"It's a long trip for a fairweather fanbase that just took a loss"... Players to Watch vs. Vandy

CodyCarpentier · Oct 23, 2024

Players to Watch for Vanderbilt

#2 Diego Pavia, QB - 1 Thing: Pavia's ability to create on his own due to undisciplined rushers reminds you at times of Johnny Manziel and Russell Wilson, the edge rushers for Texas have to stay "sound" and on the hip against Pavia or he will get outside of the pocket, where he is best, both as a passer and rusher.

#9 - Eli Stowers, TE - 1 Thing: Stowers is a former dual-threat Quarterback from Denton-Guyer, who formerly played at Texas A&M and New Mexico State. Stowers leads all SEC Tight Ends in PFF Receiving Grade (88.9), Receiving yards (463), and Yards After Catch (308) while playing 71% of snaps in the slot. Helm is 110 yards after catch behind Stowers.

#1 CJ Taylor, CB - 1 Thing: Taylor is a Captain for Vandy, at 6'1 200 lbs his size and fluidity help him match up against all receivers, but especially the bigger outside talents. Taylor has allowed 3 receptions in a game just once and it came against Georgia State where he gave up 3 receptions and 30 yards. Since then he has allowed 2 total receptions in SEC play.

#29 Miles Capers, EDGE - 1 Thing: Capers is a very long, lean, and stacked-up edge rusher who poses threat to the offensive tackles for Texas in pass rush, however at just 230 lbs, he is a bit lean to worry about his abilities in the run game, where he really hasn't been a dominator in that aspect. Capers was injured against Kentucky with a neck injury but is expected back this week against Texas. He was also the SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week against Alabama in Week 6 after a Strip Sack.

Honorable Mention - #28 Sedrick Alexander, RB - #0 Junior Sherrill, WR - #3 Quincy Skinner, WR (This is a very strong group of skill players. The expectation is that Vandy would lack pure talent, but these kids don't only play with heart and drive, like Pavia. But Alexander is a grinding tough runner with the ability to create yards after contact. Sherrill got free for a long touchdown against Alabama that took the top off of the defense and ended up being a big pivot point for that win. Skinner is the best wide receiver on the field for the Commodores and I can say comfortably that I'd take Skinner over any of the Georgia receivers.. and that's saying something because I thoroughly enjoy Dillon Bell (86).

Behind Enemy Lines

Looks like a lot of Texas/visiting fans are trying to unload tickets for Saturday

"My theory is that it's mostly UT/Bama fans who bought up season tickets and were hoping to unload them but underestimated that it's a long trip for a fairweather fanbase that just took a loss."

Cody's Note: This is a Thread that was started on VandySports.com and the quote is a comment from a fan. A fan of the school that averaged just 25,000 fans per game in 2023 and totaled 153,052 in 6 total games.

Average Home Attendance

	2023 Average Attendance	Games at Home
Tennessee	101,915	7
LSU	100,742	7
Alabama	100,077	7
Texas A&M	99,234	7
Georgia	92,746	7
Florida	89,587	6
Auburn	88,043	7
South Carolina	77,833	7
Arkansas	65,317	7
Ole Miss	63,721	7
Kentucky	61,000	7
Missouri	60,169	7
Mississippi State	54,455	8
Vanderbilt	25,509	6

Vanderbilt Head Coach Clark Lea Press Conference Notes

Head Coach Clark Lea during his opening statement: "We'd love nothing more than to make this a really ugly game, that comes down to time of possession and create opportunities for our offense."

Head Coach Clark Lea on if he talks to his team about CFP/SEC Title Game Implications: "Yeah, yeah we do - It's the reality of our situation, we have worked hard to get to this point. We found ourselves perfectly where we are meant to be. We're going to have to play really well to have a chance at post-season play. - The Biggest thing for our team, is that we are learning how to win and play in big game after big game after big game."

Head Coach Clark Lea on If he finds it difficult to prepare for a team coming off of a loss: "I think you can take that either way - It can be takin as heartbreaking or the lockerroom can take it as motivation. But what I know about Texas is that they have a really good team and they are well coached, and I have a lot of respect for Sark. - My expectation is that they will come in here ready to play, what we need to do in response is not match their energy but set the tone and be the best representation of our program and come ready to play."

Head Coach Clark Lea on potentially play two quarterbacks: "I believe this is a system on offense that doesn't change dramatically with respect to who is taking the snaps. So we are preparing to defend the system, obviously both Quarterbacks have played, so we're expecting to see both. They have injury history there, so you just never know. There are subtle differences in the way of the style of the two guys, both are very talented and certainly we are watching both and preparing for both."

