VandySports's Chris Lee answers five questions about the Commodores as asked by CatsIllustrated's Justin Rowland.
1. What are your overall takeaways on Vanderbilt this season? Is it similar to preseason expectations or where have they been better or worse than you thought?
Vanderbilt's 2-2 start (which includes consecutive losses to UNLV and Wake Forest) has been a bitter disappointment for a team that beat Kentucky and Florida last November and had bowl aspirations entering the season. The main problem is that the team's perceived weaknesses (I'll get to those shortly) have been issues, and there have been issues that popped up that weren't as much on the radar.
In short, the program hasn't taken the step forward that fans and coaches hoped.
2. Who are the top players on both sides of the ball to know about for Vanderbilt?
On offense, Vanderbilt's receiving trio of Will Sheppard, London Humphries and Jayden McGowan can cause a lot of teams trouble. They've combined for 875 receiving yards and nine scores so far. Humphries, a true freshman who was the fastest man in Tennessee as a high-schooler last year, has become a true big-play threat. McGowan is also a threat as a kick returner.
On defense, safeties CJ Taylor and De'Rickey Wright are good players. Taylor was the defensive star of the Florida and Kentucky wins last year, and Wright's two picks in the Hawaii game were huge.
3. What's the overall health/injury report for the team at this juncture?
Coach Clark Lea gave an extensive update on Tuesday, and here's what he offered:
- Wright is questionable with a nagging ankle injury but (my opinion) I'd expect him to play.
- Taylor is "probable" with an undisclosed injury.
- Starting defensive back Jaylen Mahoney is questionable and didn't practice Monday. Mahoney is Vanderbilt's most experienced defender and a quality player.
- Starting corner BJ Anderson, who didn't play last week, is "probable."
- Reserve safety Savion Riley (upper body), who's gotten a bunch of reps off the bench, is questionable.
- Reserve defensive back Stephen Sannienola, who hasn't played all year due to injury, is out.
- Reserve linebackers Prince Kollie and Errington Truesdell, who haven't played all year due to injury, are out.
- Defensive lineman Christian James, who hasn't played all year and might have started, is out again this week.
- Starting left tackle Gunnar Hansen (ankle) is probable.
- Starting right tackle Junior Uzebu has missed the last two games and is questionable.
- His backup, Grayson Morgan (back) is questionable.
4. What are the main weaknesses for Vanderbilt to this point in the season?
Vanderbilt has not been able to stop either the pass or the run when an opponent has pressed the issue. The Commodores haven't been physical enough at the point of attack and haven't gotten a lot of a pass rush without sending extra bodies. Corner--where the Commodores are starting young-but-talented true freshman Martel Hight--has been a big issue for several years and is a big issue now.
On offense, the line (which returned four starters) has been a massive disappointment and hasn't gotten much push. The Commodores don't have an established rushing attack and miss Ray Davis badly. To make matters worse, quarterback AJ Swann, while talented, has been prone to both interception and turnover problems.
5. Any prediction on the game and how it might play out?
Vanderbilt was an 18-point underdog and had shown little sign of life in weeks leading up to last year's Kentucky game, and I think there's a better team in there than shown.
But here's the reality: the Commodores have missed the Vegas point spread in all four games, and if they play as poorly Saturday if they played in those contexts, you can double the spread (It's 14) or more for Saturday.
Having grown tired of predicting better things only to be proven wrong every week, I'll take Kentucky to win on Saturday.
