Derek Mason announces Vanderbilt will be without starting offensive lineman for 2nd straight week
By Jake Rill
Published:
For the second straight week, Vanderbilt will be without one of its starters on the offensive line.
On Tuesday, Commodores head coach Derek Mason announced that guard Drew Birchmeier will miss Saturday’s game at Kentucky. The fifth-year senior also didn’t play in last week’s game at Mississippi State.
“He will not be available for the game against Kentucky,” Mason said during his press conference. “We look to get him back the following week, but he will not be available this week.”
Several days before last week’s game, Mason had said that Birchmeier was questionable as the team awaited COVID-19 testing results, noting there may have been some false positives. However, Birchmeier went on to miss the loss to the Bulldogs.
Birchmeier began his career at Vanderbilt as a defensive tackle, starting 24 games there from 2018-19. At the start of this season, he was moved to the offensive line, and the 6-foot-4 300-pounder became the starter at right guard.
With Birchmeier out, fellow fifth-year senior Connor Mignone has been filling in at right guard.
After losing its first five games of the season, Vanderbilt will look to notch its first win when it travels to Kentucky on Saturday at noon ET on SEC Network.
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
