VUFB Game Week – Tennessee – Vanderbilt Commodores

Commodores close regular season with top-20 matchup on the road
Game 12: 12/12 Vanderbilt (9-2, 5-2 SEC) at 18/18 Tennessee (8-3, 4-3 SEC)
When: Saturday, Nov. 29 • 2:30 p.m. CT
Where: Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, Tenn.
Watch: ESPN (Tom Hart, Jordan Rodgers and Cole Cubelic)
Listen: 102.5 The Game/94.9 The Fan (Andrew Allegretta and Norman Jordan)
RIVALRY WEEK
• Vanderbilt heads east this week looking for its first 10-win season in program history.
• The Commodores and Volunteers will be meeting for the 120th time since 1892. Vandy looks to claim its first win since 2018 and first in Knoxville since 2017.
• There have only been four previous meetings in the series where both teams were ranked in the AP Poll (1941, ‘48, ‘55, ‘58).
• The Dores are enjoying a historic season after reaching nine regular season wins for the first time since 1915. With last week’s victory over Kentucky, Vanderbilt wrapped up an undefeated home campaign for the first time since 1982.
SOARING ON SENIOR DAY
• Vanderbilt beat Kentucky 45-17 on Senior Day last Saturday. The 28-point margin of victory was Vandy’s third highest against an SEC opponent since 1980.
• The Dores established a program record with 539 passing yards. Diego Pavia posted a career-high 484 yards through the air, also a program record.
• Pavia’s 532 total yards of offense are the most in a game for the Dores since at least 1996 and he set Vandy’s season record for total offense at 3,585 yards.
• Pavia became the first FBS quarterback this season to have a game with both 480 passing yards and five touchdowns.
• Tre Richardson caught three touchdowns, the second time a Dore has recorded a hat trick this season, joining Junior Sherrill.
• The Dores recorded a rushing touchdown for the 15th straight game, their longest streak in 13 years.
HEI2MAN
• Diego Pavia enters Week 14 third in the country in passing efficiency and total offense, fifth in passing touchdowns and seventh in completion percentage and yards per pass attempt. He leads the SEC in all five categories.
• He recorded 532 yards of total offense and accounted for six touchdowns in the win over Kentucky, his second game this season with six total touchdowns.
• He completed 33-of-39 pass attempts for a school-record 484 passing yards and five scores through the air. He also led Vandy on the ground with 48 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
• It was the most total yards of offense by a Commodore since at least 1996 and the second highest total offense mark by a Power 4 player this season.
• His five passing touchdowns in a game matched the program record, a mark he also reached earlier this fall against Utah State.
• Pavia sits tied for the school record with 26 passing touchdowns this fall. He ranks No. 4 in passing yards in a season (2,924) and No. 5 for completions in a season (224).
RELIABLE
• Eli Stowers leads the nation among tight ends with 705 receiving yards in 2025.
• Stowers hauled in a career-high 12 catches for 122 yards in the Week 11 win over Auburn, becoming the first Vandy tight end since at least 1996 to record double-digit receptions and register back-to-back 100-yard games.
• Stowers racked up a career-high 146 receiving yards with two touchdowns at Texas in Week 10. The 146 receiving yards are fourth most by a tight end in FBS this season and the most by a Vandy TE since at least 1996.
• He ranks third among all active tight ends with 1,705 career receiving yards. Both players ahead of Stowers have played four full seasons to Stowers’ two-plus at the position. He ranks third in yards per game (43.7)
• Stowers’ 12.2 yards per catch career average is tied for seventh nationally among active tight ends.
FULL STEAM AHEAD
• The Commodores are second in the SEC and ninth in the country in scoring average, posting 38.9 points per game against a schedule that has featured five teams that rank among the top 26 in the country in scoring defense. No other teams in the top 10 for scoring have faced as many top 26 scoring defenses as Vandy.
• In program history, the Commodores have only finished three seasons with a scoring average better than 40 points: 1904, 1905 and 1915.
• Vandy has totaled a program-record 264 first downs and matched the program record for passing touchdowns with 27.
• Vanderbilt’s offense ranks in the top 25 nationally in nine major categories. The Dores lead the SEC in third down conversions, completion percentage and team passing efficiency, rank second in scoring offense and third in TFLs allowed.
MIDSEASON RECOGNITION
• Lea is a semifinalist for the George Munger College Coach of the Year and has been named the AFCA Region Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
• Head coach Clark Lea is on the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award Watch List after leading the Commodores to their best start since 1941.
• Lea is also one of 24 head coaches selected to the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year midseason watch list.
• Eli Stowers is a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy and John Mackey Award, and a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year and the Lombardi Award. He was also named a midseason second-team All-American by SI.
