May 28, 2015
New York, N.Y. — CBS Sports will televise the Commodores’ key early season encounter against Georgia from Vanderbilt Stadium to a national audience.
The Vanderbilt-Georgia game, scheduled Saturday, Sept. 12, will kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT, CBS Sports announced today.
The game also will mark the first football broadcast at Vanderbilt Stadium by “SEC on CBS” play-by-play announcer Vern Lundquist, analyst Gary Danielson and sideline reporter Allie LaForce.
The Georgia game comes one week after the Commodores host Western Kentucky on campus in the season opener. The Southeastern Conference is expected to announce early-season kick times across the league in the near future.
The Commodores return 18 position starters and more than 50 letterwinners in their second season under Head Coach Mason.
The last game televised by CBS Sports from Vanderbilt’s campus came in 2013 when the Commodores registered a 31-27 comeback over No. 15 Georgia. The mid-October win gave Vanderbilt momentum toward an eventual 9-4 overall record and BBVA Compass Bowl victory.
Before airing the 2013 victory over Georgia, CBS Sports had not televised a game from Vanderbilt Stadium since Oct. 23, 1982 when the Commodores defeated Ole Miss 19-10. Overall, the Commodores are 3-5 in CBS games.
There are historical ties between Vanderbilt football and CBS Sports. The first college football game ever aired coast-to-coast was CBS’s broadcast of the 1955 Gator Bowl involving unranked Vanderbilt and No. 8 Auburn. It also marked the first bowl appearance for Vanderbilt, who defeated the Tigers 25-13. The famed announcer Russ Hodges, who called Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” when the Giants defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers for the National League pennant one year earlier, had play-by-play duties at the Gator Bowl.
Results from all Vanderbilt appearances on CBS follows:
Oct. 19, 2013 Georgia, Nashville W, 31-27
Nov. 24, 2001 Tennessee, Knoxville L, 0-38
Nov. 27, 1999 Tennessee, Knoxville L, 10-38
Nov. 6, 1999 Florida, Gainesville L, 6-13
Nov. 29, 1997 Tennessee, Knoxville L, 10-17
Nov. 26, 1983 Tennessee, Knoxville L, 24-34
Oct. 23, 1982 Ole Miss, Nashville W, 19-10
Dec. 31, 1955 Auburn, Jacksonville W, 25-13
Besides confirming that it will air the Georgia-Vanderbilt game, CBS Sports also announced several other key dates on its 2015 “SEC on CBS” calendar. The full list includes:
Sept. 5 Louisville vs. Auburn — 2:30 p.m. (Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic, Atlanta)
Sept. 12 Georgia at Vanderbilt — 2:30 p.m.
Sept. 19 Auburn at LSU — 2:30 p.m.
Oct. 31 Florida vs. Georgia — 2:30 p.m.
Nov. 7 SEC Doubleheader — 2:30 p.m. / 7:00 p.m.
Nov. 14 SEC Doubleheader — 11:00 a.m. / 2:30 p.m.
Nov. 27 Missouri at Arkansas — 1:30 p.m.
Dec. 5 SEC Championship — 3:00 p.m.
