The Vanderbilt Commodores look to get a game closer to bowl eligibility as they host the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The Vanderbilt Commodores are two games away from being bowl eligible and James Franklin’s team is coming in to this one off of a win after ending their three game losing streak by defeating Army last week. After Larry Smith failed to move the offense for several weeks in a row Vandy made the move at QB to Jordan Rogers and while his 10 for 27 for 186 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions doesn’t look all that impressive, but he also had 98 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Zac Stacy also had a big week against Army as he’s now averaging 7.4 yards per carry and has five touchdowns and Jerron Seymour has four rushing touchdowns. Jonathan Krause leads the Commodores with 21 catches and Wesley Tate has 14 but none of those have gone for touchdowns. The Vandy defense has an impressive 15 interceptions, 14 sacks, and five fumble recoveries and have been the stronger unit. Chris Marve has 57 tackles, Chase Garnham has 44, and Casey Hayward has five interceptions. If the Vandy offense can catch up to the defense this could be a team poised for a strong finish.
The Arkansas Razorbacks looked to be in trouble last week at Ole Miss But Bobby Petrino’s team rallied and got the win and remained ranked in the top 10. Hogs QB Tyler Wilson has completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 2,011 yards and 12 touchdowns. Dennis Johnson got the bulk of the work at running back last week and he has a 6.5 yards per carry average with 273 total yards. Jarius Wright has 574 yards and six touchdowns on 34 catches while Joe Adams has 31 catches. The Arkansas defense has seven interceptions, on fumble recovery, and nine sacks. Jerry Franklin has 58 tackles on the year, Alonzo Highsmith has 47, and Eric Bennett has 47. If the Razorbacks can stay the course they are looking for an invitation to a big bowl game.
Vanderbilt is 5-2 against the spread in their last seven games, 2-7 against the spread against a team with a winning record, and 2-8 against the spread in their last 10 SEC games. Arkansas is 11-3 against the spread in their last 11 SEC games, 9-2 against the spread in their last 11 games as a favorite, and 0-5 against the spread as a road favorite of 10.5 or more points.
This is a ton of points for a road team in an SEC game but the problem here for Vandy is they just don’t have the QB play to keep up with Arkansas. I see Vandy’s defense keeping it close for a while and even causing a turnover or two but in the end the Hogs offense is too much and Arkansas will pull away like the other strong SEC teams have done against the Commodores.* Arkansas -10