Vanderbilt 'a tight end school,' says Mason

Coach Derek Mason wants Vanderbilt to become Tight End U.

It's taken more than a half season, but the Commodores are now completely buying into the use of their tight ends.

"We came out of the bye (week) understanding that our tight ends are pretty good and maybe under-utilized in terms of the matchups that we can create," Mason said. "We are always going to be about tight ends here. We are still a receiving school, as well, but until those guys grow up and become mainstays or big-time targets, our tight ends can fill that void for us.

"This is going to be a tight end school, and we are going to have tight ends that can go play at the next level in the next couple of years."

In a winless year in the SEC so far, Vanderbilt (2-6) has distinguished itself from most of the league with its use of tight ends. The Commodores' 34 receptions for 474 yards by tight ends rank second in the SEC, trailing only Arkansas (40 catches for 561 yards).

Junior tight end Steven Scheu leads all SEC tight ends with 25 catches for 350 yards.

Mason arrived at Vanderbilt promising to make tight ends a big part of his offense, similar to his former team at Stanford. But he said it took the recent bye week to realize the position was still being underused.

"It didn't quite materialize in the first half (of the season). But we had to figure out exactly who we were, and our tight ends are a big part of that," Mason said. "But it's not just Scheu. We have tight ends from 6-4 to 6-7, so we have to use those guys."

Mason said during the bye week he decided to make tight ends the focal point of the passing game rather than a complement to wide receivers. Last week, the tight ends had 10 receptions for 119 yards and one touchdown — all season highs for the position — in a 24-14 loss to Missouri.

Mason said redshirt freshman Johnny McCrary and sophomore Patton Robinette could play quarterback against Old Dominion on Saturday. McCrary targeted tight ends more than wide receivers last week in passing for 196 yards and two TDs — both single-game highs for a Vanderbilt quarterback this season.

"We knew we were going to use more tight end-oriented packages," said tight end Davis Dudchock, a graduate transfer from Stanford. "We were excited about the opportunity to make more plays and put this offense in a position to be the best it can be. We have four guys that can play multiple spots, and that helps our versatility."

Mason said one offensive adjustment has come in moving tight ends to the outside of formations and putting wide receivers in the slot closer to the line. Against Missouri, Vanderbilt sometimes pulled slower linebackers into open space and allowed tight ends to run routes from wideout positions across the field.

"Having those guys outside creates favorable matchups on linebackers," Mason said. "(Our tight ends) give us bigger windows to throw into, and our quarterback showed he can find those guys. I think any of our quarterbacks can."

Reach Adam Sparks at 615-259-8010 and on Twitter @AdamSparks.

NEXT GAME

OLD DOMINION (3-5) at VANDERBILT (2-6)

When: 6 p.m. Saturday

TV/radio: ESPNU/1510-AM, 95.9-FM, 560-AM