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Vanderbilt Commodores must still be soaking in the happy vibes. After all, Clark Lea and his boys pulled an UNO reverse while playing against LSU, handing them a 31-24 loss. Already, the fans are on cloud nine. Some players from the Vanderbilt squad just made them feel more special. Seems like the Commodores kicker Brock Taylor, and punter Nick Haberer have taken up a new assignment beyond their work hours. Behind it, Pat McAfee must be in a major dilemma, already burdened with over $1 million in losses. On October 22, McAfee reshared a tweet by Vanderbilt sports reporter Dylan Tovitz with a ” 👀” emoji in the caption. The clip was from Vanderbilt’s Alumni Lawn, where students had gathered. The caption of the original tweet read, “A crowd of nearly 100 Vanderbilt students are currently out on alumni lawn practicing their @CollegeGameDay field goal-kicking with Brock Taylor and Nick Haberer 🎥 Was actually impressed with some of the student kicking skills:” Now, what made the Vanderbilt duo help out the students? ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad A special event is coming up on October 25. It marks the return of ESPN’s College GameDay to Nashville. This marks the first time since 2008 that the show is returning to Music City, where Vanderbilt will be opening the gates to the Wyatt Lawn ahead of the Commodores’ SEC matchup against Missouri. But what’s up with kicking practice? Here comes the ‘what if’ scenario if the Vanderbilt students are picked up during College GameDay’s iconic segment for the kicking challenge. Holding a seat within the College GameDay crew is the famous punter, former Indianapolis Colts star McAfee. He puts a cash prize on the line as one lucky participant takes a 33-yard kick, the distance of an NFL extra point. Since day one of McAfee’s kicking contest, $1.7 million has landed in winners’ hands, and $1.25 million has gone to help others. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad Already this season, his student picks have been big misses, leading to over a million loss. The big misses include: $600,000 was put on line when Georgia visited Tennessee, $500,000 when Florida took a trip to Miami, $500,000 when Alabama hosted Vanderbilt, and so on. As Vanderbilt faces off against Texas on November 1, it’s going to be an easy ground for them. After all, the Longhorns’ luck didn’t favor them during the kicking competition. McAfee, before the Week 8 face-off against Georgia, picked up his kicker, Max Gomez-Wright, a freshman at the University of Texas. The young chap seemed to be confident about the task being a cakewalk. “I don’t why we pay kickers so much, honestly,” he said. “You just hit it straight, what is there to it?” The 33-yard attempt missed badly, yet McAfee offered a second shot at $100,000. That one came up short as well, drawing a collective sigh from the stands. While the off-field events take shape, the Vanderbilt camp must be grappling with a huge setback. Read Top Stories First From EssentiallySports Click here and check box next to EssentiallySports ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad Vanderbilt Commodores’ momentum hits a pause with a heartbreaking update After crushing the LSU Tigers, Lea and co.’s confidence has shot up. The win marked only the seventh time ever that Vanderbilt has taken down a top-10 team. So, it had to come with a bonus. Here came an early bowl berth. The Commodores’ head coach had already put the SEC teams on high alert. About gaining bowl eligibility, Lea said, “It’s not something that we’ve thought about. We have higher goals.” Maybe it’s about the mindset. He has fed the Vanderbilt squad enough potion to be confident. “It’s not that I don’t want it to sound like I’m not excited about the fact that we’ve secured a postseason bid, but we’re really interested in taking this as far as we can,” Lea shared. Vanderbilt has now earned bowl eligibility for the second year in a row, a feat the Commodores haven’t pulled off since their three-season run from 2011 to 2013. In this journey, the Commodores will have a Heisman-worthy weapon like Diego Pavia. But things are not going to be smooth for the Vanderbilt camp after their unfortunate injury setback. On October 20, Aria Gerson dropped a heartbreaking update on the Vanderbilt defensive lineman Yilanan Ouattara. “Clark Lea said that Yilanan Ouattara has opted to have surgery for his shoulder injury. He is out for the season. Ouattara can take a redshirt season and return in 2026 if he so chooses,” he wrote. Coming off an early-season injury, Ouattara saw his first action in Week 2 against Virginia Tech, tallying a tackle before suffering a shoulder issue. Not a good time for the Vanderbilt Commodores to be playing with a cracked-up defensive line. This calls for Clark Lea to count on someone less experienced in the D-line, which would invite increased snaps. Vanderbilt’s November 1 matchup thus comes wrapped in a wave of mixed emotions.
