FOOTBALL Middle Tennessee @ Vanderbilt (SEC Alternate), 6:30PM, September 1, 2018

[SpaceRaider]

game thread, links are a work in progress...

Vanderbilt University

Location: Nashville, Tenn.
Founded: 1873 Enrollment: 12,592 (Undergraduates 6,885, Postgraduates 5,707)
Colors: Black and Gold Nickname: Commodores
Series: VU leads 15-3
Stadium: Vanderbilt (40,350)
Head Coach: Derek Mason (Northern Arizona, 1993) Record at VU: 18-31 (5th)
2015 Record: 5-7(1-7) Bowl: none
Starters Ret./Lost: 16/6 Lettermen R/L: 43/19

Weather Forecast: The forecast at kickoff calls for Partly Cloudy with a temperature of 85 F. The chance of rain is 2%. Winds are expected to be out of the South Southeast at 6 miles per hour.

Where: Vanderbilt Stadium, 2601 Jess Neely Drive, Nashville, Tennessee

Vanderbilt Stadium Policies Vanderbilt does not allow backpacks, bags or purses larger than a standard sheet of letter-size paper, umbrellas, strollers, selfie sticks, smoking or vaping inside the stadium.


Television: SEC Network Alternate (Comcast/Xfinity: 723-724; DirecTV: 611-1; AT&T U-verse: 608-609; Dish: 596-597; Charter Spectrum: 235; Telephone and Data Systems: 633; Campus TV: 3.2 (rescan): Anish Shroff (play-by-play), Ahmad Brooks (analyst), Roddy Jones (sideline)

Radio: PxP: Chip Walters, Analyst: Wes Counts, WMOT FM 89.5 (Murfreesboro), WGNS AM 1450 (Murfreesboro), WDUC 93.9 FM, WGNS FM 100.5 (Murfreesboro), WGNS FM 101.9 (Murfreesboro), WPRT FM 102.5 (Nashville), National: Sirius channel 157, XM channel 196, TuneIn App: Search Middle Tennessee

Streaming: http://www.espn.com/watch/

Live Stats: Live Stats

Newspapers: Tennessean, Vanderbilt Hustler,

Message Boards: vandysports.com, Commodore Daily, TheBlackSea, anchordown vandy.proboards.com, sec-rant vandy sports, vandymania

Blogs: anchorofgold.com, Hawkins,Memorial & Dudley,

Athletic site: vucommodores.com, GoBlueRaiders.com


Media Guides: Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee

Preseason Previews: Vanderbilt 2018 SBNation Preview, Vanderbilt (Orlando Sentinel #106), HeroSports.com #83 Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee 2018 SBNation Preview, Middle Tennessee (Orlando Sentinel #56),

Game Notes: VANDY GAME NOTES, MT GAME NOTES

Roster: Commodores, Blue Raiders

Game Previews: Middle Tennessee was Woody Widenhofer’s Waterloo. Could it be the same for Derek Mason?, Looking ahead to MT and Vandy

Twitter: @VanderbiltU, @VandyFootball, @AdamSparks, @VU_All_Access, @vuhustlersports, @joefishervu, @HMDSportsBlogVU,

Hashtags: #AnchorDown, #BlueRaiders, #BeatVandy, #PaintNashvilleBlue

Facebook: Vanderbilt University Athletics,

Youtube: vucommodores,

Instagram: vucommodores,



2017 Game Thread

2016 Game Thread

2015 Game Thread

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[bluefutcpa]

I’m debating on not going. I’ve been so disappointed the last two outings. Convince me otherwise.

 

[SpaceRaider]

I’m debating on not going. I’ve been so disappointed the last two outings. Convince me otherwise.

I'm going. I don't think we win. But in the case we win I want to be there, especially since I doubt we'll see them on the schedule again, anytime soon.

Even though we lost last time up there, there was a certain amount of schadenfreude walking down Natchez Trace, seeing all the wind/storm damage to their tailgating tents after the game.

 

[SpaceRaider]

a few vandy articles from this summer
Former Vandy players decry stadium situation
Exclusive: How Vandy administrators undercut football stadium fundraising
Rexrode: Vanderbilt can’t raise money for football? That’s ridiculous.

 

[MTOleBlue]

Just got our four tickets in Section T. Looking forward to seeing a good amount of Blue in the stands.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Derek Mason: Fall camp over; time to get ready for Middle Tennessee

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[SpaceRaider]

espn fpi has vandy with a 60.7% chance of winning

http://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=401012259

 

[BigBlueBrad]

Not going. I hope we win!

 

[cipman2000]

Wish we could attend. I believe it’s a Blue Raider victory!

 

[MTOleBlue]

If any year is a good chance for a win, it would be this year. Wonder how our offense will look against the Vandy defense since they’re trying something new.

