the holder holds the ball against the ground vertically, with the stitches away from the kicker
6.
Vanderbilt University
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Vanderbilt University is a private research university founded in 1873 and located in Nashville, Tennessee. It was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt hoped that his gift and the greater work of the university would help to heal the sectional wounds inflicted by the Civil War. Today, Vanderbilt enrolls approximately 12,000 students from all 50 U. S. states and over 90 foreign countries in four undergraduate and six graduate, despite its urban surroundings, the campus itself is a national arboretum and features over 300 different species of trees and shrubs. Vanderbilt is ranked as one of the top universities for its teaching, research opportunities. It is ranked 15th on the list of best national universities generated by U. S. News & World Report, however, lack of funds and the ravaged state of the Reconstruction Era South delayed the opening of the college. Indeed, the McTyeires had met at St. Francis Street Methodist Church in Mobile, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was the wealthiest man in the United States at the time, was considering philanthropy as he was at an advanced age. He had been planning to establish a university on Staten Island, New York, however, McTyeire convinced him to donate $500,000 to endow Central University in order to contribute to strengthening the ties which should exist between all sections of our common country. The endowment was increased to $1 million and would be only one of two philanthropic causes financially supported by Vanderbilt. Though he never expressed any desire that the university be named after himself, McTyeire, Vanderbilt died in 1877 without seeing the school named after him. One of the trustees, Hezekiah William Foote, was a Confederate veteran. The Treasurer of the Board of Trust from 1872 to 1875, Alexander Little Page Green, whose portrait hangs in Kirkland Hall, was a Methodist preacher and a former slave owner. His son-in-law, Robert A. Young, was a Methodist minister who served as the Financial Secretary on the Board of Trust from 1874 to 1882, retiring from the board in 1902. The first building, Main Building, later known as Kirkland Hall, was designed by William Crawford Smith, in the fall of 1875, about 200 students enrolled at Vanderbilt, and in October the university was dedicated. Bishop McTyeire was named Chairman of the Board of Trust for life by Vanderbilt as a stipulation of his endowment, McTyeire named Landon Garland, his mentor from Randolph-Macon College in Virginia and then-Chancellor of the University of Mississippi, as chancellor. Garland shaped the structure and hired the schools faculty, many of whom were renowned scholars in their respective fields. However, most of this faculty left after disputes with Bishop McTyeire, when the first fraternity chapter, Phi Delta Theta, was established on campus in 1876, it was shut down by the faculty, only to be reestablished as a secret society in 1877. Meanwhile, Old Gym, designed by Dutch-born architect Peter J. Williamson, was built in 1879–1880, by 1883, the Board of Trust passed a resolution allowing fraternities on campus, and more chapters were established in 1884. During the first 40 years, the Board of Trust, and therefore the university, was under the control of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, conflicts escalated after James H. Kirkland was appointed chancellor in 1893
7.
National Collegiate Athletic Association
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The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a non-profit association which regulates athletes of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations, and individuals. It also organizes the programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The organization is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2014, the NCAA generated almost a billion dollars in revenue. 80 to 90% of this revenue was due to the Division I Mens Basketball Tournament and this revenue is then distributed back into various organizations and institutions across the United States. In August 1973, the current three-division setup of Division I, Division II, under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships, generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I football was divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978. Subsequently, the term Division I-AAA was briefly added to delineate Division I schools which do not field a football program at all, in 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were respectively renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision. Inter-collegiate sports began in the US in 1852 when crews from Harvard University, as other sports emerged, notably football and basketball, many of these same concepts and standards were adopted. Football, in particular, began to emerge as a marquee sport, the IAAUS was officially established on March 31,1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910. For several years, the NCAA was a group and rules-making body, but in 1921, the first NCAA national championship was conducted. Gradually, more rules committees were formed and more championships were created, a series of crises brought the NCAA to a crossroads after World War II. The Sanity Code – adopted to establish guidelines for recruiting and financial aid – failed to curb abuses, postseason football games were multiplying with little control, and member schools were increasingly concerned about how the new medium of television would affect football attendance. The complexity of problems and the growth in membership and championships demonstrated the need for full-time professional leadership. Walter Byers, previously an executive assistant, was named executive director in 1951. Byers wasted no time placing his stamp on the Association, as college athletics grew, the scope of the nations athletics programs diverged, forcing the NCAA to create a structure that recognized varying levels of emphasis. In 1973, the Associations membership was divided into three legislative and competitive divisions – I, II, and III, five years later in 1978, Division I members voted to create subdivisions I-A and I-AA in football. Until the 1980s, the association did not offer womens athletics, instead, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, with nearly 1000 member schools, governed womens collegiate sports in the United States
8.
