Sept. 1, 2010 
Purchase 2010 Football Season Tickets
Back at Practice Two of Vanderbilt’s top performers, tailback Warren Norman and safety Sean Richardson, were back at practice Tuesday as the Commodores opened their final days of preparations for the season opener Saturday against Northwestern.
Norman, coming off arthroscopic surgery one week earlier, and Richardson participated fully in the session. While Richardson is probable against the Wildcats, Head Coach Robbie Caldwell said a decision of Norman’s availability will come later in the week.
The practice, Vanderbilt’s 25th of the preseason, marked the first time since the second day of camp that all four of the team’s top running backs – Norman, Kennard Reeves, Zac Stacy and Wesley Tate – were full-go in the same session.
Ideal Forecast Unseasonably mild temperatures are expected to greet fans attending the season opener. Forecasters call for highs at kickoff in the mid-70s, with sunny skies prevailing. If the forecast holds true, it will mark the coolest temperatures Vanderbilt has enjoyed since opening camp in early August.
New Commodores Vanderbilt followers will see plenty of new Commodores on Saturday. Caldwell has stated publicly that at least a dozen true freshmen would see action against Northwestern.
Hillenmeyer: Degrees from both schools Hunter Hillenmeyer, a National Scholar Athlete recipient in 2002 following a stellar Commodore career, has degrees from both Vanderbilt and Northwestern.
The Nashville native and Montgomery Bell Academy grad recently earned his MBA at Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Hillenmeyer took classes at Kellogg during the offseason as a linebacker with the Chicago Bears.
One key matchup Vanderbilt’s pass defense vs. Northwestern pass offense. Can the Commodores’ unit, which ranked No. 9 nationally in 2009 allowing just 164.2 passing yards a game, contain the Wildcats’ four-and five-receiver spread offense, which was the NCAA’s 13th best pass attack last year.
Vierling inks NFL deal Bradley Vierling, a two-year starting center who graduated last year, signed as a free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars Monday.
Power-packed home slate Looking for value in a season ticket? Just start with the fact that Northwestern is one of five teams visiting Vanderbilt Stadium in 2010 that made a postseason bowl appearance last year. Others include LSU (Sept. 11), South Carolina (Oct. 23), Florida (Nov. 6) and Tennessee (Nov. 20). Season ticket packages also start at $125 (click here).
Vanderbilt road tests won’t be pushovers either. All five Commodore trips out of Nashville are against teams that played in 2009 bowls.
Solid crowd expected Northwestern and Vanderbilt will play before a large crowd at Dudley Field. Officials believe at least 36,000 fans, most wearing black & gold, will attend the game. That includes virtually the entire Commodore freshmen class, who will participate in the annual Freshman Run on Dudley Field just minutes prior to kickoff.
