NASHVILLE – Neyland West.
That’s what Vanderbilt Stadium looked like during Saturday night’s football game against Tennessee. Despite the Commodores officially being the home team and the visiting Volunteers arriving with a 4-6 overall record and a 1-5 Southeastern Conference mark, Vandy was overwhelmingly a guest in its own home.
“It’s definitely depressing,” longtime Commodores fan Chris Pastina said as he and wife Denise weaved their way through a sea of orange in the stadium concourse.
“But we have to win games for it to be all black and gold.”
It hasn’t been all black and gold for a long time. The 39,773-seat facility – easily the smallest in the SEC – hasn’t been filled a single time the past two seasons, though Saturday night’s crowd was expected to come close.