Special teams play a big part in Vanderbilt's special day

Wednesday was a special day for Vanderbilt’s football program, thanks in no small part to special teams.

All of the Commodores’ points in their 16-14 victory over Boston College in the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl came from the kicking game, capped by Bryant Hahnfeldt’s 45-yard field goal with 3:26 to play.

It was punter Brett Upson, though, who was named the game’s most valuable player.

Upson, a junior, punted nine times for an average of 42.6 yards. Three of his kicks were downed inside the 20 without a touchdown. Another bounced off the leg of a BC blocker and was recovered in the end zone by redshirt-freshman safety Sean Richardson for VU’s only touchdown.

“The funny thing is I didn’t even know it hit him – I was behind three Boston College players,” Upson said. “We did mostly rugby punts all day and I felt like I hit those pretty good. The wind was playing a big role … (but) I was able to get the nose down on the ball, drive it into the wind and get some roll.

“… I was just out there doing my job.”

Recently, that job had been a challenging one. Upson had at least one punt blocked in each of the final three games of the regular season, during which he averaged 40.1 yards per attempt.

Boston College blocked two punts during the regular season (one was returned for a touchdown) but got nowhere near Upson on this day. Consequently, BC had an average starting field position of the 22, which was 11 yards worse than Vanderbilt. The Eagles’ best starting spot was their own 37.

“Field position was a big part of the game, just like a lot of those wins we had early in the year,” VU coach Bobby Johnson said. “We worked hard on those things in the bowl practices. We had extra time for special teams that we took advantage of, and our guys got it down.”

The bowl game, likewise, provided a turnaround for Hahnfeldt, a Montgomery Bell Academy graduate and VU’s all-time leading scorer.

The game-winner was his third field goal of the day, which tied his single-game career-high. He connected from 42 and 26 yards, respectively, on the Commodores’ first two possessions as VU built an early 6-0 lead.

The performance also eased any pain associated with some late-season struggles of his own. He made just three field goals (on eight attempts) over the final eight games. That, after he was six-for-six to start the season, including three successful tries in a six-point victory over Ole Miss.

“To hit the game-winner, it kind of puts a final stamp on my career,” Hahnfeldt said. “… When you hit a good kick, you usually don’t feel the ball come off your foot because you get it on the sweet spot. Even though it was cold I didn’t feel it too much, and as soon as I hit it, I kind of knew.”