[4] They ended the regular season on a four-game winning streak, but missed out on a chance to gain a BCS berth with a 30–12 loss to Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game.

The Eagles still had a major milestone to play for, as a win would have given them a third consecutive 10-win season for the first time in school history.

[5] The Commodores were a less impressive but still respectable 29th in total defense at 318.7 yards allowed per game,[8] and also finished second in the SEC in interceptions with 18.

The home team, who gave redshirt freshman Larry Smith his first career start at quarterback, proceeded to draw first blood with 11:02 left on a 42-yard field goal by Bryant Hahnfeldt.

(That play would account for one-fourth of the Commodores' offensive yardage on the day, as they would only gain 200 total yards.

[4]) They were unable to put the ball in the end zone, but extended their lead to 6–0 on Hahnfeldt's second field goal of the day, a 26-yarder.

The next play saw the first turnover of the game, as Vanderbilt's All-SEC cornerback D. J. Moore helped break up a Davis pass that Ryan Hamilton intercepted at the Vandy 15.

The extra point from Steve Aponavicius gave the Eagles a 7–6 lead, and the Commodores chose to end the half by running out the clock.

On the fifth play of the drive, former starting quarterback Chris Nickson entered the game and immediately ran the ball 30 yards to the BC 31, giving the Commodores good position to push for a score.

On the next play from scrimmage, Eagles defensive end Jim Ramella was called for a face mask penalty, putting the Commodores on their own 44.

This proved to be a key play for the Commodores when Herzlich was called for roughing the passer, giving them a first down on the BC 34.

After a 3-yard loss on third-and-1, the field goal unit came on, and Hahnfeldt kicked a 45-yarder to give the Commodores a 16–14 lead with 3:26 left.

Although they were unable to make a first down in that series, the possession was not unproductive, as BC chose to use all three of their timeouts, apparently to give their offense as much time as possible to drive for a potential winning score.

[4] Befitting a largely defensive game, the MVP was Vandy punter Upson, who averaged 42.6 yards on his nine punts.