Primetime College Football: Dores vs Vols

TALENT

Vanderbilt (2-9) losing skid reached seven games last weekend with a 24-13 home loss 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 (5-5), 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. 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 5 touchdowns in 11 games. 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.

Vanderbilt has played solid defense this season, the team is only surrendering 22 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.

Tennessee offense was held in check last week by Ole Miss, as the group yielded just 275 yards and 17 points. Quarterback Jonathan Crompton played completed 20-of-37 passes for 176 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. But the Vols were just 4-of-13 on third down conversion attempts and kept possession of the ball for fewer than 26 minutes. Montario Hardesty only carried the ball 14 times and was limited to 55 yards. Hardesty has been better than expected this season, as he has rushed for 956 yards and eight touchdowns while gaining 5.0 yards per carry. As for Crompton, he has completed 58.4 percent of his passes for 2,124 yards and 23 touchdowns with 10 interceptions.

The Tennessee defense was completely helpless against Ole Miss last weekend, as the Rebels posted 359 yards on 50 rushing attempts and finished with 492 total yards. The Vols surrendered 282 yards and 4 touchdowns to one Ole Miss player, Dexter McCluster, and six total rushing touchdowns were yielded on the day. While Tennessee is averaging 30.6 ppg and 387.9 total ypg this season, the club is permitting 21.2 ppg and 314.8 total ypg to opponents. The Vols have given up 18 touchdowns to opposing offenses, and only four of those have been passing scores, impressive considering the quality of opposition that Tennessee has faced this season. Rico McCoy is a talented linebacker who has record 84 total tackles this season, and he has forced four fumbles as well. Chris Walker is tops with six sacks and needs to be accounted for on every play.

PICK: University of Tennessee Volunteers