Vanderbilt Commodores Sept. 21, 2019 • 11 a.m. CT 0-2 overall • 0-1 SEC East Vanderbilt Stadium • Nashville, Tenn. • 40,350 Date Opponent Time • Result SEC Network 8.31 #3/3 Georgia*...................................................L, 6-30 Vanderbilt Commodores (0-2, 0-1) Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (analyst), 9.7 at Purdue .......................................................L, 24-42 #4/5 LSU (3-0, 0-0) Cole Cobelic (sideline) 9.21 #4/5 LSU* [SEC Network] ...............................11 a.m. 9.28 Northern Illinois .................................................. TBA VUCommodores.com WLAC 1510 AM / WNRQ FM 98.3 10.5 at Ole Miss* ......................................................... TBA • @VandyFootball Twitter Joe Fisher (play-by-play), Norman Jordan (analyst), 10.12 UNLV .................................................................... TBA @VandyFootball Instagram • Mitch Light (sideline) 10.19 Missouri* (Homecoming) .................................... TBA Facebook • VanderbiltAthletics 11.2 at South Carolina* ............................................... TBA In-Game Notes • @VandyNotes Primary Football Contact • Larry Leathers 11.9 at Florida* ............................................................ TBA [email protected] • 615.480.8226 11.16 Kentucky* ............................................................ TBA 11.23 East Tennessee State .......................................... TBA Secondary Football Contact • Andrew Pate 11.30 at Tennessee* ...................................................... TBA [email protected] • 713.387.9119 * SEC contest • All times CT •The Commodores return to West End this Saturday to face the #4/5 LSU Tigers in Vanderbilt Stadium. The Commodores are in search of their first win of the season, after losses to nationally ranked Georgia and Purdue. • An 82-hour fundraiser for Turner’s Heroes, a non-profit effort aiming to support pediatric patients and fund research grants, will start at kickoff of the Vanderbilt-LSU game and continue into Tuesday. The non-profit was started this summer by Vanderbilt senior tight end Cody Markel to honor the legacy of former teammate and classmate Turner Cockrell. The 82-hour “Be a Hero for Turner” campaign aims to raise $50,000 that will fund a discovery grant focused on innovative pediatric cancer research. Cockrell, who passed away Nov. 29, 2018, after a lengthy battle with melanoma, wore jersey number 82. The non-profit and campaign will be highlighted during the LSU game. For more information, visit TurnersHeroes.org. • Vanderbilt Athletics will honor Tim Corbin and his NCAA-champion baseball team during halftime ceremonies. The team, coaches and staff will receive national championship rings during the presentation. • Two Vanderbilt student-athletes hail from Louisiana: senior WR Kalija Lipscomb (New Orleans/Jesuit) and redshirt junior OLB Kenny Hebert (New Orleans/Holy Cross). Both Lipscomb and Hebert are Commodore starters. Lipscomb is the team leader in receptions while Hebert is tied for second in tackles. • Six Vanderbilt student-athletes have earned their first collegiate starts this season: Dan Dawkins (R-Fr., OG), Kenny Hebert (R-Jr., OLB), Dashaun Jerkins (R-Fr., safety), Grant Miller (R-So., C), Harrison Smith (R-Fr., punter) and Tyler Steen (R-Fr., OT). Three others were first-time starters in a Vanderbilt uniform: Riley Neal (Gr., QB), Cam Watkins (Gr., CB) and DC Williams, (Jr., CB). • Sixteen players have logged their first action as Commodores against Georgia and Purdue: Neal, Watkins, Williams, Ben Bresnahan (R-Fr., TE), Keyon Brooks (Fr., RB), Daevion Davis (Fr., DT), Tre Douglas (R-Fr., CB), Rowan Godwin (Gr., OL), Brandon Maddox (Jr., DT), Jaylen Mahoney (Fr., CB), Salua Masina (R-Fr., LB), Elijah McAlister (R-Fr., OLB), Scott Meyer (Gr., LS), Mitchell Pryor (So., RB), Leshawn Paulino-Bell (R-So., OLB) and Justice Shelton-Mosley (Gr., WR/PR). • Gerry Gdowski moved into the offensive coordinator role for the Commodores this year. Gdowski is the longest-tenured Vanderbilt assistant, having been on campus since Derek Mason’s first year in 2014. For the last three years, Gdowski served as quarterbacks coach, helping mold three-year starter and current Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Kyle Shurmur into the Commodores’ all-time leading passer. • Four coaches are new to Derek Mason’s staff this season: Devin “Fitz” Fitzsimmons, Jovan Haye, Tim Horton and Matt Weikert. Fitzsimmons serves as tight ends coach and special teams coordinator. Haye, a former Commodore All-SEC defensive end, enters his first year as defensive line coach. Horton comes to the staff as running backs coach after extremely successful SEC tenures. Weikert serves as outside linebackers coach, coming from an 12-year tenure at Air Force. • Derek Mason is one of just two Vanderbilt head coaches to lead the Commodores to multiple postseason bowl appearances. With 24 wins, Mason is six victories away from joining the program’s five winningest coaches. • The