Vanderbilt player’s hurdle leads to wild collision on kickoff return
By Andrew Olson
Published:
It didn’t work out well for Vanderbilt, but the ReliaQuest Bowl between the Commodores and Iowa Hawkeyes provided plenty of entertainment to start the New Year’s Eve slate.
In the 4th quarter, Iowa made it a 34-24 game with just over 4 minutes remaining. Looking for a quick score, Kayleb Barnett was determined to bring it out even after bobbling the catch in the end zone. Barnett’s return only went for 21 yards, but he gave it his all.
Barnett got hit at the height of his hurdle attempt, leading to him twisting wildly in the air before landing out of bounds. It made for quite the scene, but neither the hit nor the landing appeared to cause the freshman any discomfort.
Wild ko return for Vandy pic.twitter.com/Mnq5y4VLyX
— Heavens! (@HeavensFX) December 31, 2025
It would turn out to be Vanderbilt’s last possession of the game. Starting with 4:08 remaining, the Commodores moved down the field 60 yards on 7 plays, taking 1:10 off the clock. Considering the clock and remaining ways to stop it, Clark Lea opted to kick the field goal early in hopes of getting the ball back with time on the clock. Vanderbilt, though, was unable to stop Iowa from running out the clock, and the game ended 34-27.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
