This Vanderbilt team was supposed to be different. Derek Mason told us all summer his team had grown up, but then kickoff came and it was the coach that reverted to the same managerial mistakes that doomed him before.
Mason's Vanderbilt teams started five different quarterbacks over his first two seasons, creating a constant state of controversy and preventing the offense from ever getting going.
The result was just seven victories in two years. But Mason kept telling us this would team would be different.
Kyle Shurmur finished last season as the starter and further cemented his place with a solid spring. Mason named the sophomore his starting quarterback this summer.
Shurmur was his no. 1 QB. Wade Freebeck was his no. 2, and the Commodores weren't looking back.
And for the first 15:32 of the season that was true.
After going three and out on its opening possession, Vanderbilt recovered Deebo Samuel's muffed punt and Shurmur and the offense cashed in with a field goal.
On their next possession, the Commodores drove 67 yards on six plays taking a 10-0 lead on a touchdown drive that had the South Carolina defense on the field for a deflating 6:07. The biggest play was a 16-yard pass from Shurmur to C.J. Duncan on a third down with the rush in his face.
It was the type of drive that should've given the Dores momentum and a young quarterback confidence.
But after the defense forced another punt, the offense returned to the field with Shurmur standing on the sideline and an entire stadium wondering what was wrong?
Freebeck entered backed up against his own goal line twice, directing the offense to just one yard on back to back three and outs.
Mason said he and offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig "predetermined" that Freebeck would get those series to get him some live snaps. Those snaps ruined any chance a struggling offense had at finding its footing.
Shurmur returned much to the confused crowd's delight but the offense failed to do anything over its final eight drives, totaling just nine first downs. The Commodores only scoring chance came on a 46-yard drive in the fourth quarter that ended in a missed field goal.
Meanwhile South Carolina, debating between two quarterbacks of its own, settled on senior Perry Orth in the second half. He led the Gamecocks to the game's final 13 points capped by Elliott Fry's booming 55-yard field goal with 35 seconds to play.
"We let a winnable game slip away," Mason said.
Yes, coach, you did.
Shurmur started the game 4-6, leading Vanderbilt to those 10 points in just over a quarter. After being sent to the sideline for about 30 minutes of real time, he completed just four more passes in 16 attempts.
Maybe that happens anyway if he had never come out. But I would've sure liked to have found out.
"I don't think that it had any impact," Mason said. "Kyle just never found a rhythm all night."
But Mason did concede that Shurmur looked good on the TD drive, making it all the more inexcusable that he was then sent to the sideline to cool off.
Replacing a quarterback after two scoring drives to get the next guy reps is something you do in the NFL preseason, not in the SEC.
And certainly not when the starter needs valuable reps himself to build confidence and get the offense going.
"I'm not going to second guess that because that wasn't the difference in the ballgame," Mason said.
He may not be second guessing, but we'll do it for him because before the switch Vandy seemed poised to start the year with he biggest win of the Mason era. But the coach once again shuffled his quarterbacks and watched his offense fall apart.
And now there will be questions about just how long the Mason era should last.
