NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The 117th meeting between Vanderbilt and Tennessee kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Saturday inside FirstBank Stadium.
The Commodores (5-6, 2-5 SEC) will be going for a third win in a row after victories over Kentucky and Florida, respectively. Vandy has dropped three in a row to the Volunteers since winning the 2018 matchup.
Tennessee (9-2, 5-2 SEC) has lost two of its last three and is coming off a 63-38 loss at South Carolina. The Volunteers are looking for their first 10-win season since 2007.
Here is more on how to watch, listen to and follow Saturday’s contest as well as five key matchups to consider when the Commodores face the Volunteers:
When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday
Location: FirstBank Stadium (39,790)
Television: SEC Network
Broadcast Crew
Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (analyst) and Cole Cubelic (sideline)
Channel Finder
AT&T | Xfinity | DISH | Comcast
Streaming
Available via WatchESPN
Vanderbilt Sports Network from Learfield
Announcers: Andrew Allegretta (play-by-play), Norman Jordan (analyst), Kevin Ingram (sideline)
On-Air Time: 5:30 p.m.
Affiliates: Nashville WQZQ 93.3 FM; Chattanooga WALV 95.3 FM; Lewisburg WJJM 1490 AM, 94.3 FM; Memphis WMPS 1210 AM, 103.1 FM
Satellite: SiriusXM 192; SiriusXM online 963
Social
Twitter: @VandyFootball and @VandyNotes
Instagram: @VandyFootball
Facebook: @VanderbiltFootball
Streaming Audio
Vanderbilt Athletics App (Free)
Weather
58 degrees at kickoff, 68 percent chance of rain
1. Tempo
The Vanderbilt defense has faced speedy offenses like this before, but none with the pace that Tennessee likes to play with.
Head coach Josh Heupel and offensive coordinator Alex Golesh deploy a hyper-speed offensive system designed to score quickly, often and always. Tennessee averages 3.66 points per drive (sixth nationally) and nearly seven yards per play (13th nationally). Conversely, only three teams in all of the FBS have a shorter time of possession average than the Volunteers.
“They try to go fast and get you confused, get you tired so you mess up,” Vandy senior linebacker Anfernee Orji said. “It’s really just up to us to do our jobs, staying structured and everyone doing their 1/11.”
Saturday won’t be so much about the Vanderbilt defense surrendering yardage, but how quickly they can recover and realign before the next step. If that unit is left scrambling, it will be a long night at the office for the Commodores.
2. Stick to the Process
It is going to be very tempting for the Vandy offense to want to put the ball in the air Saturday. But just as if it were eyeing that last piece of pumpkin pie after Thanksgiving dinner, Vanderbilt must resist the urge and stay true to itself.
Tennessee has the SEC’s worst pass defense and only Ohio has given up more yards per game through the air nationally. Only once this season have the Volunteers not allowed 200 passing yards to an opponent and in five games they’ve surrendered at least 300 passing yards.
Still, offensive coordinator Joey Lynch, quarterback Mike Wright, running back Ray Davis and that Vanderbilt offensive line are at their best when the run game is humming and the clock is ticking.
The Commodores have to continue to remain patient and stick to their offensive process in order to dictate the narrative of the game and, ultimately, the result.
3. Disciplined Football
One way to possibly beat Tennessee is to have it beat itself.
The Volunteers are averaging a whopping 8.27 penalties per game, the worst average in the SEC and third-worst in all of college football. In every game this season Tennessee has drawn at least six penalties.
In a win against Tennessee Martin in October, Tennessee was flagged a season-high 13 times.
The penalty problem hasn’t been a death knell for the Volunteers, but it’s an issue the Commodores can’t let go unpunished through the course of Saturday’s matchup.
4. It Always Comes Down to Third Down
It’s been a recurring theme all season long, and Saturday will be no different: For Vanderbilt to be successful it must be the best third-down team on the field.
Vandy has converted 18 of 31 offensive third downs the past two weeks in two wins. The previous three weeks – all losses – the Dores registered just 15 third down conversions total.
Vanderbilt is converting 50.7 percent of its third downs in five wins this season and only 29.4 percent of the time in six losses.
Tennessee’s defense has been relatively solid in defending third downs this season so it will be imperative for Vanderbilt’s attack to be at its best on these crucial snaps.
5. Leave it All on the Field
Tomorrow is not guaranteed.
Vanderbilt has scratched and clawed and fought its way back from a 3-6 record through nine games to the edge of clinching a postseason berth. It has played inspired and proudly en route to wins over Kentucky and Florida, respectively, to get itself in position to secure a sixth victory.
But, as second-year Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea asserted Tuesday, nothing is going to be given to the Commodores, especially not by their arch-rivals from the eastern side of the state.
Vandy has to leave everything on the table Saturday. The effort, the fight, the belief must all be at a maximum. The playbooks must be wide open. And at the risk of using every hyperbole and cliché in the books, the Commodores must empty the tank knowing the final Saturday in November at FirstBank Stadium could mark the last time Team 2 takes the field together as one.
(6.) Geoff Macdonald
Vanderbilt will honor one of its greatest coaches Saturday when Geoff Macdonald drops the anchor at midfield prior to kickoff.
Currently working on strategic partnerships and as an engagement manager with Vanderbilt Athletics, Macdonald spent nearly three decades on the Vandy tennis courts where he guided Vanderbilt to the NCAA’s Round of 16 on 19 occasions while winning the 2015 national championship, posting runner-up finishes in 2001 and 2018, three Final Four finishes and two Elite Eight culminations.
A six-time conference Coach of the Year, four-time ITA regional Coach of the Year and the 2015 ITA Coach of the Year, Macdonald tutored student-athletes to 17 All-America accolades, 24 first team All-SEC honorees and 169 spots on the SEC’s Academic Honor Roll.
Macdonald led the Commodores to three regular season titles and 16 top-three finishes, including a second-place finish in just his second season in 1996. Macdonald guided Vandy to its first SEC Tournament title in 2015.
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.
