MTSU vs. Vanderbilt 2016 final score: 3 things we learned from the Commodores’ 47-24 win

Vanderbilt improved to 1-1 on Saturday night with their 47-24 victory over the MTSU Blue Raiders.

While the passing offense isn’t quite in sync, the rushing offense was at the top of their game as the Commodores ran for over 230 yards in the blowout victory in Nashville. Ralph Webb was the star attraction, amassing a mark of 7.1 yards per carry on the night as he continues to be a sensation in the Commodores backfield.

Although MTSU was able to allot well over 400 yards in total offense, they still wound up being on the receiving end of a loss to the Commodores as they now stand at 1-1 like their in-state counterparts.

Here’s what we learned from this encounter.

1. Ralph Webb is a bell cow: For the second straight week, Vanderbilt’s junior tailback was sensational. Webb amassed over 200 yards rushing — 211 to be precise — against MTSU Saturday night and perhaps more impressively was his 7.1 YPC mark. His longest run of the night was charted at 49 yards and Webb also found the end zone two times. It looks like Vandy has a bell cow in their backfield, and Ralph Webb may be someone that we look on at with positive thoughts as the season progresses.

2. The passing offense is still in flux: Kyle Shurmur was only able to clock 4.1 yards per attempt on Saturday night, a mark that barely bested his mark of 3.3 the previous week against South Carolina. Vandy’s air attack still needs some improvement and it will be imperative, going forward, that they attempt to try and mend it against some of the better secondaries in the country once they hit SEC play.

3. 3rd down efficiency is still in need of repair: The Commodores didn’t do much to aid their 3rd down efficiency woes. After a 4-for-15 performance last week, Vandy went just 4-for-12 on Saturday night against MTSU. Sure, that’s an improvement by three, but that will still have to sharpen up going forward. It wasn’t much of a concern against a meager opponent as they were still able to win by 23 points Saturday night in Nashville, but going forward key downs will have to continue to be a focus.