Ja’Wuan James of the University Tennessee football team poses for a photograph during media day at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.
Willie BohannonRead morePast coaches haunt Tennessee Vols
KNOXVILLE – One by one, the Tennessee football program has had to cross off items from its list of goals for the 2012 season. Not because the Volunteers have met them, but because they can’t.
There’s really only one left.
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Vols are eyeing a bowl game, but that first requires beating an energized Vanderbilt team in Nashville tonight.
Tennessee (4-6, 0-6 SEC) at Vanderbilt (6-4, 4-3)7 p.m. * Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashvile * ESPN2/106.5 FMThe matchupYou might not view Vanderbilt’s defense in the same light as the likes of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, but statistically the Commodores are in that mix. Vanderbilt is 23rd nationally in yards allowed and 16th in points allowed on the strength of a pass defense that’s third in the SEC in yards and fourth in efficiency. Though numbers are skewed a little bit by games against Presbyterian and Massachusetts, but in SEC-only stats for total defense, the Commodores are one spot ahead of the same Missouri defense that gave Tennessee’s offense fits last week.Vanderbilt starts seven juniors and four seniors defensively.”They’re a real veteran squad,” Vols coach Derek Dooley said. “I think everyone of their starters is deep into their careers there. Generally when you see a unit that has been in the program for a while, been in the system for a while, they’re going to play well.”One to watchIn keeping a theme from this space last week, when Missouri quarterback James Franklin was the one to watch, it’s Vanderbilt’s James Franklin (no relation). The second-year Commodores coach has Vanderbilt headed to bowl games in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. A win tonight would give the Commodores their first five-win SEC season since 1935 — the league’s third year of existence.If Vanderbilt wins against Tennessee and then at Wake Forest next week, it’d be the program’s first eight-win season since 1982. With Franklin going to bowls and recruiting well, it’s added a little something to the in-state rivalry. While Vanderbilt might be downplaying publicly the leaked video of the Vols’ locker-room celebration after last year’s overtime win, there’s no doubt the Commodores have had this meeting circled for a long time.”They’ve done a great job,” Dooley said. “They did a good job before James got there. They did a really nice job recruiting. He’s done a nice job of bringing some real good energy to the program. They’re playing with a lot of confidence.”In the endVanderbilt has been the more successful program since Franklin’s arrival, but Tennessee still owns the series history. The Commodores lone win against the Vols in the 29 meetings came in 2005, and Vanderbilt last beat Tennessee in Nashville in 1984. Yet Vanderbilt is coming off an emotional bowl-clinching at rally while the Vols have been dealing with another week full of distractions surrounding Dooley’s expected ouster after last week’s four-overtime loss to Missouri.Tennessee’s players have done an admirable job of handling everything, but will it be enough to execute a team that badly wants to beat them?”In the offseason that’s what we our emphasis on, was just staying together as a team,” Vols left tackle Antonio “Tiny” Richardson said. “That’s what we’ve done really well through all the adversity. We’ve stayed together, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do.”PredictionVanderbilt 35, Tennessee 31