 

[SpaceRaider]

http://www.vegasinsider.com/college...ennessee-state-@-vanderbilt.cfm/date/09-01-18

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Found 4 tix together in Sec. L for $16 total on Seat Geek. I paid half that amount for one ticket to watch Ravenwood at Centennial on Friday night!

Winning!

 

[MTOleBlue]

Yeah tickets are cheap. If you’re free, bring your families. We are used to mediocre teams so it’ll be at least as bad as you would expect if we lose. Winning is an added bonus!

 

[MTOleBlue]

Just saw tickets through the MT ticket office are fully sold out. Resale tickets the way to go for all now. Wonder how many we were allotted by Vandy? Anyone have the scoop?

 

[BlueAlpha]

I just paid $18 total for 2 through SeatGeek in Section S. They are higher up but can always move down. Am almost certain I paid $30-35 when we played there 2 years ago. Not sure why you would pay face value through MT unless they get to keep the $$$?

 

[RaiderDawg78]

Just saw tickets through the MT ticket office are fully sold out. Resale tickets the way to go for all now. Wonder how many we were allotted by Vandy? Anyone have the scoop?

IIRC, most non-conference allotments are around 5%. I could see our initial allotment being 1500 to 2000 seats. If we request more, we may be able to get ~4,000 (not sure if we have done that or not because Vandy sure isn't selling out without visitor fan help). I'm guessing we are ~15% of the crowd at kick off and hopefully we are about 95% of the crowd at the end of the game.

 

[SpaceRaider]

vanderbilt hustler:

The First Three: Middle Tennessee, Nevada, and Notre Dame

 

[thepeopleschampion13]

Blue Raider fans, tell us about your team. Here is what I think we know about Vanderbilt going into September 1.

1.) The team will be reasonably health. Barring a rash of injuries in the next 10 days, the team escaped camp without injuries to any starters or key contributors. Reserve freshman TE Ben Bresnahan is the only one ruled out for the opener to my knowledge.

2.) The offense should be as good or better than last year. The WR group is inexperienced but has a leader in Kalija Lipscomb and TE Jared Pinkney is poised for a good year. The remainder of the group will be made up of sophomores and freshmen. RB is in great shape with Illinois transfer and former Pearl Cohn star Ke'Shawn Vaughn. He will be more explosive than Ralph Webb. The OL returns all 5 starters from the end of the season and should be improved.

3.) The defense is a major wildcard and question mark. After starting 2017 like a top half of the SEC unit, it quickly faded into the worst defense in recent Vanderbilt history. This year, I expect the DL to be decent in passing situations but to struggle against power run games. The OLBs are experienced and should be a strength. The ILB are the major concern of the defense outside of senior Jordan Griffin. In the secondary, 2 of them are experienced and good - JoeJuan Williams and Ladarius Wiley. The other 2 will be new faces and some trial by fire. I expect they will be more aggressive but also give up more big plays.

4.) Special teams will be breaking in a new punter and kicker but I would expect similar results. Nothing special but a steady a group.

My season prediction is 5-7.

 

[MTsumner92]

I will answer this based on what our assistant coaches have said. All our head coach says is that we are going to compete....which has proven to tell us nothing.

Coach Franklin said we are in much better shape at RB than we were starting last year. We are much better on the OL than we were at the start of last year. Our QB is better than Goff was during his senior year at California. From this I am going to assume that we are much better on offense and we will light up the scoreboard this year. Thank God! Last year was almost a disaster.

Coach Shafer says his players now understand his terminology and defense can play a little faster. He is happy about where we are. I personally believe we have more depth on the DL. Last year we had a noticeable drop off from first team to second team which became obvious during our game with you guys. We did lose our top DE but his heart wasn't in it anyway. bottom line is I think we will be the same against the pass and better against the run.

We have a better strength and conditioning program which from what I have heard is clearly making a positive difference on the lines of scrimmage.

Based on what the assistant coaches have said, this will the best MT team you have faced since we renewed this series. See you soon.

 

[SpaceRaider]

 

[blueraiderJT]

We now have like 7 WR's that are 6'2 or taller. That's gonna be a factor this year. Franklin will finally get to run his offense. We have not had that many true WR's since he's been here. In 2016, we lost like 5 wr's in fall camp that year. Zeke Cobb will be a force. Jimmy Marshall will be a force. Windham and Salter needs to earn their scholarships now. They are extremely capable. It's time for them to step up, if they do, this will be the best WR corps we've had in a long time and we will be 3 lines deep.

Our RB's are dangerous with size speed and we have depth there as well. It's all about the line. If we can protect Brent and create run lanes, we will play with anybody we face this year.

I know this guy is high on their new RB but we've faced him before when we played Illinois in 2015 and he's no Ralph Webb. If we had a kicker who could hit the broadside of a barn that year, we would have won that game. Y'all are gonna miss the heck out of Webb, Sherfield and Duncan this year. Liscomb is awesome but he's gonna get covered a lot more because they literally have no other experienced options that can get the separation needed to create within the route like Duncan and Sherfield could.

