VANDY FIRES MASON AFTER WINLESS START
Vanderbilt fired coach Derek Mason on Sunday after losing the first eight games of his seventh season, and offensive coordinator Todd Fitch will serve as the interim coach.
“While this was a difficult decision, but I know this change is necessary,” Athletic Director Candice Lee said in a statement. “We wish Derek and his entire family the best.”
Mason posted a statement on Twitter thanking Nashville and Vanderbilt for embracing his family. He said he was grateful to be Vanderbilt’s coach the past seven years.
“I am confident that our current student-athletes and their families are in good hands with Chancellor (Daniel) Diermeier and Director of Athletics Candice Lee and will continue to rise to today’s challenges with integrity and character,” Mason wrote.
Hired in 2014 as Vanderbilt’s 28th coach, Mason replaced James Franklin when he left for Penn State. Mason came to Vanderbilt after being associate head coach and defensive coordinator at Stanford. He became the first Vanderbilt coach since the 1920s to beat in-state rival Tennessee three straight seasons.
He guided the Commodores to a bowl twice in three seasons, the last clinched with a 38-13 rout of Tennessee in November 2018.
The most notable thing to happen this season for Vanderbilt came Saturday, when soccer goalkeeper Sarah Fuller became the first woman to play in a Power Five conference football game.
“It has truly been my honor to have been given the opportunity to teach, mentor and coach hundreds of Vanderbilt young men and one courageous female,” Mason wrote.
At 27-55, Mason leaves as the sixth-winningest coach in program history. Vanderbilt said the search for a new coach will begin immediately.
Alabama still No. 1
Alabama is the unanimous No. 1 again in The Associated Press college football poll as the top eight teams in the rankings held steady for the fourth week in a row.
The Crimson Tide got 62 first-place votes for the second consecutive week and are followed by No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Clemson.
Southeastern Conference teams Texas A&M and Florida are fifth and sixth, respectively. Unbeaten Cincinnati is seventh and undefeated BYU is eighth.
The changes in the poll came after that, with Miami inching up to No. 9 and Indiana returning to the top 10.
Oregon’s first loss of the season knocked the Ducks out of the top 10, dropping them 12 spots to No. 21.
Schedule changes
Florida State has seen its scheduled game nixed for the third straight week, the ACC announced. The Seminoles were scheduled to play at Duke on Saturday, but after issues with COVID-19 and contact tracing hit the team last week, the league has opted to adjust that game and will have Miami play at Duke instead.
USC’s game against visiting Washington State has been moved from Friday night to Sunday at 6 p.m. The Trojans didn’t play this past week after COVID positives.
Saturday’s late result
Hawaii 24, Nevada 21: Chevan Cordeiro passed for 246 yards and a touchdown and scored on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter and Hawaii (3-3 Mountain West Conference) beat visiting Nevada (5-1).