Vanderbilt Commodores (0-2, 0-1)
LSU Tigers (3-0, 0-0)
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Sept. 21, 2019 • 11 a.m. CT
Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, Tenn. • 40,350
SEC Network
Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (analyst), Cole Cubelic (sideline analyst)
WLAC 1510 AM / WNRQ FM 98.3
Joe Fisher (play-by-play), Norman Jordan (analyst), Mitch Light (sideline)
• The Commodores return to West End this Saturday to face #4/5 LSU in Vanderbilt Stadium. The Commodores are in search of their first win on the season, after losses to nationally-ranked Georgia and Purdue.
• An 82-hour fundraiser for Turner’s Heroes, a non-profit effort aiming to support pediatric patients and fund research grants, will start at kickoff of the Vanderbilt-LSU game and continue into Tuesday. The non-profit was started this summer by Vanderbilt senior tight end Cody Markel to honor the legacy of former teammate and classmate Turner Cockrell. The 82-hour “Be a Hero for Turner” campaign aims to raise $50,000 that will fund a discovery grant focused on innovative pediatric cancer research. Cockrell, who passed away Nov. 29, 2018, after a lengthy battle with melanoma, wore jersey number 82. The non-profit and campaign will be highlighted during the LSU game. For more information on the effort, visit TurnersHeroes.org.
• Vanderbilt Athletics will honor Tim Corbin and his championship baseball team during halftime ceremonies. The Vanderbilt baseball are reigning NCAA champions after winning the 2019 College World Series.
• Two Vanderbilt student-athletes hail from Louisiana: senior WR Kalija Lipscomb (New Orleans/Jesuit) and redshirt junior OLB Kenny Hebert (New Orleans/Holy Cross). Both Lipscomb and Hebert are Commodore starters. Lipscomb is the team leader in receptions while Hebert is tied for second in tackles.
• Six Vanderbilt student-athletes have earned their first collegiate starts this season: Dan Dawkins (R-Fr., OG), Kenny Hebert (R-Jr., OLB), Dashaun Jerkins (R-Fr., safety), Grant Miller (R-So., C), Harrison Smith (R-Fr., punter) and Tyler Steen (R-Fr., OT). Three others were first-time starters in a Vanderbilt uniform: Riley Neal (Gr., QB), Cam Watkins (Gr., CB) and DC Williams, (Jr., CB).
• Sixteen players have logged their first action as Commodores against Georgia and Purdue: Neal, Watkins, Williams, Ben Bresnahan (R-Fr., TE), Keyon Brooks (Fr., RB), Daevion Davis (Fr., DT), Tre Douglas (R-Fr., CB), Rowan Godwin (Gr., OL), Brandon Maddox (Jr., DT), Jaylen Mahoney (Fr., CB), Salua Masina (R-Fr., LB), Elijah McAlister (R-Fr., OLB), Scott Meyer (Gr., LS), Mitchell Pryor (So., RB), Leshawn Paulino-Bell (R-So., OLB) and Justice Shelton-Mosley (Gr., WR/PR).
• Derek Mason is well aware of talented LSU quarterback Joe Burrow. Mason, along with several other Vanderbilt staffers, worked with Burrow’s dad, Jimmy Burrow, on the Ohio University football staff. Jimmy Burrow retired last year as Ohio’s defensive coordinator after a 14-year tenure.
• Gerry Gdowski moved into the offensive coordinator role for the Commodores this year. Gdowski is the longest-tenured Vanderbilt assistant, having been on campus since Derek Mason’s first year in 2014. For the last three years, Gdowski served as quarterbacks coach, helping mold three-year starter and current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Kyle Shurmur into the Commodores’ all-time leading passer.
• Four coaches are new to Derek Mason’s staff this season: Devin “Fitz” Fitzsimmons, Jovan Haye, Tim Horton and Matt Weikert. Fitzsimmons serves as tight ends coach and special teams coordinator. Haye, a former Commodore All-SEC defensive end, enters his first year as defensive line coach. Horton comes to the staff as running backs coach after extremely successful SEC tenures. Weikert serves as outside linebackers coach, coming from an 12-year tenure at Air Force.
• Derek Mason is one of just two Vanderbilt head coaches to lead the Commodores to multiple postseason bowl appearances. With 24 wins, Mason is six victories away from joining the program’s five winningest coaches.
• The Vanderbilt roster includes six graduate transfers: OL Rowan Godwin (South Alabama), LS Scott Meyer (Alabama), QB Riley Neal (Ball State), WR/R Justice Shelton-Mosley (Harvard), CB Cam Watkins (Illinois), DT Eddie Zinn-Turner (Marist).
• Vanderbilt’s 2019 roster includes student-athletes from 27 states.
• Vanderbilt’s season-opening tilt with Georgia was designated as the program’s “Set The Expectation” game. Vanderbilt became the first SEC program to host a “Set The Expectation” game. The event originated in June, when Brenda Tracy, a registered nurse from Portland, Oregon, shared with the football team her devastating personal story and vital message of preventing sexual violence. Tracy has addressed dozens of college teams and many more on the high school level in the past year. Tracy also serves on the NCAA’s Commission to Combat Campus Sexual Violence. Tracy, who calls her campaign “Set The Expectation,” was in attendance and introduced to the crowd during an on-field recognition.
• Vanderbilt is in its 130th season of college football.
• Game day traffic advisory: The Tennessee Department of Transportation is advising fans to plan ahead on travel arrangements to the Vanderbilt campus for the Vanderbilt-LSU matchup in light of the scheduled three-day closure of the I-65 and I-440 interchange located just south of downtown Nashville. The I-65/440 intersection closure starts at 9 p.m. CT on Sept. 20, and continues until the morning of Sept. 23. U.S. Highway 31/Franklin Road, another key artery from Nashville to suburbs south of the city, also will be closed during the weekend.