Southeastern Conference
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The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the Southern part of the United States. Its fourteen members include the public universities of ten states. The conference is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, the SEC participates in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I in sports competitions, for football, it is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A. The SEC was also the first NCAA Division I conference to hold a game for college football and was one of the founding members of the Bowl Championship Series. The current SEC commissioner is Greg Sankey, the conference sponsors team championships in nine mens sports and twelve womens sports. The SEC consists of 14 member institutions located within the borders of 11 contiguous states and these divisional groupings are applied exclusively to football and baseball as well as their scheduling and standings. The other charter members were, The University of the South left the SEC on December 13,1940 and it is currently a member of the Division III Southern Athletic Association. Georgia Institute of Technology left the SEC in 1964, in 1975, it became a founding member of the Metro Conference, one of the predecessors to todays Conference USA. Georgia Tech competed in the Metro Conference in all sports except football, in 1978, Georgia Tech joined another Southern Conference offshoot, the Atlantic Coast Conference, for all sports, where it has remained ever since. Tulane University left the SEC in 1966, along with Georgia Tech, it was a charter member of the Metro Conference. Unlike Tech, however, Tulane remained in the Metro Conference until it merged with the Great Midwest Conference in 1995 to form Conference USA, Tulane remained an independent in football until C-USA began football competition in 1996. Tulane left C-USA in 2014 for the American Athletic Conference, in 1990, the SEC expanded from ten to twelve member universities with the addition of the Arkansas Razorbacks and the South Carolina Gamecocks. The two new members began SEC competition with the 1991–1992 basketball season, at the same time, the SEC organized competition for some sports into two divisions. Initially, the format was used in football, baseball. The divisional format was dropped for mens basketball following the 2011–2012 season, the 1992 and 1993 championship games were held at Legion Field in Birmingham, and all championship games from 1994 onward have been held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. On November 6,2011 the SEC commissioner announced that the University of Missouri would also join the SEC on July 1,2012, for football, Texas A&M was scheduled to compete in the Western Division, and Missouri in the Eastern Division. Texas A&M and Missouri both left the Big 12 Conference, the office of Commissioner was created in 1940. Under the leadership of Michael F, the SECU rebranded its mission to better serve as a means through which the collaborative academic endeavors and achievements of Southeastern Conference universities would be promoted and advanced
9.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
10.
Bowl game
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In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAAs Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Prior to 2002, bowl game statistics were not included in career totals. The term bowl originated from the Rose Bowl stadium, site of the first post-season college football games, the Rose Bowl Stadium, in turn, takes its name and bowl-shaped design from the Yale Bowl, the prototype of many football stadiums in the United States. The term has become almost synonymous with any major American football event. In professional football, the names of the National Football League s Super Bowl, the use of the term has crossed over into professional and collegiate Canadian football. A notable example is the annual Banjo Bowl between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League, U Sports plays two semi-final bowl games before the Vanier Cup national championship game, the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. The matchups are determined on a rotation basis, with the Uteck Bowl being played at the easternmost host team. The history of the game began with the 1902 Tournament East-West football game. The Tournament of Roses eventually sponsored an annual contest starting with the 1916 Tournament East-West Football Game, with the 1923 Rose Bowl it began to be played at the newly completed Rose Bowl stadium, and thus the contest itself became known as the Rose Bowl game. The name bowl to describe the games comes from the Rose Bowl stadium. Other cities saw the value for tourism that the Tournament of Roses parade and Rose Bowl carried. The label bowl was attached to the name, even though the games were not always played in bowl-shaped stadiums. The historic timing of bowl games, around the new year, is the result of two factors—warm climate and ease of travel. The original bowls began in warm climates such as Southern California, Louisiana, Florida and Texas as a way to promote the area for tourism and business. Since commercial air travel was either non-existent or very limited, the games were scheduled well after the end of the season to allow fans to travel to the game site. As the number of games has increased, the number of games a team would need to win to be invited to a bowl game has decreased. With a 12-game schedule, a number of teams with only 5 wins have been invited to a bowl game, as of the completion of the 2016 season, the University of Alabama has played in more bowl games than any other school, with 64 appearances. Alabama also holds the record for most bowl victories with 37, the Florida State Seminoles have the longest active streak of consecutive bowl appearances with 35
11.
