NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It may be time to start thinking of Jordan Rodgers as something other than Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ little brother.
The Vanderbilt quarterback gave the Commodores just what they have been looking for - a little spark and a lot of consistency - in his first start as the Vanderbilt defeated Army 44-21 on Saturday night.
Rodgers rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown, threw for another and helped open up the field for Zac Stacy’s career highs of 198 yards rushing and three scores.
Coach James Franklin wasn’t ready to announce the Commodores are fixed, though.
“I don’t know if we have figured anything out yet,” said Franklin, whose team plays host to No. 9 Arkansas next Saturday. “We’re going to be doing that for a long time, I think, but we are getting better. We are starting to show somewhat of an identity.”
The victory ended a three game losing streak for the Commodores (4-3) and appeared to right an offense that was faltering after a fast start. It also kept them in the race for their first postseason appearance since 2008. Two more victories and they clinch bowl eligibility.
The prospects seem much more bright with Rodgers, a redshirt junior, under center. He kept the Black Knights (2-5) off balance all night. Though he completed just 10 of 27 passes, he kept Army’s secondary on its heels with deep passes,including two completions of more than 40 yards.
That opened things up for Stacy, whose rushing total was third-most in a single game for Vanderbilt, and it was the first three-touchdown game since 2007.
“We were blowing holes,” Rodgers said. “We had a lot of gap schemes, linemen just man on man trying to beat them, and they did.”
The Commodores finished with a season-high 530 yards and a handle on the possibilities to come.
Vanderbilt’s coaching staff utilized some deception to make the most of Rodgers’ abilities. On some plays, he took the snap, set to pass, executed a pump fake, then pulled the ball down. That worked to perfection on Vanderbilt’s first and third scores, runs of 1 yard by Stacy and 12 by Rodgers.
Rodgers also had nice timing. After Steelman fumbled a hand off on Army’s first drive, Rodgers found Chris Boyd on a fly pattern for a 43-yard touchdown that made it 13-0.
Things eventually got so wide open that Franklin found himself in the unusual position of calling off the Commodores’ onslaught.
“We are not really focused on the statistics,” Franklin said. “We’re focused on the wins and doing what’s best for our team and our program.”
It wasn’t all offense, though. Vanderbilt built a 23-6 halftime lead by holding Army, the nation’s top rushing team, to 104 yards on the ground in the first half. The Commodores also knocked out Trent Steelman, the Black Knights’ most dangerous threat, with 2:20 left in the second quarter.
Sports, Pages 32 on 10/23/2011