Missouri Tigers football vs. Vanderbilt Commodores: Time, TV and 5 things to know

Lila Bromberg
·2 min read

Fresh off a bye week, the Missouri Tigers face Vanderbilt on the road in a matchup of teams winless in SEC play.

Here are details and five things to know about the game.

THE DETAILS

Kickoff: 2 p.m. Saturday

Where: Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee

TV: SEC Network

Radio: KMBZ (98.1 FM)

The line: Missouri by 17

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

1. Power Five woes. There are just five Power Five teams remaining who have yet to win a game against another Power Five opponent — Missouri and Vanderbilt are two of them, along with Kansas, Arizona and Indiana. Either the Tigers or the Commodores will get off that not-so desired list with a victory this Saturday.

2. First year coaching staff. The Vanderbilt program is in its first season under head coach Clark Lea, who was hired in December 2020. Lea previously served as the defensive coordinator for Notre Dame from 2018-20 and was a linebackers coach for the Fighting Irish and several other FBS programs before that. So far under Lea, the Commodores are 2-6, with their only wins coming against Colorado State and UConn.

3. What run game? One thing working in the Tigers’ favor Saturday will be how much the Commodores have struggled running the ball. Mizzou’s run defense, which ranks dead last in FBS, will be paired up against a Vanderbilt team that only averages 99.8 rushing yards per contest, which ranks 121st out of 130 FBS programs, and 3.03 yards per carry.

4. Slow starts all around. Missouri and Vanderbilt have had horrid defensive starts in SEC games. The Tigers have trailed by a combined 63-10 at the end of the first quarter across their three conference games, while the Commodores have trailed by a combined 73-3 by the end of the first frame in their four league contests.

5. Don’t repeat history. The last time Mizzou traveled to Vanderbilt, it didn’t go so well. The Tigers entered the 2019 matchup in Nashville ranked No. 22 in the country and were heavy favorites, but they suffered a 21-14 defeat. Missouri obviously enters this season’s matchup in a much different spot, struggling with a 3-4 record and no wins in SEC play, but the team will still need to avoid a disastrous upset coming in as 17-point favorites.