Three Keys and A Prediction: Vanderbilt Football vs. Ole Miss – Sports Illustrated

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NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt football doesn’t appear to be all that intimidated by No. 9 Ole Miss ahead of the Rebels’ trip to Nashville over the weekend. But, can it find a way to win? That’s the question. 
There does appear to be a path to a Vanderbilt win on Saturday, but Ole Miss is a heavy favorite and is likely to beat Vanderbilt if the Commodores don’t come with their best. Vanderbilt appears to believe that it will, though. 
“I'm excited to go through this week with them and to find higher levels of performance,” Lea said. “I think this is where we say as coaches, trust the process, you know, trust the people, trust our instincts, let's see things very clearly. Let's not be drunk off emotion, let's not get called into the waves of emotion that sometimes kind of disorient you. And let's step into our belief, we say in our program over and over that belief is a practice.”
Here’s three keys to a Vanderbilt win over Ole Miss and a prediction. 
Don’t let the mistakes compound 
The weather could be a mess Saturday and even if it isn’t, Vanderbilt will inevitably make mistakes on Saturday. The good news for it, though, is that it doesn’t have to be perfect to beat Ole Miss–which has demonstrated that it has some deficiencies at this stage. 
Vanderbilt says that it can beat anyone if it cuts the mistakes, but it’s not likely that it plays clean football based on its five-game sample size of work. Now, the formula looks like it finding a way to overcome the mistakes it does make and exploit the ones Ole Miss does. 
It does appear that Vanderbilt is talented enough to do it. But, the question is whether it’s resilient enough to find a way. 
Bend, don’t break 
Ole Miss is clearly going to get its yards on the back of Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy while Vanderbilt appears to be prone to letting some things up if its previous performances are any indication. It also appears as if it’s going to have difficulty turning Ole Miss over. 
But, that doesn’t mean it can’t put together a solid defensive performance. 
Vanderbilt can live with Ole Miss getting its yards and kicking field goals consistently. What it probably can’t live with is Ole Miss ending its drives with touchdown plays–particularly explosive touchdowns. Otherwise, though, it should be in the game. 
Get the run game going, finally 
Ole Miss is more explosive and less prone to turning it over than Vanderbilt is, meaning Vanderbilt needs an equalizer.
It’s needed one the whole time, but perhaps this week–when it faces a relatively vulnerable Ole Miss defense–it can finally get Sedrick Alexander and MK Young going in order to make things easier on Jared Curtis. 
Don’t count on it, though.
Ole Miss: 42, Vanderbilt: 28 
It feels like there’s a real path here for Vanderbilt, but it also feels as if Ole Miss coming off of a bye and a bad loss to Florida isn’t a good thing for Clark Lea and company. Ole Miss will be ready to go, and it still feels as if Vanderbilt makes too many mistakes to win with the way it’s currently playing. 
This Vanderbilt team is confident, though, and is sending reminders not to count it out.
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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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