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HONOLULU — Vanderbilt knew exactly what it was getting into.

Nine days after a video surfaced on social media showing a member of the Hawaii football staff suggesting the Commodores were having a rough night at TC Ching Stadium, Vandy had a hard time dealing with it during a 63-10 beating. of the Rainbow Warriors.

“Our head coach showed us that video literally about 10 times a week. Even if we came here during team dinners, that would show on the screen,” said Maxwell Worship, Vandy’s senior security. “Everything that’s happened, everything since we’ve been here, has been moved as motivation. Coach Lea and all the coaches made sure they really used all those things as motivation for our team.

“We wanted to make a statement. We wanted the whole world to really see that we are a different team this year. We are going to earn everyone’s respect this year.”

Worship had the game of the day in what turned the script for what turned out to be a historic day for head coach Clark Lea’s program.

Vanderbilt amassed more than 600 yards from total offense, scored two defensive touchdowns and saw six different Commodores find the end zone en route to the most points since beating Davidson 63-8 in 1969. A slow start gave way to a steamroller of effort which has not been seen in a long, long time for the black-and-gold believers.

The 53-point win was the program’s biggest since a 58-0 thrashing of Presbyterian on September 17, 2012.

“This is a program we build, it’s an identity we build. It’s not something we want to celebrate, it’s something we want to expect,” Lea said. “I think those of us who were there a year ago, 7-3 in the second quarter, can appreciate how far we’ve come. But the sooner we switch to a mode of that is our expectation for operation, the better for this program.

“This is not the goal, this is not the end point. This is the beginning, this is the beginning of the journey and there is a lot more this team can achieve.”

Vandy dominated both offensively and defensively after trailing 7-0 in the first quarter.

The Dores averaged 9.2 yards per carry and 8.3 yards per game. They recovered two fumbles, both of which went for touchdowns. They stopped Hawaii in fourth place all four times the Rainbow Warriors went for it. They were 6-for-6 in the red zone.

Individually, quarterback Mike Wright ran 163 yards and two scores and threw for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Receiver Will Sheppard netted two touchdown passes. Ray Davis and Rocko Griffin combined for 150 yards rushing and both found the end zone once each.

Worship led the way defensively with seven stops, a force fumble and a break-up in the end zone.

“I think we had some setbacks early in the game. When we scored and went back on the defense, that was kind of a statement,” said Worship. “That was kind of like the tone setter like, ‘OK, this is another Vanderbilt football team.” Last year (down 7-0) may have happened and we may have regressed a bit.

“No, we kept going and we did that the whole game.”

Vanderbilt couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start on Saturday.

Dedrick Parson opened the game by capping Hawaii’s first offensive drive by scoring on a 37-yard run untouched by the left side. The Vandy offense then committed three penalties, one of which was disallowed, before being forced to kick.

And in the Dores’ second offensive series, Wright had to throw a fourth down pass out of bounds to avoid a serious disaster.

But then Vandy went in. An eight-play, 90-yard drive ended with Wright taking a one-step drop and throwing a ball into the right corner of the end zone where Sheppard was waiting all alone.

Fifteen seconds of game clock later came the biggest game of the day.

Worship read the Hawai’i formation and play-call and crashed on a Parson run to the right. He met the running back with his helmet, the ball in the air and in the arms of a waiting Anfernee Orji. Orji took it 28 yards the other way for six—and Vanderbilt never got behind.

“I already knew what was coming,” said Worship. “I came down, he tried to cut me down, I got a perfect tackle on him, my helmet was on the ball, he jumped out, (Orji) got it. A little luck, but shoot, if you have a lot of energy, the ball finds a way to get to you.

With 14-10, Wright scored from a one meter keeper before half time to put Vandy at 21-10. That game was set up by a pass of 4 and 7 that went through Devin Boddie’s hands and landed in Jayden McGowan’s belly for an accidental conversion.

Vanderbilt emphatically opened the second half with a three-play drive that ended on Griffin’s 9-yard touchdown run.

The journey had just begun.

Davis scored on a 12-yard run shortly afterwards and then CJ Taylor scooped up a fumble caused by Elijah McAllister to make it 42-10. Wright burst out for an 87-yard touchdown run to put the Commodores at 49-10 with 5:49 left in the third quarter.

Another Wright-to-Sheppard touchdown gave the Dores a 56-10 lead and gave them 35 points in the third quarter alone. Many of the 9,346 fans in attendance began to go home at that time.

Now the Commodores are going 1-0 to their own home for the first time since 2018. They’ll be partying late into the night on the long flight back to the mainland, but they know that once they land in Nashville, the page will jump to week 2.

“This is a stepping stone. I don’t believe in momentum. I believe in growing a team as a program,” Wright said. “We have taken a step. We took a step in growth today and next week we have to take another step. We must continue. That is our goal: to play as a team at the highest level. We are not yet at our highest level.”

  • Vandy’s 35 points in the third quarter were the most in a single period since scoring 35 in the second quarter against Austin Peay on September 7, 2013.
  • Wright became Vandy’s fourth quarterback since 1996 to rush for two touchdowns and throw two touchdowns in the same game since 1996 and the first since Chris Nickson did so against Duke on October 28, 2006.
  • Orji’s fumble recovery and touchdown were both the first of his career.
  • Worship’s forced fumble in the first quarter was the first of his career.
  • Orji’s score was Vanderbilt’s first defensive touchdown since Allan George fumbled against Kentucky on November 16, 2019.
  • Taylor’s touchdown was the first of his career.
  • The Commodores last recorded two defensive touchdowns in a single game on September 21, 2019.
  • Wright’s 87-yard run touchdown was the second-longest run in Vanderbilt history.
  • Vanderbilt last started a season 1-0 in 2018 and last started a season with a win on the road in 2017.
  • The Commodores last started a season 2-0 in 2018.
  • August 27 was the earliest date on the calendar that Vanderbilt has ever started a season in program history.
  • Vanderbilt has lost 5-0 against Hawaii in the past nine months. The Vandy men’s basketball team defeated Hawaii 68-54 in December in Honolulu and the baseball team won four games (9-2, 12-1, 13-1 and 2-1) in March in Honolulu.
  • The Vanderbilt football program has now played a game in 30 states and the District of Columbia.
  • Vandy is now 1-0 against Hawai’i and 4-4 against current members of the Mountain West Conference.
  • Vanderbilt is now 1-5 in games played in August.
  • Saturday attendance was announced as 9,346.