Vanderbilt walked off the field Saturday with a 35-26 win over Delaware, but the bigger message coming out of the game had nothing to do with the final score. Inside the program, the belief is still pointed much higher.
That may sound ambitious for a team that has already shown plenty of rough edges through two games. Vanderbilt still hasn’t named a starting quarterback.
Its offensive line has real problems. The offense stumbled badly after the opening drives against Delaware, and the game never really settled into anything close to complete control.
Clark Lea said earlier in the week that this 2026 team is still trying to form an identity, and the way Saturday unfolded only backed that up.
Still, the confidence around the program hasn’t cracked.
CJ Heard, who started every game for the best Vanderbilt team in program history last season, isn’t pretending this group has earned the same standing yet. But he also isn’t backing away from the idea that this team can climb there.
“We can be the best team to ever play Vanderbilt football,” Heard said after Vanderbilt’s 35-26 win over Delaware. “We’ve got so much potential. We’ve just got to keep working, keep staying together.”
That’s a bold line, but it matches the tone Vanderbilt has carried all offseason. The players talked openly about chasing a national championship.
At SEC Media Days, they made it clear they wanted the program viewed as bigger than Diego Pavia. Two games in, none of that has been proven on the field, but the conviction hasn’t gone anywhere.
Saturday made that plain when Vanderbilt trailed 17-14 at halftime and headed to the locker room under boos. Before Lea even had a chance to address the team, cornerback Martel Hight was already telling everyone Vanderbilt was better than what it had just shown.
Edge rusher Miles Capers, who said Saturday was his best game as a Vanderbilt player, delivered a similar message. By the time Lea spoke, the mood had already shifted from frustration to resolve.
For a stretch in the second half, Vanderbilt looked more like the team it believes it can become. Freshman quarterback Jared Curtis showed why some inside the program think he can raise the ceiling.
The defense did enough to hold its ground. And for the first time Saturday, the crowd got behind the Commodores.
Even then, the feeling was that more was available.
Lea said last week he hoped Vanderbilt’s opener against Austin Peay would end up being its worst game of the season. Saturday was better than that, but not enough to suggest this is already the program’s strongest version. There’s too much unfinished business for that.
Vanderbilt tight end Jayvontay Conner put it plainly.
“I feel like there’s so much in the tank that we haven't shown as a team,” Conner said. “We’re coming together, man. People just need to be patient with us, man.”
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Jayvontay Conner Is Giving Vanderbilt A Passing Game Boost
Jayvontay Conner has quietly become one of the more important pieces in Vanderbilts passing game while filling in for the injured Cole Spence. The tight end led the Commodores with six catches for 87 receiving yards against Delaware, a sign that his role is growing at just the right time for an offense looking for reliable options underneath and over the middle.
Clark Lea praised Conner after the game, and its easy to see why: he has built a strong connection with both Jared Curtis and Blaze Berlowitz, giving Vanderbilt a trusted target when the quarterbacks need one. For a team still sorting out its passing rhythm, Conners emergence offers a useful lift and a reminder that production can come from places defenses may not have spent much time planning for. [Read more 🡒]