Coach: Derek Mason (21-36 in fifth season at Vanderbilt and overall)
Record: 3-5 overall, 0-4 SEC
Offense: Multiple
Defense: 3-4
Returning Lettermen: 47 (19 offense, 24 defense, 4 special teams)
Returning Starters: 16 (9 offense, 5 defense, 2 special teams)
Players to Watch: QB Kyle Shurmur, RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn, WR Kalija Lipscomb, LT Justin Skule, LB Jordan Griffin, CB Joejuan Williams
Series Record: Arkansas leads 7-2
Last Meeting: Arkansas def. Vanderbilt 31-28 on Oct. 29, 2011, in Nashville, Tenn.
The Skinny on Vanderbilt
The Commodores have developed a reputation as the afterthought of SEC football, but it is not for a lack of effort.
Vanderbilt’s 2018 team looks much look so many other VU teams of the past: tough, gritty and upset prone; close, but no cigar.
The Commodores have caught the interest of college football fans twice this season by nearly knocking off two ranked teams. Notre Dame didn’t breathe easy until the final 67 seconds of its game against Vanderbilt in September in South Bend, Ind., and Florida rallied from a 21-3 first-half deficit to defeat the Commodores in Nashville two weeks ago. Kentucky broke a 7-7 tie with a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter last week.
Vanderbilt has only looked overmatched twice this season, against Georgia and South Carolina, but there was a near loss to Tennessee State in which the Commodores needed a late touchdown to win by one possession.
Vanderbilt has not been as good defensively this season as in past seasons under head coach Derek Mason, the former Broyles Award finalist as defensive coordinator at Stanford. The defensive woes have compounded problems for the Commodores, whose inconsistent offense makes Vanderbilt reliant on low-scoring games to be competitive.
Vanderbilt Key Stat
The Commodores have not been good at SEC West stadiums. Vanderbilt last won at an SEC West stadium in 2012, at Ole Miss, and has not won at any other SEC West stadium since Jay Cutler led the Commodores to a 28-24 comeback win at Arkansas in 2005.
Vanderbilt Key Player
Junior receiver Kalija Lipscomb has the Commodores’ best big-play ability.
Lipscomb is being targeted about 10 times per game and his 588 receiving yards trail only Ole Miss’ A.J. Brown and Alabama's Jerry Jeudy, among SEC players. Only Jeudy and Alabama's Henry Ruggs III have more receiving touchdowns than Lipscomb’s six.
Lipscomb is a tremendous route runner who is able to create separation and goes uncontested on about 72 percent of the passes thrown his way. Nearly half of his catches result in first downs and he averages 3.9 yards after the catch, which is something to watch against what has been a poor-tackling Arkansas secondary.
He padded his stats against Tennessee State with nine catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns, but he has been consistent against some top-end competition, too. He had 11 catches for 89 yards at Notre Dame; nine catches for 72 yards and a touchdown against South Carolina; and four catches for 64 yards against Florida.
Kentucky largely shut him down last week, limiting him to 28 yards on five receptions. Georgia limited him to 16 yards on two receptions earlier this month.
One knock on Lipscomb this season has been his dropped passes. He is averaging one drop per game, but has become more sure-handed in recent weeks. Six of his drops came in the Commodores’ first three games against Middle Tennessee, Nevada and Notre Dame.
Vanderbilt on Offense
You might recognize quarterback Kyle Shurmur by his last name. His father is Pat Shurmur, the head coach of the New York Giants and a long-time offensive coordinator in the NFL.
Shurmur is in his third season as the Commodores’ starting quarterback. He completes nearly 59 percent of his passes and averages more than 230 yards per game. In Vanderbilt’s near-upset of Notre Dame, he passed for a season-high 326 yards.
Shurmur is not mobile, so he relies on a veteran offensive line that has all five starters back from last season. The Commodores are allowing less than a half sack per game.
Lipscomb is Vanderbilt’s only consistent threat at receiver, but like Arkansas, the Commodores rely heavily on tight ends and running backs in the passing game.
Tight end Jared Pinkney is the team’s second-leading receiver and averages three catches and 49 yards per game. Running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn had a 75-yard touchdown reception on a well-executed screen against Florida.
Vaughn is the team’s leading rusher, but most of his yards have come in non-conference play. Vaughn did impress in the Georgia game, rushing nine times for 79 yards, but did not play last week at Kentucky with an injury. He is expected to play this week.
Vaughn splits carries with Khari Blasingame, who had 49 yards at Notre Dame, and Jamauri Wakefield, who rushed 19 times for 74 yards last week at Kentucky.
Vanderbilt on Defense
The Commodores had defenses that ranked in the top half of the SEC in Mason’s second and third seasons, but Vanderbilt has not been strong defensively the past two seasons.