2011 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
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The 2011 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores played their seven games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee. The teams head coach was James Franklin, who was in his first year at Vanderbilt, hired at Vanderbilt on December 17,2010, he was previously the offensive coordinator and head coach in waiting at the University of Maryland. Vanderbilt has been a member of the Southeastern Conference since the inception in 1932. Vanderbilt completed the 2011 regular season with an record of 6–6. They were invited to the Liberty Bowl where they were defeated by Cincinnati 24–31 to finish the season 6–7, the seniors on the 2011 Vanderbilt football team became the first class in program history to qualify for a bowl game twice. Vanderbilt had been to bowls in 1955 VS Auburn,1974 VS Texas Tech,1982 VS Air Force, at the end of the 2010 season, head coach Robbie Caldwell resigned from Vanderbilt. Franklin proceeded to hire John Donovan as the new offensive coordinator, on February 2,2011, Franklin announced a football recruiting class of 21 athletes. Lafonte Thourogood and Dillon van der Wal were both rated as four star recruits by Scout. com and this game marked the first meeting between these schools. This was the meeting between these schools. Vandy holds a lead in the series at 2 wins to 1 loss. One of college footballs oldest rivalries, Vanderbilt and Old Miss have played 85 times since 1894, Vandy won the first 19 of those games, and Ole Miss did not score in the first ten games. Vandy trails at 37–47–2 Vandy won last game 30–7, Vandy first played USC in 1961, but they did not play each other again until 1992. They have played each year since, with Vandy losing the first seven games, Vandy trails the overall series 4–16, and USC has won the last two games. The score of the most recent game was 3–21 in favor of South Carolina, Vandy has played Alabama 78 times since 1903. Vandy won the first five games, but have won ten more times since. Vandy trails the all-time series 15–59–4, Alabama has won the last 20 games. They last played in 2007, with the result a 10–24 Alabama win, Vandy has been playing Georgia almost every year since 1893
12.
2012 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
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The 2012 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores played their six games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee. The teams head coach was James Franklin, who is in his year at Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt has been a member of the Southeastern Conference since the inception in 1932. On November 11,2012 Vandy became bowl eligible in back to years for the first time in its 123-year football history. This was the first time since 1935 that Vandy won five SEC games in a year, Vanderbilt finished the year with the longest current SEC winning streak. For the first time since 1948, Vanderbilt finished the season with a top 25 ranking, Vanderbilt vice chancellor of athletics David Williams announced on February 6,2012 Vanderbilt will be adding new artificial turf and a new JumboTron. Vice Chancellor Williams confirmed that a large “berm” is to be constructed in the end of Vanderbilt Stadium as a place for fans to watch games starting fall 2012. The project, in addition to renovations, began after the Black & Gold scrimmage on April 14,2012. Vanderbilt’s is on the line of, but not to the same as Wake Forest, Wake Forest has a natural hill, Vanderbilt’s is manmade. Only 500 seats are available, the hillside is a first-come, no lounge chairs or coolers are allowed, but fans can bring blankets to place on the grass. The berm will not reach the permanent seating on the sidelines to leave space in the corners of the end zone for fans to enter, the grass on the playing surface will be cut up and relocated to the berm. FieldTurf is being installed as the new playing surface after April 14,2012, the JumboTron Vanderbilt is installing in the open end zone that will showcase a significantly larger screen than the one above the closed end zone. The fourth major project set for the stadium is improved lighting, Vanderbilt Stadium has the reputation of being one of D1 college football’s darker venues for night games. Renovations are ongoing at McGugin Center, where new meeting rooms, the work is due for completion summer 2012. On July 12,2012 Vanderbilt announced that vice chancellor David Williams will change his title to vice chancellor for athletes and university affairs and this will be the first time Vanderbilt has had an athletics director since 2003. In 2012 Franklin’s team has had numerous milestones, the longest road winning streak since 1950 Longest win streak since 1948. Most times scoring 40 or more points since 1915, First Vandy player to rush for over 3000 yards in career First time since 1949-1951 that Vanderbilt beats Rival Ole Miss in consecutive years
13.
