Missouri at Vanderbilt: Three-minute preview
When/where: 3 p.m. Saturday at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville
TV/radio: SEC Network; KMBZ (98.1 FM)
The series: Missouri leads 4-2-1
The line: Missouri by 3
What’s at stake
Missouri seeks to snap the first two-game losing streak since the end of the 2012 and avoid the first three-game skid since midway through the 2009 season, when the Tigers lost three in a row against teams (Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas).
Cheers if ...
Missouri finds the end zone on offense. The Tigers’ last touchdown came in the third quarter against South Carolina three weeks ago. MU has only three Andrew Baggett field goals in the last 148 minutes, 36 seconds on the field.
Jeers if ...
Missouri loses the turnover battle. The Tigers are plus-1 on the season in turnover margin, while Vanderbilt is last in the SEC with a minus-9 margin and 16 total turnovers. No other conference team is worse than minus-2 (Mississippi).
Tod Palmer’s pick: Missouri 17-10
Considering the caliber of defenses in the game and that Missouri has played in two 9-6 contests already this season, that might be an overly optimistic score to predict. The Tigers need a win for bowl-eligibility purposes and should get one.
MISSOURI (4-3, 1-3 SEC)
Date | Opponent | Result/time |
Sept. 5 | Southeast Missouri | W, 34-3 |
Sept. 12 | at Arkansas State | W, 27-20 |
Sept. 19 | Connecticut | W, 9-6 |
Sept. 26 | at Kentucky | L, 21-13 |
Oct. 3 | South Carolina | W, 24-10 |
Oct. 10 | Florida | L, 21-3 |
Oct. 17 | at Georgia | L, 9-6 |
Saturday | at Vanderbilt | 3 p.m. |
Nov. 5 | Mississippi State | 8 p.m. |
Nov. 14 | vs. BYU (at Arrowhead Stadium) | TBA |
Nov. 21 | Tennessee | TBA |
Nov. 27 | at Arkansas | 1:30 p.m. |
VANDERBILT (2-4, 0-3 SEC)
Date | Opponent | Result/time |
Sept. 3 | Western Kentucky | L, 14-12 |
Sept. 12 | Georgia | L, 31-14 |
Sept. 19 | Austin Peay | W, 47-7 |
Sept. 26 | at Mississippi | L, 27-16 |
Oct. 3 | at Middle Tennessee | W, 17-13 |
Oct. 17 | at South Carolina | L, 19-10 |
Saturday | Missouri | 3 p.m. |
Oct. 31 | at Houston | 6 p.m. |
Nov. 7 | at Florida | TBA |
Nov. 14 | Kentucky | TBA |
Nov. 21 | Texas A&M | TBA |
Nov. 28 | at Tennessee | TBA |
Three things about Vanderbilt
1 Vanderbilt is celebrating homecoming. The Commodores are 27-38-3 on homecoming since 1946 and have lost nine straight homecoming games against SEC foes since beating South Carolina 17-13 on Oct. 24, 1998.
2 Sophomore linebacker Zach Cunningham is tied for sixth in the SEC with eight tackles for a loss on a defense that leads the conference in third-down defense (26.2 percent) and red-zone defense (71.4 percent).
3 Sophomore quarterback Johnny McCrary ranks fifth in the SEC, averaging 238 yards passing per game, but his starting spot is in jeopardy because of the conference-worst 10 interceptions he’s thrown.
Key matchup
Missouri’s offensive vs. Vanderbilt’s front seven: The Commodores’ 3-4 scheme relies on big, athletic linebackers more than a physically imposing line. The Tigers need to win the battle in trenches, create lanes for Russell Hansbrough and keep quarterback Drew Lock clean.
MISSOURI OFFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
WR | 6 | J’Mon Moore | 6-3 | 190 | So. |
WR | 2 | Nate Brown | 6-3 | 205 | So. |
LT | 60 | Connor McGovern | 6-4 | 305 | Sr. |
LG | 63 | Brad McNulty | 6-4 | 305 | Sr. |
C | 77 | Evan Boehm | 6-3 | 310 | Sr. |
RG | 73 | Mitch Hall | 6-5 | 310 | Sr. |
RT | 55 | Nate Crawford | 6-5 | 300 | So. |
TE | 80 | Sean Culkin | 6-6 | 245 | Jr. |
WR | 18 | Wesley Leftwich | 6-1 | 205 | Sr. |
QB | 3 | Drew Lock | 6-4 | 205 | Fr. |
RB | 32 | Russell Hansbrough | 5-9 | 195 | Sr. |
K | 99 | Andrew Baggett | 6-1 | 215 | Sr. |
MISSOURI DEFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
DE | 56 | Walter Brady | 6-3 | 255 | Fr. |
DT | 97 | Josh Augusta | 6-4 | 345 | Jr. |
NG | 95 | Rickey Hatley | 6-4 | 300 | Jr. |
DE | 91 | Charles Harris | 6-3 | 255 | So. |
LB | 10 | Kentrell Brothers | 6-1 | 235 | Sr. |
LB | 30 | Michael Scherer | 6-3 | 230 | Jr. |
LB | 25 | Donavin Newsom | 6-2 | 230 | Jr. |
CB | 7 | Kenya Dennis | 5-11 | 200 | Sr. |
SS | 22 | Anthony Sherrils | 6-0 | 190 | So. |
FS | 21 | Ian Simon | 6-0 | 195 | Sr. |
CB | 11 | Aarion Penton | 5-10 | 190 | Jr. |
P | 26 | Corey Fatony | 5-11 | 185 | Fr. |
VANDERBILT OFFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
WR | 10 | Trent Sherfield | 6-0 | 200 | So. |
WR | 9 | Caleb Scott | 6-1 | 195 | So. |
LT | 74 | Will Holden | 6-7 | 312 | Jr. |
LG | 53 | Jake Bernstein | 6-4 | 310 | Sr. |
C | 77 | Spencer Pulley | 6-4 | 300 | Sr. |
RG | 56 | Garrett Gouger | 6-4 | 308 | Jr. |
RT | 66 | Blake Fromang | 6-7 | 305 | Jr. |
TE | 81 | Steven Scheu | 6-5 | 245 | Sr. |
QB | 2 | Johnny McCrary | 6-4 | 220 | So. |
RB | 7 | Ralph Webb | 5-10 | 202 | So. |
FB | 28 | Dallas Rivers | 6-1 | 224 | So. |
K | 17 | Tommy Openshaw | 6-2 | 185 | So. |
VANDERBILT DEFENSE
P | No. | Player | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. |
DE | 69 | Adam Butler | 6-5 | 305 | Jr. |
DT | 74 | Jay Woods | 6-3 | 285 | So. |
DE | 5 | Caleb Azubike | 6-4 | 265 | Sr. |
OLB | 44 | Nehemiah Mitchell | 6-4 | 260 | Jr. |
ILB | 35 | Darreon Herring | 6-2 | 230 | Sr. |
ILB | 41 | Zach Cunningham | 6-4 | 230 | So. |
OLB | 45 | Stephen Weatherly | 6-5 | 250 | Jr. |
CB | 5 | Torren McGaster | 6-1 | 200 | Jr. |
SS | 32 | Andrew Williamson | 6-1 | 212 | Sr. |
FS | 20 | Oren Burks | 6-3 | 215 | So. |
CB | 31 | Tre Herndon | 6-0 | 185 | So. |
P | 17 | Tommy Openshaw | 6-2 | 185 | So. |
Tod Palmer: 816-234-4389, @todpalmer
This story was originally published October 22, 2015 at 3:25 PM with the headline "Missouri at Vanderbilt: Three-minute preview."