NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt returns home to face arch-rival Tennessee for the team’s final scheduled home game of the season.
The Commodores are coming off a 41-0 defeat at Missouri on Nov. 28 and an unforeseen bye Saturday when a game at No. 11 Georgia was postponed.
Vanderbilt will be playing under the direction of Todd Fitch as the team’s interim head coach. Fitch, a 35-year college football veteran, will continue to serve as the Commodores’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach as well.
Tennessee (2-6, 2-6 SEC) has lost six in a row since beginning the season 2-0. The Volunteers lost 31-19 to Florida in Knoxville on Saturday.
Saturday marks the 115th meeting between Vanderbilt and Tennessee with the Volunteers leading the series 76-33-5. The Commodores, however, have won five of the last eight contests and three of the last four.
Here is more on how to watch, listen to and follow Saturday’s contest as well as five key matchups when the Commodores (0-8, 0-8 SEC) face the Volunteers:
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
Location: Vanderbilt Stadium
Television: SEC Network
Broadcast Crew
Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (analyst), Dawn Davenport (sideline)
Channel Finder
AT&T | Xfinity | DISH | Comcast
Streaming
Virtual Tailgate
Hosted by Kevin Ingram and Norman Jordan, the Commodore Tailgate Show will stream live on Vanderbilt Football’s Twitter account and Vanderbilt Athletics’ YouTube channel and Facebook page as well as VUCommodores.com. In addition to pregame commentary, the show will include exclusive segments with coaches and guests.
Vanderbilt IMG Sports Network
Announcers: Willy Daunic (play-by-play), Norman Jordan (analyst), Kevin Ingram (sideline)
On-Air Time: 3 p.m.
Pregame Show: 2 p.m.
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: 190
SiriusXM online: 961
Streaming Apps
Multimedia
Twitter: @VandyFootball and @VandyNotes
Instagram: @VandyFootball
Facebook: Vanderbilt Athletics
Game day hashtag: #ANCHORDOWN
Weather
65 degrees at kickoff, 55 percent chance of rain
1. QB OR NOT TO QB
Saturday’s game may very well come down to which quarterback gives his side the best chance to win.
Ken Seals has been Vanderbilt’s QB1 since the start of the season and the freshman has battled through his growing pains to remain in the starting lineup. The Texan is completing 67.8 percent of his throws the past five games and has a 4-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio in the last three.
Tennessee, meanwhile, has played four quarterbacks this year and is trending toward rolling out freshman Harrison Bailey and sophomore J.T. Shrout. Both played in last week’s loss to No. 6 Florida.
In a matchup where points may be at a premium and mistakes may be magnified, both teams will need their field generals to play their best game of 2020.
2. A GRAY DECEMBER DAY
Last November in Knoxville, Eric Gray ran wild.
The sophomore exploded for 246 yards on 25 carries and score three times as the Volunteers broke a three-game losing streak to their in-state rival. Gray hasn’t really slowed down since.
In eight games this season the Memphis native is averaging 4.85 yards per carry and on four occasions has eclipsed the 100-yard mark.
Vanderbilt’s defense better make sure they find No. 3 on every snap – or it will turn out to be a long, Gray day at Vanderbilt Stadium.
3. THIRD DOWN
Tennessee is the worst team in the Southeastern Conference at converting third downs. In fact, only 10 teams in the entire nation have a worse clip than the Volunteers’ 31.6 percent.
Vanderbilt must take advantage of that.
The Commodores need to continue to frustrate the Tennessee offense and put it in 3rd-and-long situations. Vandy, however, has struggled as a defense on third down this season to the tune of allowing the opposition to convert 46.1 percent of the time.
If either of those trends reverse Saturday it could dictate the final outcome.
4. CLOCK CONTROL
Saturday’s affair may become a war of attrition.
With neither program having nearly the number of available student-athletes it had it start the campaign, the team that is able to remain upright for 60 minutes will have completed quite the task. That’s why the time of possession game may become vital.
Vanderbilt has done a relatively nice job at controlling the clock in 2020 to the tune of 30:07 per game. The Commodores will have to make clock management of the utmost importance to give their shirt-handed defense a rest and to shrink the time of play.
5. A WIN FOR THE AGES
Vanderbilt and Tennessee, quite frankly, don’t have a whole lot to play for Saturday outside of pride.
The Commodores have lost nine in a row dating to 2019 and are winless this season. The Volunteers have dropped six in a row after a promising start.
Neither team is playing for a conference championship or a bowl berth. For Vandy, Saturday is undoubtedly the team’s final home game and the last chance for many of the program’s seniors to put on the black and gold in Nashville. There’s no other option than to lay it all on the line.
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com. Follow him @MrChadBishop.