2013 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
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The 2013 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represents Vanderbilt University during the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores play their seven games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee. The 2013 team is coming off back-to-back bowls for the first time in school history, the 2012 season was the best win pct since 1955 the nine wins was the most since 1915, and the 5 SEC wins was the most since 1935. The 2012 season ended with the current longest win streak in the SEC, the 2013 team was headed by James Franklin who was in his 3rd and final year at Vanderbilt. It marked the Commodores 123rd overall season, 80th as a member of the Southeastern Conference, for the third straight year Vanderbilt has made it to a bowl game the game will be the first played after December 31 of the same year of the season. Vandy defeated Houston Cougars in the BBVA Compass Bowl 41–24, Vanderbilt finished with 9 wins back to back for the first time in school history, also for the first time was ranked in the top 25 of AP and Coaches polls in back-to-back years. A small amount of controversy accorded when Vanderbilt canceled games at home with Northwestern, a letter was sent cancelling the games, the explicit reason being the need to accommodate Mizzou into Vanderbilts SEC East Division. In a development unrelated to the changes, on August 9,2013. Brandon Vandenburg, Cory Batey, Brandon Banks and Jaborian McKenzie were taken into custody, all four men were charged with five counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. They allegedly had sex with an unconscious 21-year-old victim in the schools Gillette House dorm on June 23,2013, the defendants were dismissed from the football team on June 29,2013 and banned from campus during the six-week investigation that followed. A fifth player, Chris Boyd, pleaded guilty to criminal attempt to commit accessory after the fact and was dismissed from the team but not the university for his role in helping to cover up the rape
14.
Jay Cutler (American football)
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Jay Christopher Cutler is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He played most recently for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League, Cutler was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Vanderbilt, Jay Cutler was born in Santa Claus, Indiana, in 1983. Cutler attended Heritage Hills High School in Lincoln City, Indiana and he started three years at quarterback for the Patriots football team, amassing a combined 26–1 record in his junior and senior years, including a perfect 15–0 during his senior year. Cutler and his team outscored opponents 746–85, including a 90–0 shutout at Pike Central, during his senior year, Cutler connected on 122 of 202 passes for 2,252 yards with 31 touchdowns, while rushing 65 times for 493 yards with 11 touchdowns. He also started at safety for three years, intercepting nine passes as a senior, 12th overall in the state and his teams perfect record during his senior year included the schools first 3A state championship, where Heritage Hills beat Zionsville in overtime, 27–24. The most notable play of the game occurred when Cutler lateraled the ball to the halfback, Cole Seifrig, Cutler also played strong safety in the state championship and made 19 tackles. Cutler was named a first-team All-State selection by the Associated Press as a senior, in addition to playing football in high school, he was a first-team all-state selection in basketball and garnered honorable mention all-state accolades as a shortstop in baseball. Cutler grew up as a Chicago Bears fan during his youth in Indiana, Cutler attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He started all 45 career games that he played for the Vanderbilt Commodores football team and he did not miss a game in college due to injury. The Commodores were 11–35 during his tenure, including going 5–27 versus the SEC, in 2002, Cutler set the school record for touchdowns and rushing yards by a freshman and rushed for more yards than any other Southeastern Conference quarterback that year. The Associated Press honored him with a first-team freshman All-SEC selection, in 2004, as a junior, Cutler completed 61.0 percent of his passes, setting a school record, while throwing for 1,844 yards with 10 touchdowns and a career-low five interceptions. The 2005 season, Cutlers final year of play at Vanderbilt, was his most successful. As an 11-game starter, he completed 273 of 462 passes for 3,073 yards,21 touchdowns and nine interceptions and he led the Commodores to victories over Wake Forest, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Richmond and Tennessee. The Commodores also scored the second most points ever laid upon the Florida Gators at their current home field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Cutler ended his career by leading Vanderbilt past Tennessee 28–24, their first over the Volunteers since 1982, and the first in Knoxville since 1975. Cutler passed for three touchdowns and 315 yards, becoming the first quarterback in history to record four consecutive 300-yard passing performances. Cutlers final play in college was the touchdown pass to teammate Earl Bennett against Tennessee. A finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, Cutler was a first-team All-SEC pick by the league’s coaches, Cutler graduated from Vanderbilt in 2005 with a bachelors degree in human and organizational development
15.
