2008 Music City Bowl The 2008 Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl was the eleventh edition of the college football bowl game played at LP Field in Nashville , Tennessee . The game started at 2 : 30 pm US CST ( 2030 UTC ) on Wednesday , December 31 , 2008 . The game , telecast on ESPN , pitted the Vanderbilt Commodores against the Boston College Eagles . The Commodores , playing near their Nashville campus , won 16 – 14 , earned their first bowl win in exactly 53 years , and completed their first winning season since 1982 . Preview . For the Eagles , this game was the culmination of their tenth consecutive season in a bowl game , a school record . They also entered the game on a streak of eight consecutive bowl wins , the best in Division I FBS . 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 . Vanderbilt ' s recent football history was practically a reverse image of BC ' s . The Commodores , long hampered by being the only private school in the Southeastern Conference , had gone without a winning season since 1982 , and entered the 2008 campaign with only three winning seasons in the last 50 years . While BC was on a streak of 10 consecutive bowl appearances , this was Vandy ' s first bowl game since a trip to the Hall of Fame Bowl in 1982 , and only the fourth in their history . Despite the Eagles ' loss in the ACC title game , they clearly entered the game as the hotter team , winning their last four regular - season games , while Vandy had won only one of their last seven games . The Commodores started out 5 - 0 for the first time since 1943 , rising as high as # 13 in the AP Poll . However , their only win for the rest of the regular season was on November 15 , when they visited Kentucky and left with a 31 - 24 win that secured their bowl eligibility . Neither team was noted for its offensive prowess during the regular season . BC ' s offense gained an average of 318 . 5 yards per game , ranking 94th out of 119 FBS teams . Vandy ' s offense was statistically even weaker , ranking next - to - last in FBS at 260 . 9 yards per game . The main strength of both teams was defense . The Eagles entered the game ranked sixth in Division I FBS in total defense , giving up 273 . 4 yards per game . They also led Division I FBS in interceptions ( 26 ) , turnovers ( 36 ) , and shutouts ( 3 ) , and boasted the ACC ' s defensive player of the year in linebacker Mark Herzlich , who returned two of his six interceptions for touchdowns . Vandy was a less impressive but still respectable 29th in total defense at 318 . 7 yards allowed per game , and also finished second in the SEC in interceptions with 18 . The game . First quarter . Vanderbilt kicked off the game , with the kickoff resulting in a touchback . Starting at their own 20 - yard line , BC was only able to gain two yards on their first possession , and punted the ball away to the Commodores , who took possession on their own 41 - yard line . 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 . After the Commodores forced another Eagles three - and - out on their next series , they got the ball back on their own 35 . On their next play from scrimmage , Smith connected with Sean Walker on a 51 - yard pass play , giving Vandy a first down at the BC 14 . ( That play would account for one - fourth of the Commodores ' offensive yardage on the day , as they would only gain 200 total yards . ) 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 quarter ended with the same score . Second quarter . The second quarter saw three key injuries , the game ' s first turnover , and BC ' s first sustained drive . Early in the quarter , BC lost center Matt Tennant with an injured elbow , and later lost primary punt returner Rich Gunnell to injury . 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 . However , Moore injured his ankle on that play ; while he would return in the second half , he could not finish the game . BC ' s next possession saw their only sustained drive of the half . Starting with 8 : 18 left , the Eagles went on a 17 - play drive , including a key fourth - down conversion , that culminated in a 4 - yard TD pass from Davis to Montel Harris with 1 : 27 left . 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 . Third quarter . BC kicked off , with Vandy returning the ball to their own 27 . 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 . However , the BC defense stiffened , driving Vandy back 11 yards on their next two plays . A third - down incompletion from Smith , who had returned to the game , set the stage for one of the game ' s key plays . Brett Upson punted on fourth down from the BC 41 . The punt bounced off the left knee of BC ' s Paul Anderson and went into the end zone , where Vandy ' s Sean Richardson recovered with 10 : 35 left . The officials huddled briefly and signaled a Vanderbilt touchdown , which was upheld on review . The ensuing extra point gave the Commodores a 13 – 7 lead . The remainder of the quarter saw no major action ; after two possessions by each team in which the teams moved the ball for only 30 yards combined , the quarter ended with BC driving the ball from their own 3 to their own 41 . Fourth quarter . The BC drive stalled on the Vandy 42 . The next three possessions , two by Vandy and one by BC , ended in three - and - outs ; Upson punted for 51 and 58 yards respectively after each Vandy possession , with the second punt being downed at the BC 11 with 7 : 46 left . The Eagles offense soon came to life , with Davis connecting with Justin Jarvis for 30 yards on third down from their own 15 . After an incompletion on the next play , the Eagles scored , with Davis throwing to Colin Larmond , Jr . for a 45 - yard touchdown . The ensuing extra point gave BC a 14 – 13 lead . Vandy returned the ensuing kickoff to their own 24 . 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 . After an incompletion and 8 - yard run from Smith , another former starting quarterback , Mackenzi Adams , went in for what would be his only play of the game . 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 . Nickson was sacked on the next play from scrimmage , but Smith returned to hit George Smith on a 15 - yard pass to the BC 25 . 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 . BC went three - and - out on their next possession , and the Commodores got the ball with 2 : 24 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 . The Eagles would get the ball back after an Upson punt at their own 20 with 2 : 01 left and no timeouts . After an incompletion and a 16 - yard pass play , Davis was intercepted for the second time in the game , this time by Myron Lewis , with 1 : 36 left . Lewis had been beaten by Larmond on BC ' s previous touchdown play . With the Eagles out of timeouts , the Commodores ran out the clock for the win . Recap . Vanderbilt won a bowl game for the first time in exactly 53 years , with their last bowl win being a 25 - 13 win over Auburn in the Gator Bowl on December 31 , 1955 . This was also their first win ever over an FBS team with at least nine wins at the time of the game . The Commodores won despite being held to only 200 yards total offense and converting only one of their 15 third - down attempts . BC gained 331 total yards , and had 17 first downs to Vandy ' s 8 . The major differences in the game proved to be the Eagles ' three turnovers , one of which turned into the Commodores ' only TD ; and the 30 yards of penalties that the Eagles picked up on Vandy ' s final scoring drive . Befitting a largely defensive game , the MVP was Vandy punter Upson , who averaged 42 . 6 yards on his nine punts .