Vanderbilt, Auburn players exchange words in pre-game skirmish
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Vanderbilt is hosting Auburn in Nashville on Saturday. The Tigers are playing their first game after the firing of Hugh Freeze, while the Commodores are looking to run the table to keep any chance of a College Football Playoff berth alive after a loss to Texas.
Even before the whistle blew, though, there were plenty of emotions on both sidelines. Vanderbilt and Auburn players were seen exchanging words, and a penalty flag was eventually thrown. It appears cooler heads prevailed, and things didn’t get physical.
Here’s video from Vandy on SI’s Joey Dwyer:
Auburn, at 4-5, parted ways with Freeze after a loss to Kentucky. Defensive coordinator DJ Durkin, hired by Freeze ahead of the 2024 season, is serving as the team’s interim head coach the rest of the way as the Tigers need to win 2 of their remaining 3 games to reach bowl eligibility.
Vandy, meanwhile, is 7-2. It faced a big deficit in Week 10 against Texas and nearly fought back before eventually falling by a score of 34-31. The Commodores were ranked No. 16 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings releases on Tuesday, so their margin for error is razor-thin through the final few weeks of the regular season.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
