Vandy whips Furman

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - Vanderbilt knew all week it wanted to throw a bomb on the first play of the game against Division I-AA Furman. It worked to perfection. <br> <br> Jay Cutler threw a 43-yard touchdown strike to Dan Stricker on Vanderbilt&#39;s first offensive play. The Commodores never looked back, defeating Furman 49-18. <br> <br> ``There is nothing better than when a safety bites, and it makes it a little extra special when I hear him mutter something on the way by,&#39;&#39; Stricker said. ``It got us off to a great start. It was a perfectly thrown ball.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The win was Bobby Johnson&#39;s first as Vanderbilt&#39;s coach, and it came at the expense of the team he coached for the past eight years. <br> <br> Cutler ran for three touchdowns and threw one other scoring pass to Stricker to help Vanderbilt rebound from a 45-3 loss to Georgia Tech in Johnson&#39;s debut last week. <br> <br> ``We tried to put (Georgia Tech) out of our mind, but we didn&#39;t want to forget it,&#39;&#39; Johnson said. ``We used it as a teaching tool, but we tried to get over the hurt and disappointment.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Cutler, in the second game of his career, was 11-of-14 for 215 yards and ran for 107 yards, the most by a Vanderbilt quarterback since 1994. He had a 61-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for Vanderbilt&#39;s longest play of the game. <br> <br> ``I have to give credit to the line,&#39;&#39; Cutler said. ``I was only pressured a couple of times and Dan did a great job getting open early. Everything was clicking tonight.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Norval McKenzie added a 57-yard TD run for the Commodores and finished with 99 yards on 11 carries. Vanderbilt finished with 344 yards rushing, and held Furman to just 100 yards on the ground in Bobby Lamb&#39;s first game as the Paladins&#39; coach. <br> <br> ``They did a good job recovering from last week,&#39;&#39; Lamb said. ``Even though we knew what they were doing, they still picked us apart.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Furman&#39;s Billy Napier completed 21-of-31 passes for 241 yards, and Bear Rinehart caught seven passes for 127 yards. <br> <br> The Paladins pulled to 35-18 in the fourth quarter, but McKenzie&#39;s 57-yard TD run put the game well out of reach. <br> <br> Vanderbilt, which did not cross the 50-yard line until it trailed 38-0 against Georgia Tech, rolled up 557 total yards. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m very proud of my football team,&#39;&#39; Johnson said. ``We got after it pretty good early in the game and got a big enough lead so when Furman came back, we had enough margin. I&#39;m extremely happy.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The Commodores drove 97 yards on their second possession of the game, scoring on Cutler&#39;s 59-yard pass to Stricker. <br> <br> Stricker gained 116 yards in the first quarter and finished with 132 on four receptions in Vanderbilt&#39;s largest victory in a home opener since 1950.

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