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2023 Vanderbilt

2–⁠10 (0–⁠8 Southeastern Conference), coached by Clark Lea.

Schedule and results

Vanderbilt in 2023, game by game: won vs. Hawai’i 35–28; won vs. Alabama A&M 47–13; lost at Wake Forest 20–36; lost at UNLV 37–40; lost vs. Kentucky 28–45; lost vs. No. 23 Missouri 21–38; lost at Florida 14–38; lost vs. No. 1 Georgia 20–37; lost at No. 12 Ole Miss 7–33; lost vs. Auburn 15–31; lost at South Carolina 6–47; lost at No. 25 Tennessee 24–48+34−41Won 35–28 vs. Hawai’i+7Hawai’iWon 47–13 vs. Alabama A&M+34Alabama A&MLost 20–36 at Wake Forest-16Wake ForestLost 37–40 at UNLV-3UNLVLost 28–45 vs. Kentucky-17KentuckyLost 21–38 vs. No. 23 Missouri-17No. 23 MissouriLost 14–38 at Florida-24FloridaLost 20–37 vs. No. 1 Georgia-17No. 1 GeorgiaLost 7–33 at No. 12 Ole Miss-26No. 12 Ole MissLost 15–31 vs. Auburn-16AuburnLost 6–47 at South Carolina-41South CarolinaLost 24–48 at No. 25 Tennessee-24No. 25 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 26vsHawai’iW 35–⁠2864%
Sep 2vsAlabama A&MW 47–⁠1381%
Sep 9atWake ForestL 20–⁠3628%
Sep 16atUNLVL 37–⁠4045%
Sep 23vsKentuckyL 28–⁠4537%
Sep 30vs23MissouriL 21–⁠3838%
Oct 7atFloridaL 14–⁠3825%
Oct 14vs1GeorgiaL 20–⁠3710%
Oct 28at12Ole MissL 7–⁠3313%
Nov 4vsAuburnL 15–⁠3137%
Nov 11atSouth CarolinaL 6–⁠4723%
Nov 25at25TennesseeL 24–⁠4812%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 48–⁠24; unranked in the final AP poll; 14th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 112th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

Record
2–⁠10
Conference
0–⁠8 14th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
274–⁠434
Coach
Clark Lea
Elo
1329 −113 this season
SP+ rating
-12.7 No. 110 of 133; offense No. 80, defense No. 124, special teams No. 70
SRS
−10.2 No. 110 of 133 in FBS
Returning
52% of last season’s EPA, No. 67 of 131
Recruiting class
No. 52 roster talent No. 58 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Joey Lynch
Defensive coordinator
Nick Howell
Offense
Pro spread
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense128th of 133
  • Defense132nd of 133
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted122nd of 133
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted121st of 133
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0736%1.40128th of 133
Defense0.2946%1.40132nd of 133
Opponent-adjusted-0.01 off
0.19 def		39% off
43% def		—122nd off
121st def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.1own 3022% allowed
Defense4.1own 3215% caused

CORE rating -20.9, 130th of 133 (offense -12.1, defense 8.8).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsA.J. Swann QB1,418 yds
Passing touchdownsA.J. Swann QB12 TD
Rushing yardsSedrick Alexander RB370 yds
Rushing touchdownsSedrick Alexander RB4 TD
Receiving yardsWill Sheppard WR684 yds
Receiving touchdownsWill Sheppard WR8 TD
TacklesLangston Patterson LB74 tkl
SacksNate Clifton DT5.5 sacks
InterceptionsC.J. Taylor S2 INT

Top recruits in the 2023 class

Martel Hight CB★★★★No. 401
London Humphreys WR★★★No. 487
Sedrick Alexander RB★★★No. 734
De’Marion Thomas DL★★★No. 777
Ethan Crisp LB★★★No. 797

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2023 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.844
Running backs33.00.867
Receivers53.00.858
Offensive line43.00.854
Defensive line33.00.860
Linebackers33.00.861
Defensive backs23.50.878
Athletes and specialists23.00.842
Whole class233.00.859

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Roster 114

The 2023 roster

114 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2023 line; 54 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 3

The 2023 portal
Prince Kollie LB★★★from Notre Dame
Aeneas DiCosmo LB★★★from Stanford
Jacob Borcila K★★from Kansas

Transfers out 13

Ray Davis RB★★★★to Kentucky
Elijah McAllister DE★★★to Auburn
Ja’Dais Richard CB★★★to Miami
Mike Wright QB★★★to Mississippi State
Daniel Martin LB★★★★no new school on file
Malik Langham DL★★★★to Purdue
Chase Lloyd S★★★to Florida A&M
Devin Boddie Jr. WR★★★to Wyoming
Diego LaMonica TE★★★no new school on file
Joel DeCoursey TE★★★to Samford
Maurice Edwards RB★★★no new school on file
Rocko Griffin RB★★★to UTSA

And 1 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-SEC

1 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 2023 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2023 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia8–⁠013–⁠14
Alabama8–⁠012–⁠25
Missouri6–⁠211–⁠28
Ole Miss6–⁠211–⁠2
LSU6–⁠210–⁠312
Tennessee4–⁠49–⁠417
Texas A&M4–⁠47–⁠6
Kentucky3–⁠57–⁠6
Auburn3–⁠56–⁠7
South Carolina3–⁠55–⁠7
Florida3–⁠55–⁠7
Mississippi State1–⁠75–⁠79
Arkansas1–⁠74–⁠8
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.