Tennessee football: 5 Vanderbilt Commodores to watch vs. Vols

We now go to the Vanderbilt Commodores’ offense, and the running game is key for them to win. As we said with Tennessee football trying to hit the 215-yard benchmark, the Vanderbilt Commodores need to had the 175-yard benchmark. That’s on the ground, of course.

The key to them reaching that is Ke’Shawn Vaughn. After missing the Kentucky Wildcats game, Vaughn has come back to enjoy his three best games of the year, going for 172 against the Arkansas Razorbacks, 182 against the Missouri Tigers and 127 against the Ole Miss Rebels.

Now, it is true that those three defenses might be the three worst defenses in the SEC. But the fact remains that Vaughn has become a big threat on the ground, and he brings balance to the Vanderbilt offense. As a result, if the Vols are going to come through on defense like they did against the Kentucky Wildcats, they have to find a way to shut him down.

For the year, Vaughn has 976 yards and is averaging over seven yards a carry, an insane number. So stopping him is not going to be an easy task. But Jeremy Pruitt was able to contain Benny Snell two weeks ago, so he should have something up his sleeve. Otherwise, there wil be no bowl game for the Vols.