Vanderbilt Commodores (0-7)
at
Missouri Tigers (3-3)
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In-Game Notes • @VandyNotes
Nov. 28, 2020 • 11 a.m. CT
Memorial Stadium • Columbia, Mo.
SEC Network
Dave Neal (play-by-play), DJ Shockley (analyst),
Taylor Davis (sideline)
WQZQ 830 AM • 93.3 FM
Joe Fisher (play-by-play), Norman Jordan (analyst),
Kevin Ingram (sideline)
• Vanderbilt returns to the road for an 11 a.m. CT clash at Missouri. The contest was originally scheduled for Oct. 17 and then rescheduled for Dec. 12. On Monday, the Southeastern Conference announced the two teams would play Saturday.
• The Commodores and Tigers played just four times prior to Missouri joining the Southeastern Conference in 2012. Since then, the teams have met annually. Vandy is 4-7-1 against Missouri with the Commodores winning last year’s tilt in Nashville. The victory, a 21-14 decision against the 22nd-ranked Tigers, was Vanderbilt’s first against a top-25 foe since topping No. 18 Kansas State 14-7 on Sept. 16, 2017.
• Saturday’s quarterback battle will feature the top two freshman passers in the SEC in Vanderbilt’s Ken Seals and Missouri’s Connor Bazelak. Seals leads the league’s freshmen in passing yards with 1,610 while Bazelak is second with 1,304. Seals has averaged 230 passing yards/game to Bazelak’s 217.3.
• Senior defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo has 28 career tackles for loss, just 0.5 away from the top eight in Vanderbilt history. Odeyingbo paces the Commodores with 5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
• Fifth-year senior linebacker Andre Mintze is one of 20 semifinalists for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award, one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award and a candidate for the Wuerffel Trophy.
• Vandy’s offense has found its footing in its last four games, averaging 428 yards of total offense and 22.5 points. In the first three contests, the unit averaged 256.7 offensive yards/game and 8.7 points/game.
• The Commodores have also helped their cause with just one turnover in the last two games after committing five at Mississippi State and averaging 2.8 turnovers during the first five contests.
• In the fourth quarter at Kentucky and during the opening frame against Florida, the Commodores combined to score 24 points. In the first three games, spanning 12 quarters, Vanderbilt totaled 26 points.
• Vandy led Florida 10-7 after the first quarter, marking the first time this season the team had the lead after the opening stanza. Entering the tilt against the Gators, Vanderbilt had been outscored 66-3 in the opening frame.
• Vanderbilt’s first-quarter lead after against No. 6/5 Florida was its first through an opening quarter against an Associated Press top-10 team since holding a 7-0 advantage versus No. 4/6 Florida on Oct. 13, 2012.
• Seals has already set the Vanderbilt freshmen single-season passing yardage record with 1,610 yards. He is the only true freshman quarterback to have reached the 300-yard plateau in three games this fall.
• Senior wide receiver Chris Pierce Jr. has at least one receiving touchdown in four consecutive games, the first Commodore to do so since 2012. Pierce Jr.’s five touchdown grabs this season are the most for a Commodore since Jared Pinkney (7) and Kalija Lipscomb (9) in 2018. His five touchdown receptions in the last four games are tied for the third most among Power 5 programs during the span.
• Pierce Jr.’s two receiving scores against Florida were the most by a Commodore against an SEC foe since Lipscomb had two against Ole Miss on Nov. 17, 2018.
• Junior wide receiver Cam Johnson leads all FBS players in receptions since Oct. 25 with 35, four more than Boise State’s Khalil Shakir has during the span. Johnson’s 44 receptions this season are five away from the top 10 by a junior in Vanderbilt history.
