With another Vanderbilt Football season kicking off in eight days, there’s no better time to sunshine pump than now. This is the time of year when all the common cliches are thrown around by head coaches.

“We’re bigger, faster, and stronger.”

“I love the depth we have.”

“There are several young guys that have stood out.”

Those are phrases that are said by every head at some point during fall camp, every season. With that in mind, I’ve come up with three bold predictions for the Commodores this season. Remember, these are “bold predictions” and they are supposed to catch you by surprise. Some may call these outlandish, but that’s what the preseason is for.

Yes, this is bold, and maybe even borderline insane. Although, this isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Here are the first seven games of Vanderbilt’s season:

vs. Hawaii

vs. Alabama A&M

@ Wake Forest

@ UNLV

vs. Kentucky

vs. Missouri

@ Florida

Out of those games, the Commodores will likely be favored in only three of them. If you take a closer look at each opponent, you can convince yourself of a Vanderbilt win, at least I can. Hawaii, Alabama A&M, and UNLV should all be fairly dominant victories, purely based on Vanderbilt’s size, speed, and depth advantages. Then, you start looking at the toss-up games.

Wake Forest is a team that handled the Commodores last season, but that was with their star quarterback Sam Hartman. He left for Notre Dame. The Demon Deacons also lost their best receiver AT Perry to the NFL. In addition, they’ve received some awful injury news during fall camp. A couple of weeks ago, Dave Clawson announced that Donavon Greene, one of their best receivers, will be sidelined for 3-5 months after suffering a knee injury. Also, talented linebacker Eldrick Robinson II will miss the season due to a non-contact Achilles injury. There’s a reason the media picked the Demon Deacons to finish 9th in the ACC preseason poll. With the departure of Hartman and Perry, combined with a couple of huge injuries in fall camp, I like the Commodores in this matchup more and more.

Kentucky suffered an excruciating 24-21 loss at the hands of Clark Lea last season, a win that snapped a 26-game conference losing streak. That likely means the Wildcats will stroll into Nashville with a giant chip on the shoulder. Well, Vanderbilt also has a reason to carry a chip into this highly anticipated week five matchup. Ray Davis, their stud running back from last season, will be suited up in the blue and white. He also recently made some interesting comments regarding Nashville as a football city.

“My previous place in Nashville, it was about Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan and I ain’t know much about that. But I damn sure know about football and that’s what Lexington is about. The fans, the people, when they see you in town, they love talking to you. They love communicating with you. It’s always about football, it’s always about UK, so I love that.”

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard Lexington described as a “football city,” but that’s his prerogative.

Whether this is considered drama or added motivation for the Vanderbilt defense or not, those comments alone add some intrigue to an already anticipated matchup. The Commodores will be ready to play and I legitimately think they match up well against this style of team. Kentucky wants to ground and pound well, and so does Vanderbilt. They proved they can line up and dominate against the Wildcats’ front seven last season, we’ll see if they can do it again. This certainly won’t be an easy win, especially with Kentucky likely playing angrily after last season. With this being the first home SEC game of the season, I can see this Commodores team being eager to make a statement.

Missouri narrowly pulled out a 17-14 victory over Vanderbilt last season in Columbia. That was a game the Commodores should have won. Make no bones about it. The Tigers will be improved, but again, I think this is a team Clark Lea’s program can beat. Brady Cook does not scare me at the quarterback position, especially after some of the boneheaded mistakes he made last season. Luther Burden is one of the best receivers in the conference, but I actually thought Nick Howell’s defense did a solid job of neutralizing him last season. This is another home game that this program should be juiced up for.

Lastly, the Florida Gators were a train wreck last season. They wanted no part of Vanderbilt on a chilly day in Nashville and that showed. A couple of costly mistakes essentially gave the Commodores their 1st home win over Florida since 1988. I don’t see a ton of improvement in this year’s Gators’ team either. The talent overall has taken a huge dip with quarterback Graham Mertz being a prime example. If Anthony Richardson can’t beat Vandy, why should I believe Graham Mertz, of all people, will? This one is in the Swamp, but I think Clark Lea will have his team ready to play and primed for an upset. Of these first seven games, this will be the toughest to win, but a 6-1 start heading into the Georgia game is not out of the realm of possibility.

You might ask, when is the last time Vanderbilt beat South Carolina? That year was 2008, under Bobby Johnson, who just so happened to coach Clark Lea while he was in the black and gold. It’s been fifteen years since the Gamecocks suffered a loss to the Commodores, which makes this prediction hard to take seriously for some. Although, every streak is broken at some point, why not this season?

Glancing at the Gamecocks’ schedule, the first half of the season is absolutely brutal. In September and October, their opponents include North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas A&M. They travel to Athens, Knoxville, and College Station before welcoming Vanderbilt to Columbia on November 11. There’s a good chance Shane Beamer’s team is battered and bruised before Clark Lea’s scrappy bunch rolls into town. That feels like a potentially scary proposition for Gamecock fans. Not to mention a matchup vs. in-state rival Clemson looms on November 25.

Last season’s game was closer than the scoreboard indicated, despite Spencer Rattler’s stellar performance. The Commodores shot themselves in the foot with careless turnovers and missed assignments. I like what Beamer is doing in Columbia, but this could be the season that loss to Vanderbilt finally comes. The schedule lines up well for this upset.

Two local products, Junior Sherrill out of powerhouse Lipscomb Academy and London Humphreys out of CPA have both made huge impacts in fall camp. The receiver room already had depth with Sheppard, Skinner, McGowan, and Carter. Now, these two freshmen have added competition to an already strong room. Heading into this season, several offensive coaches have hinted at finding roles for both this season. That might be tough in this receiver room, but with as much talent as Sherrill and Humphreys have, it’s going to be tough to keep them off the field.

Sherrill is an extremely gifted receiver. He actually started as a running back in high school, so he already has natural ball-carrying abilities, more so than most receivers at his age. With the Mustangs last season, he finished with 1,626 total yards and 25 touchdowns. After a stellar season, he was named MaxPreps Tennessee football player of the year, deservedly so. Someone described Sherrill’s speed to me as “game speed.” For anyone confused, he may not always show it in practice or training sessions, but when the ball is snapped, he can flip the switch. That’s the sign of an extremely instinctual football player. Of course, being a freshman, he’s not going to light the world on fire in year one, but I think he’ll make quite the statement this season. Coach Lynch said they tested him out in several different receiver positions during the last season to challenge him. You could end up seeing him in the slot, but also out wide at certain points this year.

Humphreys has elite speed. In the spring of 2022, he broke Jalen Ramsey's regional record in the 200-meter dash with an astounding time of 21.73 seconds. In both his junior and senior seasons at CPA, he finished with over 1,000 receiving yards. He still has to mature physically, but that’s the case for most freshmen. Once that happens, watch out, his potential is through the roof. He may be slightly behind Sherrill in terms of route running and pure receiving skills, but his speed is tough for any coach to ignore. I could see him simply running past cornerbacks in the first two games late in the game to boost his numbers on the season. He already showed home run capability with a 75-yard touchdown in the first scrimmage. In a loaded receiver room, I can still see Humphreys making a solid impact this season.

I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility for Sherrill and Humphreys to combine for over 1,000 receiving yards. It won’t be an easy task, but with the skillsets of both players, AJ Swann will have opportunities to let these freshmen shine.