Vanderbilt is again facing diminished numbers as the Commodores get set to play host to Tennessee on Saturday in a 3 p.m. local time kickoff on the West End.

Last week, Vanderbilt at Georgia was postponed because Vanderbilt didn’t have enough scholarship players available.

At his Tuesday press conference, interim coach Todd Fitch explained some of the position changes for Vanderbilt, including Drew Birchmeier moving from offensive line to defensive line, an opposite move from one he made at the start of the season. Fitch shared that Birchmeier said he’s all in on offense when we needed him there and that he’s all in on defense because we need him.

“It’s really how the injuries, the guys that are out by position occur,” Fitch said. “Right now we’ve got some guys that are down, but we feel that we can go ahead and play this thing. It’s really all about player safety and player welfare and right now we feel pretty good about we can put a team out there and compete well in the game.”

Fitch said the numbers management may force the coaching staff to feature one package over another in terms of wide receivers versus tight ends, for example.

“That’s certainly part of the conversation, it’s not so much moving a guy from offense to defense,” Fitch said.

Vanderbilt has adjusted its practice schedule this week because its finals week.