FACTS & STATS: Site: Neyland Stadium (104,000) -- Knoxville, Tennessee. Television: ESPNU. Home Record: Vanderbilt 1-5, Tennessee 5-2. Away Record: Vanderbilt 1-4, Tennessee 0-3. Neutral Record: Vanderbilt 0-0, Tennessee 0-0. Conference Record: Vanderbilt 0-7, Tennessee 2-4. Series Record: Tennessee leads, 70-27-5.
GAME NOTES: SEC and state rivals will collide in Knoxville this weekend, as the Tennessee Volunteers welcome the Vanderbilt Commodores to Neyland Stadium.
This season has been one to forget for Vanderbilt, which has lost all seven of its league games and owns a dismal 2-9 overall record. The team's current losing skid reached seven games last weekend with a 24-13 home setback to Kentucky. Vandy has been held to 13 or fewer points in eight of its 11 games this season, a staggering stat to say the least.
As for Tennessee, it has been embroiled in some off-the-field controversy recently, leading to some players being dismissed from the team for an alleged armed robbery incident. Lane Kiffin's first season as head coach has certainly been a rocky one, as the club is 5-5 and still needs one more victory to become bowl eligible. The Vols had a modest two-game win streak halted last week with a 42-17 loss to Ole Miss on the road, the fourth setback in six SEC games.
Tennessee owns a 70-27-5 advantage in the all-time series with Vanderbilt, which includes three straight wins over the Commodores.
Vanderbilt is scoring 16.4 ppg this season while generating 307.2 total ypg, and if not for some respectable offensive efforts in non-conference play, those averages would be far worse. The passing game has been the root of the problem for the Commodores, who are gaining a mere 143.8 ypg through the air with five touchdowns in 11 games. The offense makes good on a mere 36 percent of their third down conversion attempts, and only 13 touchdowns have been registered in 32 trips to the red zone. Mackenzi Adams has taken over for the injured Larry Smith at quarterback, and his 50 percent completion rating suggests that not much success has been had. Warren Norman leads Vandy in rushing with 710 yards and three touchdowns, and his 5.5 yards per carry average is impressive despite the team's struggles. Vanderbilt finished with an embarrassing total of 199 total yards against Kentucky last weekend, including 82 rushing yards on 34 attempts. Adams was ineffective under center as well, as there wasn't much to cheer for on the VU sideline.
For the most part, Vanderbilt has played solid defense this season. Let's face it, the defensive unit spends more time on the field than most because of the ineffectiveness of the Commodore offense, so the fact that the team is only surrendering 22.6 ppg and 357.4 total ypg is somewhat impressive. Foes are gaining 197.5 rushing ypg against the 'Dores, and 18 of the 29 touchdowns surrendered to opposing offenses have come on the ground. Chris Marve has totaled 110 tackles this season for Vandy, 25 more than his closest teammate. Marve made 13 stops against Kentucky last weekend, but his Commodores were no match for the Wildcats' rushing attack. Kentucky racked up 308 yards on the ground on 58 carries, and average of 5.3 yards per attempt, and three rushing touchdowns were scored against Vandy. The Commodores played extremely well against the pass, coming up with two interceptions while allowing a mere 91 yards on 7-of-15 efficiency, but that solid effort was overshadowed.
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