Vanderbilt — SEC
HC
Clark Lea · FirstBank Stadium · Nashville, TN · 40,351 cap
PPA off / def
0.41 / 0.19
2025
Class rank
#33
class of 2026
Returning PPA
35%
returning production
| 1933 |
OSU W 20–0 | Columbus |
| 1931 |
OSU L 21–26 | Columbus |
| 1909 |
OSU W 5–0 | Columbus |
| 1908 |
OSU W 17–6 | away |
2026 schedule
2025 results (10–3)
Statistical comps — 2025 Vanderbilt's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (18 in / 19 out)
Origins
McGugin's early teams were the South's best, going 197-55-19 across thirty seasons. Vanderbilt then chose academics over an arms race and has spent a century as the SEC's conscientious objector — which made beating Alabama in 2024 land like a bomb.
Founded 1873 · Endowed by Cornelius Vanderbilt to help heal sectional wounds after the Civil War · first football 1890 · defined by Dan McGugin
All-time record
All-time
573–652–43
1899–2025
Win %
46.9%
123 seasons played
Winning seasons
55
45% of seasons
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2025 | 10 | 3 | SEC |
| 1904 | 9 | 0 | SIAA |
| 1915 | 9 | 1 | SIAA |
| 2013 | 9 | 4 | SEC |
| 2012 | 9 | 4 | SEC |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1899 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 353 | 48% |
51% | 12 of 136 | 8.2 | 18% |
| 2nd down | 232 | 50% |
54% | 4 of 136 | 7.5 | 16% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 34 | 62% |
65% | — | 5.5 | 12% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 40 | 30% |
60% | — | 7.3 | 13% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 42 | 12% |
36% | — | 6.3 | 14% |
| 4th down | 13 | 38% |
62% | — | 4.0 | 8% |
146 drives · 51% ended in points · 7.0 plays and 47.2 yards per drive · 2.20 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 13 | Kentucky |
Tre Richardson 71 Yd pass from Diego Pavia (Brock Taylor Kick) |
71 | 6.61 |
| 9 | Missouri |
No Huddle-Shotgun #22 M.Young rush right for 80 yards gain to the MIZZOU00 TOUCHDOWN, cloc… |
80 | 6.39 |
| CFP | Iowa |
Tre Richardson 75 Yd pass from Diego Pavia (Brock Taylor Kick) |
75 | 6.08 |
| 10 | Texas |
(04:03) No Huddle-Shotgun #2 D.Pavia pass complete deep right to #9 E.Stowers caught at TE… |
67 | 5.43 |
| 6 | Alabama |
Sedrick Alexander run for 65 yds for a TD (Brock Taylor KICK) |
65 | 5.41 |
| 4 | Georgia State |
Makhilyn Young run for 60 yds for a TD (Brock Taylor KICK) |
60 | 5.31 |
| 11 | Auburn |
Tre Richardson 57 Yd pass from Diego Pavia (Brock Taylor Kick) |
57 | 4.47 |
| 13 | Kentucky |
Tre Richardson 56 Yd pass from Diego Pavia (Brock Taylor Kick) |
56 | 4.37 |