This year the Commodores are 11th in total defense, 13th in rush defense and eighth in pass defense. Opponents are averaging 24 first downs per game and Vanderbilt has the league’s worst third-down defense, allowing opponent to convert just less than half the time.
Vanderbilt is pressuring quarterbacks in only 22.6 percent of dropbacks, also worst in the SEC.
The inability to get off the field has provided the Commodores’ defenders to pad their individual stats. Three of the SEC’s top 11 tacklers play for Vanderbilt, led by linebacker Jordan Griffin, who averages 9.7 tackles per game. Only Arkansas’ De’Jon Harris averages more.
Other top tacklers include safety LaDarius Wiley (6.6) and linebacker Dimitri Moore (6.4).
Linebacker Josh Smith averages better than one tackle for loss each game. Cornerback Joejuan Williams averages one pass breakup per game.
Vanderbilt on Special Teams
The Commodores are mostly sound in the special teams, an area where Arkansas has struggled this season.
Punter Parker Thome is averaging better than 45 yards per punt. He downs opponents inside the 20 about once in every 4.5 attempts.
Trey Ellis is one of six SEC players to average double-figure yards on punt returns and Jamauri Wakefield averages better than 20 yards per kickoff return, fifth-best in the league.
The weakest link in the Commodores’ special teams is kicker Ryley Guay, who has made 8 of 14 field goals, and struggled on some short kicks, including two misses inside of 30 yards. Guay is a strong kickoff man, with a 74 percent touchback rate.
The Bottom Line
Like it or not, this is the Basement Bowl in the SEC - Vanderbilt is 13th in conference wins since the SEC expanded in 2012; Arkansas is 14th - and might be both teams’ best chance to win a conference game. The winner is likely to stay out of last place in the overall standings, although both teams appear destined to finish at or near the bottom of their respective divisions.
Arkansas has the home-field advantage, but one must wonder how much of an advantage it will be for an early kickoff against a bad opponent. Scanned tickets for Arkansas’ 11 a.m. game against No. 1 Alabama totaled just more than 49,000, and that was with thousands of Crimson Tide fans in attendance. Vanderbilt has historically had one of the worst traveling fan bases in the conference and is likely to turn back most of its 6,000 allotted seats.
On the field, the Razorbacks and Commodores appear pretty evenly matched with two of the SEC’s worst defenses and offenses that have been inconsistent. Arkansas’ discovery of a run game led by Rakeem Boyd could be key against a poor Vanderbilt run defense.
Vanderbilt Depth Chart
Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr.
OFFENSE
QB 14 Kyle Shurmur 6-4 225 Sr.
18 Mo Hasan 6-3 208 R-So.
RB 5 Ke’Shawn Vaughn 5-10 222 R-Jr.
OR 23 Khari Blasingame 6-1 228 G-Sr.
OR 32 Jamauri Wakefield 6-1 220 R-So.
WR 16 Kalija Lipscomb 6-1 201 Jr.
87 Amir Abdur-Rahman 6-4 207 Fr.
TE 80 Jared Pinkney 6-4 255 R-Jr.
84 Sam Dobbs 6-4 235 Sr.
RT 77 Devin Cochran 6-7 318 R-So.
78 Bryce Bailey 6-5 302 R-Fr.
RG 74 Cole Clemens 6-6 315 So.
61 Bruno Reagan 6-3 318 R-Sr.
C 61 Bruno Reagan 6-3 318 R-Sr.
76 Egidio DellaRipa 6-4 305 R-Sr.
LG 56 Saige Young 6-4 305 Jr.
50 Sean McMoore 6-4 305 R-So.
LT 58 Justin Skule 6-6 318 Sr.
71 Jared Southers 6-5 315 R-Jr.
WR 83 C.J. Bolar 6-1 190 Fr.
19 Chris Pierce 6-4 215 So.
FB 27 Jaire George 6-1 228 R-Jr.
43 Josh Higgs 6-0 237 R-Fr.
DEFENSE
DE 10 Dayo Odeyingbo 6-6 270 So.
29 Louis Vecchio 6-7 270 G-Sr.
DT 91 Drew Birchmeier 6-3 295 R-So.
90 Cameron Tidd 6-3 290 R-So.
DE 34 Dare Odeyingbo 6-2 282 Sr.
94 Rutger Reitmaier 6-3 275 R-Fr.
OLB 9 Caleb Peart 6-1 235 R-Jr.
48 Andre Mintze 6-3 240 R-So.
ILB 40 Jordan Griffin 6-0 232 R-Sr.
12 Brayden DeVault-Smith 6-2 225 R-Fr.
ILB 7 Dimitri Moore 6-3 225 R-Fr.
24 Alston Oriji 6-2 235 Fr.
OLB 25 Josh Smith 6-4 242 Sr.
