NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt hits the road to face East Division rival Missouri after a whirlwind week.
The Commodores were originally scheduled to host Tennessee at Vanderbilt Stadium until COVID-19 issues among the Volunteers caused a scheduled change. Missouri originally had Arkansas on the scheduled this weekend before the Razorbacks couldn’t field a full team.
Vandy and Missouri began the season thinking the two would face each other Oct. 17 before that game was postponed until Dec. 12 – it will be played this Saturday instead.
Vanderbilt is coming off a 38-17 defeat at home against No. 6 Florida. The Dores led 7-0 and 10-7 in that game before Florida scored 24 unanswered points.
Missouri (3-3, 3-3 SEC) began the year 0-2 before securing victories over LSU, Kentucky and South Carolina, respectively.
Vanderbilt and Missouri will face each other for the 13th time in history and for the ninth season in a row. Vandy won last season’s matchup 21-14 in Nashville.
Here is more on how to watch, listen to and follow Saturday’s contest as well as five key matchups when the Commodores (0-7, 0-7 SEC) face the Tigers:
When: 11 a.m. CT Saturday
Location: Memorial Stadium
Television: SEC Network
Broadcast Crew
Mike Morgan (play-by-play), Hutson Mason (analyst), Taylor Davis (reporter)
Channel Finder
AT&T | Xfinity | DISH | Comcast
Streaming
Vanderbilt IMG Sports Network
Announcers: Joe Fisher (play-by-play), Norman Jordan (analyst), Kevin Ingram (sideline)
On-Air Time: 11 a.m. CT
Pregame Show: 10 a.m. CT
Affiliates: WQZQ 830 AM, 93.3 FM, 101.9 Nashville; WNSR 560 AM, 59.9 FM Nashville; WALV 105.1 FM Chattanooga; WEKR 1240 AM Fayetteville; WJJM 1490 AM, 94.3 FM Lewisburg; WMPS 1210 AM, 103.1 FM Memphis; KASR 92.7 FM Conway, Arkansas
Satellite
SiriusXM: 381
SiriusXM online: 971
Streaming Apps
Multimedia
Twitter: @VandyFootball and @VandyNotes
Instagram: @VandyFootball
Facebook: Vanderbilt Athletics
Game day hashtag: #RTI | #ANCHORDOWN
Weather
51 degrees at kickoff, 10 percent chance of rain
1. TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS, TURNOVERS
A conference game on the road is hard to win to begin with. Being careless with the football generally leaves a team no shot.
Vanderbilt has only one giveaway the last two weeks as it continues to improve offensively. The Dores had 14 turnovers in the first five games of the season.
Missouri hasn’t fared much better. The Tigers have lost the ball nine times in six games and seven of those giveaways have come via fumble.
That makes it quite clear that the Commodores have to play turnover-free football while taking full advantage of any mistakes Missouri makes.
2. GET INSIDE THE 20
Opponents have ventured inside the Missouri 20-yard line 22 times this year. On 20 of those occasions they have scored. And 17 of those 20 trips have resulted in touchdowns.
Vanderbilt cannot, by any means. waste those golden opportunities inside the Missouri red zone Saturday – and the Commodores haven’t in recent weeks.
The Commodores are six for their last six in red zone trips and 10 for their last 11 going back to Oct. 31. That’s a trend that must continue for the visitors Saturday
3. SEALS VS. BAZELAK
Vanderbilt quarterback Ken Seals has been on an impressive run the last four weeks.
The program’s single-season record holder for passing yards in a season by a true freshman, Seals is 105-for-152 (69.1 percent) for 1,199 yards and seven touchdowns since Oct. 31. Of Seals’ five interceptions over that span, only one came during the past two games.
Connor Bazelak has been pretty good in his own right. A redshirt-freshman, Bazelak is 97 of 137 (70.8 percent) for 1,018 yards and five touchdowns the last four contests. The Dayton, Ohio, product has only thrown two picks this season.
Whichever one of these two signal callers – representing the future of the league in some respects – can manage his team the best Saturday will come out on top.
4. WHEN A MAN MAKES A TACKLE
Beware of Nick Bolton.
Missouri’s linebacker, who is on the Butkus Award and Nagurski Award watch lists, ranks 13th nationally going into the weekend with 11.2 tackles per game.The 6-foot, 232-pound junior was a preseason All-American and first team All-SEC selection as a sophomore.
Bolton has a knack for finding the ball and snuffing out plays before they have a chance to develop, so Seals and the Vanderbilt offense will have to find imaginative calls to get to where Bolton isn’t.
5. ROOM TO RUN
Missouri is one of the top defensive units in the country when it comes to stopping the run.
The Tigers are giving up just 128.3 yards per game (32nd nationally, fifth in the SEC) and only once have they given up more than 200 yards in a game this season.
Vandy, due to injuries and suspensions, has had a revolving door at running back this season, but all the while has remained relatively productive. Keyon Henry-Brooks, Ja’Veon Marlow and Jamauri Wakefield have all seen time as the primary ball carrier and even reserves Mitchell Pryor and Rocko Griffin have gotten touches as of late.
Vanderbilt has run the ball at least 33 times each contest this season so it’s expected the Dores will continue to tote the rock again Saturday. But in order to come out victorious they’ll have to put forth their best performance yet.
Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com. Follow him @MrChadBishop.