• The offensive line is one of 10 units to be named a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award.
• Diego Pavia has been named a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award in addition to being named a semifinalist for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Maxwell Player of the Year and Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Awards.
• Nick Haberer is one of 10 semifinalists for the Ray Guy Award.
TREMENDOUS TRE
• Tre Richardson’s jump from Division II Washburn to Vanderbilt has been seamless on the football field, as the wide receiver leads the team in all-purpose yards with 1,006.
• He had a career day in the win over Kentucky, amassing a career-high 159 receiving yards with three touchdowns. He finished with 124 receiving yards on just three catches in the previous win over Auburn.
• Richardson is also third on the team with 34 receptions on the season, averaging 17.8 yards per catch.
• The speedster made a spectacular one-handed grab on a 26-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass in the third quarter at Virginia Tech. The score was his first as a Commodore.
• The versatile threat also has eight carries for 58 yards and 344 yards on 13 kick returns while averaging a team-high 91.5 total yards per game.
• Richardson is the first Vandy wide receiver since Darrius Sims in 2016 to go over 1,000 all-purpose yards in a season.
SYDNOR GETS STOPS
• Graduate defensive lineman Khordae Sydnor has continued to make his presence felt in opposing backfields during his second season at Vanderbilt, amassing 7.5 tackles for loss.
• The 7.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage are second on the team. His 39 yards of created loss are second most behind only Capers with 60.
• His 7.5 TFL is his career high after finishing with 6.5 last season at Vandy and in 2022 at Purdue.
• Sydnor owns 14.0 TFL at Vanderbilt and 23.0 over his five-year career.
• With 3.5 sacks this season, Sydnor sits second on the Dores. He is second on the team in quarterback hurries, registering seven this year.
SHERRILL STRIKES
• Junior Sherrill leads the Dores with seven touchdown receptions on the season and his eight total scores are tied for second on the team behind Sedrick Alexander. His seven TD grabs rank third in the SEC.
• Sherrill surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards with two catches for 30 yards in the win over LSU in Week 8. He registered career highs in catches (eight) and receiving yards (115) in the Week 13 win over Kentucky.
• He notched three touchdowns and 91 yards on six catches in the Week 5 victory over Utah State. All three touchdown grabs came in the first half, making Sherrill the first Commodore with three TD catches in a half since Earl Bennett in 2005.
• He registered the first rushing score of his career with an 8-yard touchdown run in the win over Georgia State.
• Sherrill is second on the team with 43 catches while averaging 13.6 yards per reception in 2025.
NEW SEASON, NEW HIGHT
• No need to blink, that is junior Martel Hight split out at wide receiver this season. The veteran corner is playing both ways for the first time in his collegiate career.
• Hight grabbed two interceptions in the win over Kentucky, the most in a game by a Commodore since 2023. He leads the team in picks this season with three and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week.
• The Rome, Georgia, native was named the Paul Hornung Award national Player of the Week after finding multiple ways to contribute in the Dores’ 31-7 victory at nationally-ranked South Carolina in Week 3.
• Against the Gamecocks, he finished with a career-high four catches for 33 yards. Hight threw the key block springing Jamezell Lassiter free for a 44-yard touchdown run that gave the Dores a double-digit lead for good in the third quarter,
• On the defensive side, Hight helped limit South Carolina to just 86 yards rushing.
• He grabbed his first interception of the season in Week 6 at Alabama.
LANGSTON AND LONGWELL
• Vanderbilt’s linebacker duo of Bryan Longwell and Langston Patterson have combined for 117 tackles this season.
• Longwell has registered 13 tackles twice this season and has recorded a tackle for loss in seven of 11 games.
• He leads the team in tackles this season after also leading Vandy last fall, finishing with 89 stops.
• Patterson has totaled five or more tackles in five of the last six games and ranks third on the team.
• Patterson finished the 2024 campaign with 78 tackles after posting 74 in 2023.
• For their careers, Patterson has 212 tackles to his name while Longwell enters Week 14 with 187.
BACKFIELD CAPERS
• Miles Capers’ 9.5 TFL this season already mark a career best, surpassing his eight from the 2024 season. He had 11.5 career TFL entering the season.
• His 4.5 sacks through the first seven games also eclipsed his previous season high of three from 2024. He leads the Dores and ranks 15th in the SEC with 0.4 sacks per game.
• Capers has recorded multiple tackles in all but one game this season and in 15 of the last 16 contests dating back to October 2024.
• He has made 2.5 tackles for loss in three games this season.
• Capers tied his career best with a season-high seven tackles in the win over Missouri in Week 9.
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