2005 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
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The 2005 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Commodores offense scored 299 points while the defense allowed 321 points, led by head coach Bobby Johnson in his 4th year, the Commodores won their first four games of the season but finished the season with only five wins. This was Jay Cutlers senior year, the leading receiver was Earl Bennett. Also on the team, Jonathan Goff, Thomas Welch and Chris Williams, Vanderbilt started out with 4 wins and looked to make it 5 for the first time since the 1940s with a win over in state MTSU. The game was close and down to the last play of the game, Vanderbilt then proceeded to drop its next 5 games and fall out of Bowl eligibility. Vanderbilts historic victory eliminated Tennessee from Bowl eligibility, Jay Cutler was later named SEC Offensive Player of the Year and drafted 11th overall by the Denver Broncos in the 2006 NFL Draft the following Spring
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1999 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
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The 1999 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University in the 1999 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team played their games at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville. Vanderbilt came into the 1998 season unranked and had a streak of 14 losing seasons,1998 was no better as Vanderbilt finished the season with a 2–9 record, 1–7 in the SEC. The season began with a 42–0 loss at Mississippi State, the next week fared no better for the Commodores as they were beaten by Alabama, 32–7. In week three, Vanderbilt had its home opener, but to no avail, as the Commodores fell to Ole Miss, 30–6, the next game for the Commodores was a loss to Western Michigan at home, 27–23. Vanderbilt put themselves out of contention with a 31–6 loss to Georgia. The week following, Vanderbilt got their first win, a 17–14 win over South Carolina, the next game also ended with a Vandy victory, a 36–33 overtime win over Duke. Victory was short lived, however, as the Dores lost their three games. A 45–13 loss to Florida started the gloomy November, followed by a loss 55–17 to Kentucky, and a 41–0 loss to instate rival Tennessee
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2001 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
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The 2001 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented the Vanderbilt University in the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by head coach Woody Widenhofer in his year as the head coach. Vanderbilt was led by Greg Zolman who passed for 2,512 yards with 14 TD’s and 9 INT’s he had a 52. 1% passing 186 Completes for 357 Attempts 32.5 Attempts per game. Dan Stricker was the top passing target with 65 Receptions and 1,079 Yards 8 TDs, Lew Thomas was top rusher with 675 Yards on 105 Attempts for an Avg of 6.43 and 96.4 YPG 5TDs. Rodney Williams was second in rushing with 590 Yards on 131 Attempts for an Avg of 4.50 4TDs, Widenhofer, entered into his fifth season at Vandy, on the hot seat needing to improve his record at Vanderbilt. He met with Vanderbilt chancellor Gordon Gee and athletic director Todd Turner in November 2000, the gist of that meeting was clearly defined, There needed to be marked improvement in every aspect of the Vanderbilt program if Widenhofer is going to see a sixth year. The general feeling in Nashville was that Vanderbilt needs to make a bid for a winning season, and if the Commodores don’t get to six wins, they need to at least come very close. To that end, Widenhofer implemented a plan during the off-season. There was some talk that he make some changes on his staff. While he did some things around, he didn’t fire anyone. But Widenhofer had vowed to take a more “hands-on’’ approach the season with his staff, the second part of Widenhofer’s plan was to spreading out the special teams responsibilities to every member of the coaching staff. Bill Maskill handled those chores in the last season by himself, the third part of Widenhofer’s plan was to center around developing leadership among the players. He thought his team lacked leadership the year before, the Commodores returned seven starters on each side of the ball. But the loss of Jared McGrath and Elliott Carson on offense and Jamie Winborn, and above all, Vanderbilt needed to do a better job of running the ball and stopping the run if it was going to improve on the 2000 season’s 3-8 finish. The Commodores were last in the league in rushing offense and tied for last in rushing defense, the offense was clearly the strength of this team and had a chance to be one of the best Vanderbilt had had in some time. But the Commodores needed a few receivers other than junior Dan Stricker to make some plays,2000 Season, Stricker finished third in the SEC and 18th nationally with 90.4 receiving yards per game. Senior QB Greg Zolman entering his fifth year in the program, Zolman had the kind of stability at quarterback Vanderbilt had not had much of over the years. In 2000 Zolman finished second only to Kentucky’s Jared Lorenzen in passing yards per game, Zolman averaged 221.9 yards and had 2,441 for the 2000 season, the most by a Vanderbilt quarterback since 1988
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2015 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
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The 2015 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores played their games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee. Derek Mason coached the Commodores for his second year and they are members of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference. The Commodores finished with a record for the second year in a row with an overall record of 4–8. The 2015 schedule consist of 6 home and away games in the regular season, the Commodores will host SEC foes Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, and Texas A&M, and will travel to Florida, Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Tennessee
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2008 Vanderbilt Commodores football team
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The 2008 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2008–09 college football season. The teams head coach was Bobby Johnson, who served his seventh season in the position, the Commodores played their six home games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee. This was Vanderbilts first 5-0 start since 1943, following a 4–0 start to the season, the Vanderbilt Commodores were ranked for the first time on the AP Poll since 1984. Following the victory over Auburn, the Commodores were 5–0 for the first time since 1943, after the good start, the Commodores would lose their next four games before a 31-24 victory over Kentucky that declared them bowl eligible for the first time since 1982. This game was notably broadcast on ESPNs national television program College GameDay
