Know Your Enemy: Vanderbilt Commodores

Nov 22, 2014; Starkville, MS, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Johnny McCrary (2) drops back to pass the ball during the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

Who: Vanderbilt Commodores — Nashville, TN

Distance From Knoxville: 180 miles

Head coach: Derek Mason (1st season at Vanderbilt, 3-8 overall, 0-7 SEC)

Conference: SEC

2014 Record: 3-8 (0-7)

Ranking: N/A

All time series: Tennessee leads 73-29-5

Last meeting: Vanderbilt won in Knoxville in 2013, 14-10

Leading Passer: Johnny McCrary— 967 yards, 9 TDs, 7 INTs

Leading Rusher: Ralph Webb — 196 carries, 852 yards, 3 TDs

Leading Receiver: Steven Scheu— 36 catches, 463 yards, 3 TDs

The Tennessee Volunteers need just one win to achieve bowl eligibility this season, and they have one game left to do so. That game is against the Vanderbilt Commodores.

Luckily for the Vols, the 2014 Commodores aren’t like the 2012 or 2013 Commodores. Or even the 2011 Vandy team.

Vanderbilt has yet to win an SEC game this season and has only won 3 games overall. The three wins have come against a MAC team, a Conference USA team, and a FCS team. Vanderbilt has defeated Massachussettes, Charleston Southern, and Old Dominion by a combined 18 points, and 14 of those came in a 42-28 victory over Old Dominion on November 1st.

In Vanderbilt’s seven SEC losses, they’ve lost by an average of 24.9 points and have given up an average of 37 points per game to SEC competition.

Did I also mention that they lost their opening game of the season to Temple? So yes, Vanderbilt isn’t just a bad SEC team; they’re a bad overall team no matter what conference they would be in.

One reason for this is an offense that has been extremely inefficient all season. Vandy ranks last in the SEC in scoring offense (17.2 PPG), rushing offense (108 YPG), total offense (289.8 YPG), yards per play (4.73), and 3rd down conversion rate (29.6%). They’re one spot above LSU in passing offense, ranking 13th with 181.8 yards per game.

Vandy has scored a total of 7 offensive touchdowns in conference play this season. By contrast, the Vols have scored 15 touchdowns in just their last 4 SEC games.

Vandy’s defense isn’t much better, ranking last in scoring defense (34.1 PPG), 12th in total defense (414.8), 12th in total sacks (17), 11th in rushing defense (185 YPG), and 11th in passing defense (229.8 YPG).

The Commodores are also last in the SEC in number of turnovers forced with 11, and they have the worst turnover margin in the league at -15 on the season. The next worst: Texas A&M at -6. Vandy isn’t particularly disciplined in other aspects of the game either, as they are the 11th most penalized team in the conference, averaging 6 penalties for 52.7 yards per game. The Vols are the least penalized team in the SEC, averaging only 4 a game for 30.4 yards.

And despite having two kick returns for scores, Vanderbilt is actually 9th in the SEC in average yards per return on kickoffs. The Vols are a surprising 2nd in the SEC despite inconsistencies in that phase of the game all season.

Vanderbilt possesses a serviceable running back in Ralph Webb, but he’s largely been a one man show in the Commodore backfield this season. They have a relatively balanced receiving corps, as Steven Scheu leads the team in receptions and yards, and C.J. Duncan leads the team with 4 TD receptions.

The revolving door at quarterback seems to finally have been settled, as freshman Johnny McCrary has looked the best of the four QB’s the Commodores have tried this season. Local product Patton Robinette is finally getting healthy, and he’ll likely play against the Vols and provide a running element to the position.

The one thing Vandy does marginally well this season is protect their quarterback. They’ve only given up 18 sacks on the year, good for a three-way tie for 6th in the SEC. But with Tennessee’s daunting pass rush that has amassed 32 sacks on the year, that number is likely to go up.

This article is not designed to bash Vanderbilt and call them a terrible team; the truth is, there’s just very little Vandy does well consistently. They’re winless in the SEC for a reason.

But if there’s one thing the Commodores can hang their hat on, it’s recent history. For the first time since the 1920’s, Vanderbilt owns a two game winning streak over the Vols. In fact, Vanderbilt has won 3 of the last 9 meetings between the two teams, something that also hasn’t been done since that time. The best Tennessee’s four-year seniors can finish against Vandy is 2-2, which would be the first such occurrence since 1934-38.

Although the last few seasons have gone Vanderbilt’s way, the greater historical perspective reveals just how “close” this “rivalry” has been.

Since the two teams started playing each other on a yearly basis in 1945, the Vols hold a 59-9-1 record over the Commodores. That means 20 of Vanderbilt’s 29 wins against Tennessee came from 1892-1942. Over two-thirds of Vandy’s victories in the series came over 75 years ago.

So the recent streak by Vanderbilt can be chalked up to an aberration, something that hasn’t happened in almost a century. This “rivalry” pales in comparison to even some of Tennessee’s non-conference rivals like Notre Dame and UCLA, teams the Vols have faced far less.

As long as Tennessee takes care of business this Saturday, they should be able to earn their 6th win of the season and make it to a bowl game for the first time since 2010. The only thing that makes Vanderbilt dangerous is that this game is their bowl game in a sense. They’ve nothing left to play for but that lone SEC win and to spoil Tennessee’s season for a third straight year. Don’t undervalue that motivation.

But unless the Vols have a performance like they did in 2011 against Kentucky, Saturday night in Nashville should go their way.

Stats gathered from cfbstats.com and series info from collegefootball.bz unless noted otherwise