SEC Kickoff: Everything you need to know about Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt

Here’s everything you need to know about Saturday’s SEC showdown between Ole Miss and Vanderbilt in Nashville.

When: Saturday
Where: Nashville, Tennessee
Game Time: 4:30 PM ET
TV: ESPN
Current Line: Ole Miss (-20.5)

Game Buzz: In the only SEC showdown on Saturday’s slate of games, the No. 15 Ole Miss Rebels travel to Nashville to take on Vanderbilt at LP Field. The Rebels won last year’s meeting between these cross-division rivals on a Jeff Scott 75-yard touchdown with just 1:07 remaining in the game. The Commodores have won six of the last nine meetings between these two, but also lost at home to Temple last week by 30 points. Ole Miss, meanwhile, is coming off a 22-point victory over Boise State, ending the game with 28 fourth quarter points. The Rebels have a strong following in Nashville, and should have plenty of support from the crowd on Saturday afternoon.

SATURDAY DOWN SOUTH PREVIEWS

• Scouting report: Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt
• Mason remains undecided on his starting quarterback against Ole Miss
• Freeze on Vandy: ‘They tend to get up extremely high for us’
• Matchup breakdown: Ole Miss defensive line vs. Vanderbilt tailback Ralph Webb
• Rebels defense will benefit from return of Bryant, D. Nkemdiche to lineup
• Vanderbilt must shake off Derek Mason’s unimpressive debut, reacquire momentum

OLE MISS REBELS

Players to watch:

• QB Bo Wallace
• RB Jaylen Walton
• WR Laquon Treadwell
• WR Cody Core
• TE Evan Engram
• DT Robert Nkemdiche
• LB Serderius Bryant
• LB Denzel Nkemdiche
• S Cody Prewitt

Keys for Ole Miss:

• Establish a rushing attack. Ole Miss struggled to gain any sort of traction in its run game last week against Boise State, and that trend cannot continue against SEC opponents in 2014. The Rebels have plenty of options in the backfield with I’Tavius Mathers, Mark Dodson and scat back Jaylen Walton. Just one of those three needs to have a strong performance against Vandy, proving the Rebels’ offensive success won’t depend entirely on quarterback Bo Wallace’s play. The Ole Miss offensive line looked sloppy and out-of-sync at times against the Broncos, but it came together in the fourth quarter as the Rebels finally hit their stride. Ole Miss has the talent on offense, but the run game needs to provide balance to keep opposing defenses guessing.
• Eliminate the sloppy mistakes. The Rebels must prove last week’s issues with penalties and turnovers was simply a product of nerves and early season rust in a nationally televised game on opening night. If Ole Miss makes its seven false starts against Boise a regular occurrence, this offense doesn’t stand a chance. The same can be said of Wallace’s three first half picks. The Rebels have enough talent to compete with any team in the nation, but if it continues to beat itself the way it did against Boise, that talent becomes moot. The Rebels must tighten it up and play smarter football against Vanderbilt.

Rebels’ glaring weakness to watch: Wallace’s decision-making. The senior quarterback has enough experience to know when to get rid of the ball and when to hold onto it. However, Wallace admitted this week he was forcing things against the Broncos, and that cannot continue this season. Last week’s result was three first half interceptions and a narrow 7-6 lead through three quarters. If Wallace can protect the football, he has enough talent at wide receiver to be among the top passers in the conference. What sets those passers apart from Wallace is their lack of game-changing turnovers. The Rebels’ signal caller will either be more careful with the football, or Ole Miss’ offense will pay the price.

Most interesting part of the game: This will be the 88th installment of this rivalry, which celebrates its 120th anniversary Saturday when Ole Miss and Vandy take the field. Vandy always seems to have one of its best performances of the year in its annual showdown with the Rebels, and Ole Miss must be prepared for the test. Last week’s blowout loss to Temple is no guarantee the Commodores will come out flat against the Rebels, as the rivalry changes the entire dynamic of Saturday’s game. Ole Miss is the better team, but it must play its best game to avoid a potential upset.

Team Buzz: The Rebels are feeling confident entering Saturday’s game despite playing lackluster on offense for nearly three quarters against Boise State. When Wallace was more careful with the football, he had no trouble picking the Broncos’ defense apart, and his receivers showed a level of explosiveness unmatched by most other receiving corps. in the conference. The defense wreaked havoc on Boise, laying punishing hit after punishing while registering four interceptions for the game.

VANDERBILT COMMODORES

Players to watch:

• QB Patton Robinette
• QB Stephen Rivers
• QB Johnny McCrary
• RB Ralph Webb
• LB Stephen Weatherly
• DB Oren Burks
• S Ryan White
• S Andrew Williamson

Keys for Vanderbilt: 

• Leave last week’s performance in the past. Vanderbilt cannot dwell on its disastrous 2014 debut last week, and instead must view Saturday’s game as a fresh start with an unscathed 0-0 record in the SEC. The Commodores did have some bright spots in their performance against Temple, including freshman tailback Ralph Webb and his five yards per carry average. The Vandy defense looked sharp, but the offense’s repeated turnover problems routinely left the Dores with a short field to defend, causing the stats to be a bit misleading. Derek Mason’s bunch must focus on accentuating these positives by slowing the game down with the run and a strong defense. If the Commodores are still haunted by their last game, it will show on the field against the No. 15 team in the nation.
• Choose a quarterback. It remains to be seen how long Mason will continue to rotate among three quarterbacks, but the hope is he will have chosen one guy by Week 3. The quarterbacks and the offense around them all looked sloppy and out of rhythm against Temple, and the Ole Miss defense is poised to silence the Commodores’ offense if that offense is still searching for answers. Perhaps none of the three quarterbacks is ready to become the starter, but Mason would still be better off choosing one and sticking with him for the benefit of the rest of the offense. All three may see the field against Ole Miss, which could spell disaster for the VU offense. But if Saturday’s game helps Mason find his starter, a potential loss to Ole Miss could still pay dividends later in the year.

Commodores’ glaring weakness to watch: At risk of sounding repetitive, Vandy’s greatest weakness is its lack of a quarterback. The Commodores have a few nice weapons on offense, but lack a leader on the field when they have the ball. The Rebels’ defensive line will relentlessly pressure Vanderbilt’s quarterbacks in an attempt to force turnovers and keep whoever the quarterback is at the time from making a play with the football. It is nearly impossible to hide a struggling quarterback, and Vandy has three to rotate under center. Ole Miss is going to use the Commodores’ lack of a quarterback to its advantage from the opening kick on Saturday.

Most interesting part of the game: The game will be played in Nashville, but not on Vanderbilt’s  campus. Instead it will be played at LP Field, home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, which seats more than 68,000 fans. The Commodores usually have trouble filling their own stadium without help from fans of the opposing team, and judging by their lackluster performance last week and Ole Miss’ strong following in the Nashville area, this crowd could favor the Rebels more heavily than Vandy. It will be interesting to see how both teams handle playing in an NFL stadium rather than in an on-campus atmosphere, especially if the visiting team has more support in the stands.

Team Buzz: Vanderbilt has already fallen back down to doormat status in the SEC East after James Franklin worked tirelessly to help the program post back-to-back nine-win seasons in 2012-13. Mason and company still don’t have a quarterback, and their team is currently 0-1 with a loss to a team who lost to Fordham last season. There is no buzz surrounding the program, and that’s a problem. Even if the Commodores cannot win on Saturday, they can salvage some respect from the rest of the SEC and some confidence for the remainder of the season.

Ethan Levine

A former newspaper reporter who has roamed the southeastern United States for years covering football and eating way too many barbecue ribs, if there is such a thing.