Three Keys And A Prediction: Vanderbilt Football Vs. Auburn – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—-Can Vanderbilt football do it again? 
Last time it went to Auburn, it broke through for bowl eligibility and authored one of its most memorable stories of the 2024 season. Now, it’s got a chance to take down Auburn and set itself on a path that will make bowl eligibility an attainable outcome. 
But, here’s what it has to do in order to and a prediction in regard to its chances. 
Lea and company are quick to acknowledge it. They haven’t been good enough through the first three weeks of the season despite their 3-0 record. 
Vanderbilt has turned it over too much. It hasn’t controlled the game. Its defense still appears to have some holes. Lea says his team is still searching for an identity and appears to believe that it hasn’t yet played a full four-quarter game. 
This Vanderbilt team knows it’s time for it to prove it. 
“The goal I have for this weekend is that we don't create the gaps, that we play Vanderbilt football,” Lea said, “[That] We're able to set a tone and an identity in the way we play and that we can play three phases interlocked and take control of the game that way.”
Curtis is a freshman heading into his first SEC start and first road start as a college football player. He’s going to make mistakes, and Vanderbilt has to expect that. Perhaps more aptly, it has to mitigate that.
It wasn’t as if Curtis had no fault in the matter, but Vanderbilt got behind early and wasn’t able to play within its identity. Curtis had to throw Vanderbilt back into the game against NC State and had to be a magician in crucial moments. He had entirely too much pressure on him and wasn’t afforded the luxuries that he should’ve been. 
Now’s the chance for Vanderbilt to support Curtis with a situation in which he doesn’t have to create everything himself.
If it can, that indicates that it’s not playing from behind and that it’s got a chance to win on Saturday against Auburn. 
The margin for error is significantly smaller Saturday than it has been at any point yet for this Vanderbilt team. As a result, it’s got to make sure this isn’t a “slopfest” like Lea referred to the NC State game as.
Vanderbilt got out of that game okay, but penalties cost it more in that one than any other game in Lea’s tenure. It’s almost a miracle that Vanderbilt was able to overcome them. 
That can’t happen again. 
There’s a clear path to Vanderbilt leaving Auburn with a win Saturday, but Auburn has a clearer path and it’s hard to trust Vanderbilt at this point.
It’s 3-0, but it’s been unconvincing to this point and is trotting out a freshman quarterback on the road for his first SEC start. If it’s going to win, it’s going to have to take some of the pressure—literal and figurative—off of Curtis.
Time to see if Vanderbilt can go to Auburn and win for the second-consecutive trip.
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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