It was New Year's Eve, so Vanderbilt was probably going to party anyway. But it was a lot sweeter with a bowl victory to cherish.
Vanderbilt knocked off No. 24 Boston College 16-14 at LP Field to win the Music City Bowl, its first bowl victory since 1955, capping a year where the Commodores seemed to do nothing but set milestones.
Senior kicker and Nashville native Bryant Hahnfeldt put on a show before his hometown crowd, making all three field goals he attempted, including the 45-yard game-winner with less than four minutes to play, and junior cornerback Myron Lewis picked off BC quarterback Dominique Davis with 1:36 left to seal the win.
"It's very exciting as you can see," Lewis said. "For our team, players, coaches, our families, the crowd."
Hahnfeldt's winning kick was right on the money and provided a memorable final boot for Vanderbilt's all-time leading scorer.
"I knew we had the wind in the fourth quarter," he said. "It was a matter of hitting it through. It felt great. As soon as I hit it, I kind of knew."
After Lewis' pick, redshirt freshman quarterback Larry Smith kneeled three times and the celebration was on in Nashville, Vanderbilt's first victory in its hometown since beating Auburn back on Oct. 4. Coach Bobby Johnson took a Gatorade bath to celebrate Vanderbilt's seventh victory, a mark not reached by the program since the last time it made a bowl in 1982.
"I was proud of our football team for hanging in there playing a very fine football team in Boston College," Johnson said. "It may not have been the prettiest victory in the world but it is for us now."
Smith made his first career start at quarterback for Vanderbilt and played a steady game, completing 10-16 passes for 122 yards and rushing for 25. Redshirt senior Chris Nickson played also, mainly in designed quarterback runs, and led the Vanderbilt rushing attack with 57 yards on the ground.
Although the Commodores only had 199 yards of offense, they never turned the ball over and did not commit a single penalty. The Eagles (9-5, 5-3 ACC) on the other hand had two costly penalties on Vanderbilt's game-winning drive after they had taken a 14-13 lead on a long touchdown pass. A 15-yard facemask penalty moved the Commodores up near midfield, and then on third down, Mackenzi Adams, who took one snap, was leveled after throwing an incomplete pass for a roughing-the-passer penalty to move Vanderbilt near field goal range.
Smith then rifled a pass over the middle on second-and-long to George Smith that moved the Commodores into range and set up Hahnfeldt's heroics two plays later.
It was the defense and special teams that made this win happen though. Vanderbilt's Brett Upson had an outstanding day punting the football, booting nine kicks for a 42.6 yard average and pinning the Eagles deep in their territory time and time again, and one of his kicks led to Vanderbilt's only touchdown. A third quarter punt struck a BC player and rolled into the end zone where Sean Richardson recovered to give the Commodores a 13-7 lead. Upson was named the Most Valuable Player of the bowl.
"I was just out there doing my job," Upson said. "It wouldn't have been able to happen if it hadn't been for the rest of the punt team. From the snap to the protection to the kick."
The defense held the Eagles to 331 yards of offense and intercepted two passes, notably Lewis' clincher in the fourth quarter.
Boston College had its bowl win streak snapped at eight, which had been the nation's longest. It was also Vanderbilt's third win this season over a ranked team, a school record.
Hahnfeldt booted two field goals in the first quarter to give Vanderbilt (7-6, 4-4 SEC) an early 6-0 lead. BC scored on a touchdown pass by Davis close to halftime to take a 7-6 lead into the locker room.
Hahnfeldt had a roller coaster season in 2008, making his first seven field goals and then missing his next five. He finished the season on a definite high note.
"To hit the game-winner, it kind of puts a stamp on my career," he said. "It's fantastic for Nashville itself, to go out like this."
And the best season in a generation for Vanderbilt "ups the ante" for future Commodore teams. After a seemingly endless run of losing seasons, winning football has returned to the smallest school in the Southeastern Conference and Johnson intends to keep it that way. While the Commodores are losing several key players, including All-SEC cornerback D.J. Moore who announced he will leave the school in January to prepare for the NFL, there remains a key core of young athletes that are already making 2009 look very promising.
"We want to make sure that we continue to move forward and I think we have got enough players coming back from this football team that we are going to have a good chance to do that," Johnson said. "It's going to take an awful lot of hard work."
