As Army kicker Alex Carlton’s game-winning field goal try hurtled towards the uprights, the silence at Michie Stadium was broken by the sound the Vanderbilt bench was hoping to hear — that of the ball clanging off the left upright.

The eruption of cheers from the Army crowd that followed, however, was not.

Nevertheless, as the Black Knights (3-3) mobbed Carlton and fans poured onto the field to celebrate the school’s first win over a Southeastern Conference school since 1990, only one word accurately described the scene from Vanderbilt’s perspective: Inevitable.

After playing catch-up for the entire game, the Commodores (2-4, 0-3 SEC) looked like they were poised to eke out a win after redshirt sophomore quarterback Larry Smith capped off an impressive drive by connecting with redshirt senior Alex Washington for a 3-yard touchdown pass with 1:06 left in the game.

However, a flag was thrown, and redshirt sophomore receiver Udom Umoh was flagged for pass interference, negating the go-ahead score.

A 41-yard, career-long field goal later by redshirt freshman Ryan Fowler and the Commodores found themselves in overtime where they, again, seemed poised to cross the goal line, only to have freshman Warren Norman stripped of the ball at the 1-yard line by sophomore linebacker Andrew Rodriguez.

Norman could only watch as the ball bounced through the back of the end zone for a touchback.

“I feel sorry that it happened like that for him,” Washington said. “We wouldn’t be in the position we were in if it weren’t for him anyway.”

For Norman, it would have been the fourth time he had reached the end zone on the day.  After Army took a 10-3 lead, Norman returned the ensuing kickoff 76 yards for the score. Two other long touchdown runs by Norman were called back, one due to holding and one on a booth review.

Despite getting the offense into a bit of a rhythm in the second half, the ’Dores continued to be plagued by lapses in concentration. Two interceptions and 12 penalties for 99 yards marred what was an already-pedestrian offensive output.

“No matter how [well] you do, if you get the penalties that we’re getting, you’re just killing yourselves in drives,” said Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson. “It’s hard to overcome a 15-yard penalty.”

Having to overcome mental mistakes proved to be too much for a Vanderbilt team that was already tasked with shutting down Army’s unpredictable triple option attack. The defense contained Army’s backfield for most of the first half but was unable to stop the Black Knights from marching down the field and controlling the tempo in the second half.

“We played well, but not as well as we would have liked,” redshirt sophomore linebacker Chris Marve said. “We didn't limit them enough. I wish we would have gotten more stops.”

Smith’s struggles at quarterback continued, finishing just 11-24 for 144 yards, 79 coming on Vanderbilt’s game-tying drive at the end of the fourth quarter. He also threw two interceptions, giving him six on the season.

If the Commodores hope to recover, they will need to come up with answers fast. The schedule only looks to get harder from this point on with three of the next four opponents ranked in the Top 25.

“We've got some really good teams we've got to play the rest of the way in,” Johnson said, “but they aren't going to call off the rest of the season, and we aren't either.”