Vandy Trio Invited to Senior Bowl

Offensive playmakers earn prestigious recognition

by Chad Bishop

Three of Vanderbilt’s top offensive players picked up a major recognition Tuesday.

Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Kalija Lipscomb and Jared Pinkney were all invited to the 2020 Senior Bowl. And former Commodore great Oren Burks personally sent out the invitation.

“I know you guys are focused on going 1-0 this week against Florida,” Burks said in a video message Tuesday posted on Twitter. “But I really wanted to encourage the seniors to get after it and make these opportunities count. For a couple seniors I have some news I want to reveal a little bit.

“Kalija Lipscomb, Jared Pinkney and Ke’Shawn Vaughn, you three are going to the Senior Bowl. I know you guys are going to represent when you get down there to Mobile and show them how the Commodores do and anchor down.”

A Nashville product, Vaughn has 151 carries for 790 yards this season. The 5-foot-10, 218-pound redshirt senior has rushed for more than 3,000 yards during his career at both Vandy and Illinois and more than 2,000 yards during his time as a Commodore.

Vaughn is averaging six yards per carry in 20 games in black and gold.

Lipscomb has played in seven of Vanderbilt’s eight games this season and has caught 31 balls for 317 yards and two touchdowns. The New Orleans native is currently third on Vandy’s all-time list for career receiving touchdowns (21), fifth for career receptions (182) and sixth for career receiving yards (2,216).

The 6-foot-1, 201-pound true senior needs four more TD catches to finish as the program’s all-time leader in that category.

Pinkney, from Norcross, Georgia, has 15 catches for 157 yards this season. As a junior he hauled in seven touchdown receptions to go along with 774 receiving yards.

The 6-foot-4, 260-pound redshirt senior was on the preseason watch list for the John Mackey Award.

Played in Mobile, Alabama, on Jan. 25, the 2020 Senior Bowl selects some of the top players in college football to play for NFL coaches.