Vanderbilt roster includes six graduate transfers: OL Rowan Godwin (South Alabama), LS Scott Meyer (Alabama), QB Riley Neal (Ball State), WR/R Justice Shelton-Mosley (Harvard), CB Cam Watkins (Illinois), DT Eddie Zinn-Turner (Marist). • Vanderbilt’s 2019 roster includes student-athletes from 27 states. • Vanderbilt’s season-opening tilt with Georgia was designated as the program’s “Set The Expectation” game. Vanderbilt became the first SEC program to host a “Set The Expectation” game. The event originated in June, when Brenda Tracy, a registered nurse from Portland, Oregon, shared with the football team her devastating personal story and vital message of preventing sexual violence. Tracy has addressed dozens of college teams and many more on the high school level in the past year. Tracy also serves on the NCAA’s Commission to Combat Campus Sexual Violence. Tracy, who calls her campaign “Set The Expectation,” was in attendance and introduced to the crowd during an on-field recognition. • Vanderbilt is in its 130th season of college football. GAMEDAY TRAFFIC ADVISORY: The Tennessee Department of Transportation is advising fans to plan ahead on travel arrangements to the Vanderbilt campus for the Vanderbilt-LSU matchup in light of the scheduled three-day closure of the I-65 and I-440 interchange located just south of downtown Nashville. The I-65/440 intersection closure starts at 9 p.m. CT on Sept. 20, and continues until the morning of Sept. 23. U.S. Highway 31/Franklin Road, another key artery from Nashville to suburbs south of the city, also will be closed during the weekend. 1 Series History • Series: Vanderbilt trails, 7-22-1 1910 W 22-0 Nashville, Tenn. 1933 T 7-7 Baton Rouge, La. • Series streak: LSU • 7 1934 L 0-29 Nashville, Tenn. 1935 L 2-7 Nashville, Tenn. • At Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt trails 5-11 1936 L 0-19 Nashville, Tenn. 1937 W 7-6 Nashville, Tenn. • At Baton Rouge: Vanderbilt trails 2-10-1 1938 L 0-7 Baton Rouge, La. 1939 L 6-12 Nashville, Tenn. • First meeting: 1910 • Nashville • Vanderbilt 22, LSU 0 1940 L 0-7 Baton Rouge, La. 1945 L 7-39 Baton Rouge, La. • Last meeting: 2010 • Nashville • Vanderbilt 3, LSU 27 1946 L 0-14 Nashville, Tenn. 1947 L 13-19 Baton Rouge, La. • Last Vanderbilt win: 1990 • Nashville • Vanderbilt 24, LSU 21 1948 W 48-7 Nashville, Tenn. 1949 L 13-33 Baton Rouge, La. • Last LSU win: 2010 • Nashville • Vanderbilt 3, LSU 27 1950 L 7-33 Nashville, Tenn. 1951 W 20-13 Baton Rouge, La. • Longest Vanderbilt win streak: 2 • 1951, 1957 1957 W 7-0 Nashville, Tenn. 1976 L 20-33 Baton Rouge, La. • Longest LSU win streak: 7 • 1991-2010 1977 L 15-28 Nashville, Tenn. 1984 L 27-34 Baton Rouge, La. • Largest Vanderbilt win: 48-7 (1948 • Nashville) 1985 L 7-49 Nashville, Tenn. 1990 W 24-21 Nashville, Tenn. • LSU is ranked for the seventh consecutive time the two 1991 L 14-16 Baton Rouge, La. teams have faced off. 1996 L 0-35 Baton Rouge, La. 1997 L 6-7 Nashville, Tenn. • The Commodores coached have played the Tigers on fewer 2004 L 7-24 Baton Rouge, La. occasions than any other charter member of the SEC. In 2005 L 6-34 Nashville, Tenn. fact, Vanderbilt has faced Tulane -- an SEC charter member 2009 L 9-23 Baton Rouge, La. located in New Orleans -- more often than LSU. 2010 L 3-27 Nashville, Tenn. 1902 • In one of the most bizarre road trips in Commodore history, Vanderbilt beat Tulane 23-5 in New Orleans on Saturday, then drove up to Baton Rouge and defeated LSU 27-5 on Monday. One of Vanderbilt’s top backs was John Tigert, who would became a Rhodes Scholar, U.S. Secretary of Education and University of Florida president. Tigert is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. 1933 • In a game that ended 7-7, Vanderbilt missed a last- second field goal attempt in Baton Rouge. It also marked the first night appearance in Vanderbilt history. 1937 • LSU came to Nashville riding a 13-game regular season win streak and as two-time reigning SEC champions. Early in the first quarter, Vanderbilt offensive tackle Greer Ricketson, after appearing to fall while blocking, picked up the ball on the ground by teammate Dutch Reinschmidt and rambled 50 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown. All the while, LSU defenders believed the Commodores’ offensive play was a rush toward the right sideline. Ricketson’s ramble proved to be the winning margin in a 7-6 Vanderbilt victory over the No. 6-ranked Tigers. The “hidden play” trick play remains one of the most famous in Vanderbilt gridiron history. 1990 • One week after losing badly to SMU in Dallas, Texas, the Commodores coached by Watson Brown topped LSU 24- 21 in Nashville. Vanderbilt quarterback Marcus Wilson rushed for 136 yards, earning SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors following the performance. 1991 • Vanderbilt’s opportunity for an upset in Tiger Stadium ended in the closing minute when LSU forced a Commodore turnover at the Tiger 2-yard line. Vanderbilt’s head coach was Gerry DiNardo, who would later serve five years as head coach at LSU.