Tennessee (4-6, 1-5) vs. Vanderbilt (6-4, 3-4)
The Tennessee Vols will come back from a bye to take on Vanderbilt at home this Saturday. The match-up will be an important one not only for the record books, but the seniors as well. Saturday posts as the last game on the Neyland Stadium field for the senior class and will be celebrated accordingly as Senior Night.
This state-to-state contest is the fourth most frequently played rivalry in the SEC. Vanderbilt has played Tennessee more than any other team.
Although known as a rivalry, head coach James Franklin says in general, his team won’t ever approach games as rivalry games.
“We are not going to put extra attention on one game. That just goes against our philosophy in general, but I think a game needs to be more competitive than what our game has been over its history for it to be a rivalry.”
Last season, the Commodores took a big 41-18 win over the Vols. Tennessee was coached by Derek Dooley at the time and completed its season 5-7 overall with only one win in the SEC to Kentucky.
Tennessee is 73-28-5 against the Commodores and has won 28 out of the last 30 meets. However, Vanderbilt is on a 13-4 record, after its last 17 games. It stands as the SEC’s third best record under Alabama and Texas A&M. The Vols last 17 games have set them at a 6-11.
A productive bye after a tough loss to Auburn at home was exactly what Tennessee needed to regain strength for this weekend.
“I thought we had a productive bye week,” noted head coach Butch Jones, “so many things we needed to get accomplished from continuing to develop this football program and our mentality, our style of play, our toughness, overall execution, our fundamentals, our fine attention to details but also getting our health back.”
Tennessee has had many changes within the season. With QB Justin Worley out and Joshua Dobbs in, the big orange are working day-by-day on regaining mental and physical stability.
Vanderbilt is on a two-game winning streak, while Tennessee has had three losses in a row. However, those losses have come from three top 10 nationally ranked teams, and Vanderbilt’s wins were from Kentucky and Florida.
The Volunteers fell to Florida earlier in the season down in Gainesvilles, 31-17. The Commodores, also, took a win from Georgia at home, which Tennessee fell to in OT mid-season.
If this isn’t the competition Franklin is looking for, then I don’t know what is. This will be a tight match-up to buckle down for.
The Commodores will kick-off at Neyland Stadium on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
Here is the rest of your SEC line-up this weekend:
-Mississippi State (4-6, 1-5) @ Arkansas (3-7, 0-6): 11:21 televised on SEC TV
-South Carolina (8-2, 6-2) vs. Coastal Carolina (10-1): 12:00 p.m. available on PPV
-Alabama (10-0, 7-0) vs. Chattanooga (8-3): 1:00 p.m. available on PPV
-Florida (4-6, 3-5) vs. Georgia Southern (6-4): 1:00 p.m. available on PPV
-Texas A&M (8-2, 4-2) @ LSU (7-3, 3-3): 2:30 p.m. on CBS
-Kentucky (2-8, 0-6) @ Georgia (6-4, 4-3): 6:00 p.m. on ESPNU
-Missouri (9-1, 5-1) @ Ole Miss (7-3, 3-3): 6:45 p.m. televised on ESPN
Open-Dates on this week’s schedule:
-Auburn (10-1, 6-1): After a big heated win in Georgia 43-38, the Tigers will take a bye this week and see the Crimson Tide at home next Saturday.