42 Kenny Hebert 6-4 225 R-So.
CB 21 Donovan Sheffield 6-0 190 Sr.
4 Randall Haynie 6-0 185 R-Fr.
S 5 LaDarius Wiley 6-1 209 G-Sr.
38 Gil Barksdale 5-10 188 Jr.
S 2 Frank Coppet 5-11 188 R-So.
3 Tae Daley 6-0 195 So.
CB 8 Joejuan Williams 6-3 210 Jr.
28 Allan George 6-1 185 R-Fr.
SPECIAL TEAMS
K 98 Ryley Guay 5-10 185 Jr.
P 93 Parker Thome 6-4 215 G-Sr.
H 93 Parker Thome 6-4 215 G-Sr.
LS 47 Tommy Schiager 6-0 220 R-So.
PR 36 Trey Ellis 5-9 175 G-Sr.
KR 32 Jamauri Wakefield 6-1 220 R-So.
AND 6 Josh Crawford 5-10 195 R-Jr.
Arkansas Depth Chart
OFFENSE
QB 4 Ty Storey 6-2 215 R-Jr.
15 Cole Kelley 6-7 258 R-So.
RB 5 Rakeem Boyd 6-0 200 R-So.
2 Chase Hayden 5-10 200 So.
WR(9) 8 Mike Woods 6-1 190 Fr.
16 La’Michael Pettway 6-2 219 Jr.
TE 44 Austin Cantrell 6-3 263 Jr.
85 Cheyenne O’Grady 6-4 251 R-Jr.
RT 60 Brian Wallace 6-6 318 Sr.
78 Dalton Wagner 6-9 300 R-Fr.
RG 62 Johnny Gibson 6-4 324 Sr.
68 Kirby Adcock 6-5 280 R-Fr.
C 66 Ty Clary 6-4 287 So.
57 Shane Clenin 6-6 302 R-Fr.
LG 51 Hjalte Froholdt 6-5 315 Sr.
54 Austin Capps 6-4 311 Jr.
LT 74 Colton Jackson 6-5 301 Jr.
78 Dalton Wagner 6-9 300 R-Fr.
WR(5) 1 Jared Cornelius 5-11 203 R-Sr.
9 De’Vion Warren 5-10 180 So.
WR(2) 3 Deon Stewart 5-11 161 Jr.
10 Jordan Jones 6-1 180 So.
DEFENSE
DE 3 McTelvin Agim 6-3 279 Jr.
91 Michael Taylor 6-2 248 Sr.
DT 90 Armon Watts 6-5 298 Sr.
7 Briston Guidry 6-2 292 So.
DT 52 T.J. Smith 6-3 304 Jr.
42 Jonathan Marshall 6-3 301 So.
DE 10 Randy Ramsey 6-4 236 R-Sr.
6 Gabe Richardson 6-3 240 Jr.
MLB 8 De’Jon Harris 6-0 244 Jr.
31 Grant Morgan 5-11 220 So.
WLB 23 Dre Greenlaw 6-0 227 Sr.
16 Bumper Pool 6-2 223 Fr.
CB 11 Ryan Pulley 5-11 198 R-Jr.
21 Montaric Brown 6-0 187 R-Fr.
SS 2 Kamren Curl 6-2 201 So.
18 Myles Mason 6-2 208 Fr.
FS 9 Santos Ramirez 6-2 204 Sr.
17 Joe Foucha 5-11 198 Fr.
CB 24 Jarques McClellion 6-0 173 R-Fr.
14 Britto Tutt 6-1 180 Jr.
NICKEL 30 Kevin Richardson 5-11 180 R-Sr.
36 D’Vone McClure 6-2 215 So.
SPECIAL TEAMS
K 19 Connor Limpert 6-1 175 Jr.
P 28 Reid Bauer 5-11 198 Fr.
H 14 Jack Lindsey 6-2 195 So.
LS 48 Jordan Silver 6-1 217 R-Fr.
PR 3 Deon Stewart 5-11 161 Jr.
KR 9 De’Vion Warren 5-10 180 So.
3 Deon Stewart 5-11 161 Jr.
2018 Vanderbilt Schedule
Sept. 1 — Middle Tennessee, W 35-7
Sept. 8 — Nevada, W 41-10
Sept. 15 — at Notre Dame, L 22-17
Sept. 22 — South Carolina, L 37-14
Sept. 29 — Tennessee State, W 31-27
Oct. 6 — at Georgia, L 41-13
Oct. 13 — Florida, L 37-27
Oct. 20 — at Kentucky, L 14-7
Oct. 27 — at Arkansas
Nov. 10 — at Missouri
Nov. 17 - Ole Miss
Nov. 24 — Tennessee
This originally appeared in Hawgs Illustrated