Can Vanderbilt’s Surge Silence the Tigers This Saturday?

If you had told me before the season that Missouri and Vanderbilt would both sport 6-1 records, ranked 15th and 10th respectively, I might have chuckled and asked if you were betting your lunch money on that. Yet here we are, facing down a Saturday showdown that’s anything but predictable. Missouri, the season’s expected powerhouse, keeps grinding out wins—excluding that close shave against Alabama—but their scrappy double-overtime escape over Auburn last week reminded me that this team’s no walk in the park. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt has quietly rewritten their own narrative, surprising plenty—including me—with a tenacious squad led by the versatile Diego Pavia. The real question now: Can the Commodores’ one-man-band offense weather Missouri’s pounding ground game, or will the Tigers’ Ahmad Harvey bulldoze his way to another victory? Both teams are skating on thin ice if they want a playoff shot, so the stakes couldn’t be higher. Buckle up—it’s a thriller waiting to happen. LEARN MORE.

Missouri vs. Vanderbilt, 3:30 ET

Wasn’t exactly the best weekend I’ve had in College Football, but that won’t stop me from going right back at it. We’ve had a good season, so a bummer of a Week 8 isn’t going to dampen my spirits. This has been an exciting season, with very little being clear about who is actually good, and who could use improvement. We know Ohio State is good, but they also haven’t really been tested since Week 1. What else do we know about this year? I’d argue very little. This afternoon brings a great matchup between Missouri and Vanderbilt, at least one of these teams being a complete surprise.

Missouri was expected to be a strong team this season, and they come into the game with a 6-1 record and ranked as the 15th best team in the nation. Although those rankings mean very little in the grand scheme of things, it is important to give context of how the world views the clubs. I think they are deserving of their ranking, they’ve played consistently well this year, even against tough competition. Their lone loss came against Alabama, dropping that game by just a field goal. Last week was another tough one, but they escaped with a victory, getting a double-overtime win over Auburn. This time the game was on the road, and pulling out the win there was a big challenge. In this matchup, I expect the Tigers to look to pound the ball on the ground as much as possible. Ahmad Harvey, their running back, has already racked up 840 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. The offensive line will have a bit of a tough task against the Vanderbilt defense, but Harvey is talented enough to make tacklers miss and find the right hole to get big gains.

On the other side is Vanderbilt, a team that most probably didn’t expect to be this good. They weren’t ranked to start this season, and they had an extremely low win total, already cashing the over on that. They enter today’s contest as the 10th ranked team in the nation and also have a 6-1 record. Much like the Tigers, the Commodores lone loss was at the hands of those pesky Alabama Crimson Tide players. Their matchup was in Alabama, and they lost that game 30-14. That does give me a bit of concern when we are comparing the two losses, but there are a number of reasons it is different. Vanderbilt was on the road, and didn’t have an extra week to prepare for Alabama. Missouri was at home and came off a bye week to play them. The concern I have for Vanderbilt, more than anything in this game, is that they are a bit one-dimensional. Or, they at least rely on one player a bit much. Their quarterback, Diego Pavia, has been very good, leading the team in both passing and rushing. However, it makes me a bit nervous that Missouri can take away at least one of those things (maybe the pass) and stall out the Vanderbilt offense. That is kind of what Alabama did, allowing just 198 passing yards to Vanderbilt. The running game would’ve been terrible as well outside of two big runs. They allowed 101 yards on two rushes, and 34 yards on the other 18.

To their credit, Vanderbilt has taken care of business outside of the Alabama game. They beat South Carolina with ease in a road game. They took down LSU last weekend at home, and have won every other challenge. Missouri has come out on top, but hasn’t always made it look easy for themselves. This game will be very important for both of the teams if they truly hope to make the College Football Playoffs or even the SEC Championship game (though, I doubt either make it there). I’m going to back the Commodores as I think their home field advantage is enough here. I just hope Pavia doesn’t get shut down.

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