Derek Mason can breathe a sigh of relief this morning because regardless of Vanderbilt's end record this season, his job is safe.

The Dores got that signature win that they've been looking for over the past two and half seasons. The 17-16 victory over Georgia was officially Mason's first SEC road win of his career. If the Commodores ever have the hope of one day vying for an SEC East title down the line, it starts with winning conference games on the road.

Let's face it, the fans of the Black and Gold were growing tired of Mason's results. 9-21 before Saturday's win just wasn't cutting it and the prior 2-17 conference record was an eye sore. It seemed like the storyline was always close but never good enough at the end of games. On 4th down and one with under a minute to play against the Bulldogs, linebacker Zach Cunningham made the play of his and Derek Mason's career.

This officially puts Vanderbilt back in the race of their ultimate year long goal of going to a bowl game. The Dores are three wins away from bowl eligibility and face TSU, Auburn, Missouri, Ole Miss and Tennessee to close out the year.

Coaching in the SEC is one of the hardest jobs in college football. Coaching at Vanderbilt, with the academic standards, makes winning football games even harder. Mason has done a tremendous job at what he does best and that's coach the defensive side of the ball.

Last season, the Dores defense was only giving up 21 points per game, which was 22nd in the country. This season, Vanderbilt is only yielding 22 points per game, 30th in the country. Mason's coaching philosophy isn't that hard to understand. Fix the defense first and then start to work on developing a scoring offense.

Now that Mason got his signature win, he has the time to focus on the other side of the ball. He has the stability to groom the most important position on the field, quarterback. Kyle Shurmur has talent, that was rarely questioned. But he's young and has made the mistakes a young quarterback is going to make.

As the season and Shurmur's Vanderbilt career moves forward, he'll have the time to grow with guys like RB Khari Blasingame and WR Kalija Lipscomb.

It's amaizing what one win can do to a program. On a bigger scale, when Ole Miss beat Alabama two years ago, it put them on the map. When Tennessee beat Florida a few weeks ago, it proved that what they are building is working. If Texas A&M beats Alabama this Saturday, it will do the same for them.

Vanderbilt's win over Georgia is a big one.

Now the future looks a little brighter. Without that win, it looked bleak.