Vanderbilt (2-6, 0-4 SEC) at No. 12/11 Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1 SEC)
Saturday, Oct. 28 • 6:30 p.m. CT
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, Miss. • SEC Network
• Vanderbilt returns to action off an open week to visit No. 12/11 Ole Miss on Saturday in Oxford, Mississippi. The Commodores and Rebels will be meeting for the 98th time dating back to 1894. Ole Miss has won the past four matchups with Vanderbilt’s last win in Oxford coming in 2012. Saturday’s contest will mark Vandy’s third game this season against a ranked opponent.
• The Commodores led the Rebels 20-10 in the second quarter of last season’s game in Nashville, but Ole Miss used five second-half touchdowns to pull out a 52-28 win. De’Rickey Wright picked off a pair of passes for the Vandy defense.
• Vanderbilt is coming off a 37-20 loss to top-ranked Georgia in Nashville on Oct. 14. Graduate student Jaylen Mahoney had his best game in a Vanderbilt uniform, collecting 10 solo tackles en route to a career-high 16-tackle performance. It was the fifth time Mahoney has registered double-digit tackles with the Commodores, and the first since his 12-tackle performance at Missouri last season.
• Will Sheppard caught an 85-yard touchdown from Ken Seals against Florida (Oct. 7), matching the fourth-longest completion in program history. Sheppard is one of six Commodores all-time to rank in the top 10 for career receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns receptions. He currently sits in ninth for catches (141), is tied for third with 21 receiving touchdowns and is ninth in receiving yards (1,957).
• Quarterback Ken Seals got his third consecutive start of the season (19th career) vs. Georgia, finishing with 201 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He has thrown for 200-plus yards and two touchdowns in three consecutive games. His 25 career passing touchdowns ranks ninth in program history.
• The Dores’ defense has nine interceptions this season, tied for most in the SEC and 12th in FBS. Vandy’s 12 turnovers gained is second-most in the SEC behind’s Auburn’s 13. CJ Taylor grabbed an interception off Georgia’s Carson Beck, the third of Taylor’s career. Taylor has interceptions in each of Vandy’s last two games.
• Will Sheppard caught multiple touchdowns in Vanderbilt’s first three games of the season. He is the first Vanderbilt player since at least 1996 to record three consecutive games with two or more touchdown receptions. He is the fifth player in the SEC to record three straight games with multiple touchdown receptions in the same season since 2019, joining Jalin Hyatt (Tennessee), DeVonta Smith (Alabama), Terrace Marshall Jr. (LSU) and Ja’Marr Chase (LSU). Across all of FBS, Sheppard is the ninth player to record three straight games with multiple touchdown receptions in the same season.
• Freshman wide receiver London Humphreys registered his fourth touchdown catch in the game vs. Georgia and is now tied for second-most receiving touchdowns by a Vanderbilt freshman since at least 2008.