Head Coach Clark Lea on Texas' Speed on the field: "It's unique, I think every offensive playmakers was somewhere around 10.5 in the 100m in high school. I think Sark and everytime I have seen him, he's got a way to use shifts, motions and formations to create space for those guys, sometimes those oves can become runaways in man coverage, we have to be very discipline in our coverages. The key is that we're never one on one in space, we're always compressing blocks on the edge and vicing blocks like I said."

This is a Segment, presented by my great sponsor @Alex Dunlap , it's called "According to PFF"

1) According to PFF, Texas has 5 of the 6 best defensive linemen in Pass Rush Win Rate % (Wins per Snap)

Screenshot-2024-10-23-at-10.56.51 AM.png

2) According to PFF, Texas has 5 offensive linemen grading out better than all but one Vanderbilt Offensive Lineman, Delfin Xavier Castillo (#64) the Center for Vandy is the one and only. Castillo took over as the starting center in Week 6 against Alabama and has taken 202 snaps over those 3 weeks.

Screenshot-2024-10-23-at-10.41.04 AM.png

3) According to PFF, here are the 8 opponents Texas has played this season, sorted by Defensive Team Pass Rush Grade. *breathe easy Quinn*

Cody's Week 9 Prediction (6-1) with a (+/- of 96 pts)

Texas 40
Vanderbilt 10

Starting fast is the obvious #1 key for the Texas offense, you have to BURY that Georgia performance and get the first drive into paydirt. On the other side, it's imperative to squeeze Diego Pavia and this Commodore offense on the first two drives, against Georgia State it took two plays before Georgia State was able to blindside Pavia and cause a fumble. Create pressure, stay academic on defense, get the running game started early, Helm, Helm, Helm and shoot that deep ball... after back to back weeks with 9 Explosive plays (20+ yards), Texas only had 4 against Georgia (1 of which was the 21-yard scamper by Arch Manning).

Player of the Game: Jaydon Blue (14 touches, 130 all-purpose, 2 touchdowns)

The line in the game is Texas -18.5 with a game total of 53.5. This implies a score of 36-17.5 in favor of Texas.

Past Predictions

- Week 1 Prediction: 51-13 Texas
- Week 1 Result: 52-0 Texas (+/- 14)
- Week 2 Prediction: 34-13 Texas
- Week 2 Result: 31-12 Texas (+/- 4)
- Week 3 Prediction: 55-3 Texas
- Week 3 Result: 56-7 Texas (+/- 5)
- Week 4 Prediction: 48-6 Texas
- Week 4 Result: 51-3 Texas (+/- 6)
- Week 5 Prediction: 55-14 Texas
- Week 5 Result: 35-13 (+/- 21)
- Week 6 Prediction: 32-24 Texas
- Week 6 Result: 30-15 Georgia (+/- 23)

ICYMI - Football with Friends on Tuesday

Top Games of the Week in College Football

Tier 1
- 8. LSU vs. 14. Texas A&M on Saturday at 7:30 pm ET (ABC)
- 5. Texas vs. 25. Vanderbilt on Saturday at 4:15 pm ET (SECN)

Tier 2
- 17. Boise State @ UNLV on Friday at 11:00 pm ET (CBS)
- Syracuse @ 19. Pittsburgh on Thursday at 7:30 pm (ESPN)
- 21. Missouri @ 15. Alabama on Saturday at 3:30 pm (ABC)

Tier 3
- 12. Notre Dame @ 24. Navy on Saturday at noon ET (ABC)
- 20. Illinois @ 1. Oregon on Saturday at 3:30 pm ET (CBS)

Tier 4
- Florida State @ 6. Miami on Saturday at 7:00 pm ET (ESPN)
- 11. BYU at UCF on Saturday at 3:30 pm ET (ESPN)

Top 10 Losses by Week

- Week 1: 10. Florida State (L at Georgia Tech)
- Week 2: 10. Michigan (L vs. 3. Texas)
- Week 2: 5. Notre Dame (L vs. Northern Illinois)
- Week 3: N/A
- Week 4: N/A
- Week 5: 2. Georgia (L at 4. Alabama)
- Week 5: 6. Ole Miss (L vs Kentucky)
- Week 5: 10. Utah (L vs. Arizona)
- Week 6: 1. Alabama (L at Vandy)
- Week 6: 4. Tennessee (L at Arkansas)
- Week 6: 9. Missouri (L at 25. Texas A&M)
- Week 6: 10 Michigan (L at Washington)
- Week 7: 2. Ohio State (L vs. 3. Oregon)
- Week 7: 9. Ole Miss (L vs. 13. LSU)
- Week 8: 1. Texas (L vs. 5. Georgia)
- Week 8: 7. Alabama (L at 11. Tennessee)
- Week 9: TBD (below)