I hope we pull our heads out and play like we are capable of playing. Block and run the dang ball. If we do that, I'm not worried.

 

[stuckinthemiddle2]

I don't like our chances all that much. People seem to be putting too much stock in what happened in games 15 or 20 years ago instead of the last couple of years. We can drop this one and still make some sort of a bowl.

If the line stays around 4.5 that would be like having a free printing press to print money by taking VU to win and cover. This may upset some people, but look how the last few ended up. Before you get too mad over this, remember that you might need their LifeFlight helicopter to save your life someday and we don't have one.

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

This is the weirdest troll post I’ve read.

I don't like our chances all that much. People seem to be putting too much stock in what happened in games 15 or 20 years ago instead of the last couple of years. We can drop this one and still make some sort of a bowl.

If the line stays around 4.5 that would be like having a free printing press to print money by taking VU to win and cover. This may upset some people, but look how the last few ended up. Before you get too mad over this, remember that you might need their LifeFlight helicopter to save your life someday and we don't have one.

 

[MTTim]

Yeah that last one about Life flight is a doozy

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Should be a fun one to watch.

 

[RaiderDawg78]

This is the weirdest troll post I’ve read.

No kidding.

You know Vandy is coming up when their trolls show up. It’s actually pathetic, no other P5 school does that, but every year we get a Dore troll on here. You are supposed to be a SEC school...try acting like it.

 

[sWiley]

Their fans behave more like CUSA rivals.....probably because the caliber of their team is CUSA-like.....

 

[JohnDavidBlue]

I thought FriedasBoss would have been here by now.

 

[SpaceRaider]

vandy trolls are on an extremely short leash...

 

[MarJac23]

I just paid $18 total for 2 through SeatGeek in Section S. They are higher up but can always move down. Am almost certain I paid $30-35 when we played there 2 years ago. Not sure why you would pay face value through MT unless they get to keep the $$$?

I just got 2 in section S for 18.00 as well. Sure Would like to see a bunch of Blue show up at that dump.

 

[MTOleBlue]

Highly encourage everyone to get tickets and see the game. Vandy fans are selling them for cheap as usual.

 

[MTFNBY5]

As for the LifeFlight comment: Yes, I realize the helicopters are painted with VU colors and are identified as connected to Vanderbilt and also the flight crews and nurses wear uniforms with Vanderbilt Hospital Identification. But I know from experience, unfortunately, unlike any other medical expense related to Vanderbilt the bill comes from an air transportation billing company (and you can be damn sure a call will come for insurance info before you get home - they clearly want to be first in line).

As for who employs the crew, who owns the helicopters, etc. I have no idea but the billing is entirely separate from VU hospital.

Another point which needs to be explained to our "friend", and probably more important, is that there was a big to-do when VU hospital separated from the university. They are, for all intents and purposes, two distinct entities.

 

[thepeopleschampion13]

I do think Ke'Sbawn Vaughn is better than the 2017 version of Ralph Webb. Ralph was never healthy last season and the toll of running for 4 years in the SEC finally caught up with him. Webb in 2016 was really good.

The key to the matchup for me will be whether MT can establish any run game at all. That's been the difference in the last 3 matchups. MT hasn't been able to run it at all. If they can, Stockstill and the RPOs become a lot more dangerous.

 

[RaiderDoug]

I don't know what to think about this one.

On one hand, it seems like Vandy has had trouble keeping up in a shootout type game - i.e. Mizzou, Ole Miss, etc. You definately can roll up some #"s on the Vandy defense. If we can get off to a fast start and keep Vandy from running the ball, we could pull this out like 45-38 or something like that.

On the other hand, we are notorious for starting the season slow, and don't seem to put much emphasis in games like this, and have had trouble will larger teams that would like to try and run the ball. Play grind it out and we're going to lose something like 28-20.

It's time to start winning these games if we want to step forward as a program. Over and over we have opportunities, and time and time again we "compete" but don't win.

 

[MTLynn]

I expect the defense to play well since this is the second year of Shafer and with healthy experienced players starting the season (Stockstill, RB's, WR's) I expect the offense to play well.

 

[Blueraider_Mike]

Even if our D plays well, I still see Vandy scoring 21-28 points similar to last year. Actually last year after adjustments, we held Vandy to just 7 points in the last 3 quarters...they hit some big plays on their first three drives we just couldn't move the ball. We couldn't run it and Brent was off with no time to throw.

I think if our O produces 28 plus points we win....that is a big "if".

 

[SpaceRaider]

thread on a vandy message board

 

[MTsumner92]

I read thread. We actually are better this year. Surprise will be ours. I do worry about us at the OT position. Do we really have that fixed with a 6-2 280 lb. kid?