Vanderbilt Football Preview, Best Players, Top Transfers, Season Prediction, Win Total 2024

Vanderbilt College Football Preview 2024

Vanderbilt University. Amazing academic institution, great location, fun city - you know, the stuff that actually matters - and …

No winning seasons in the last ten years, just three since 1982, a mere nine all-time bowl appearances, no ten-win seasons and just four nine-win campaigns - two under James Franklin and two others in the early 1900s - and a settled role as the SEC’s bye week.

Fine, that’s the deal. Vanderbilt will never play in an SEC Championship, much less win one with Texas and Oklahoma coming in, so what do you do? Forget winning, how about merely being competitive?

The Commodores lost every SEC game last season by double-digits - by the way, to make this pity party even worse, there’s been a grand total of two wining seasons in the SEC since 1959 - so either you come up with a quirky service academy-like style of play that’s a weekly curve ball, or you find the guys who know how to produce in impossible situations.

New Mexico State is one of those teams, and it was able to start winning under former head man Jerry Kill. Tim Beck was his offensive coordinator, and now he’s at Vandy.

Diego Pavia was a blast of an Aggie quarterback who made things happen, and now he’ll likely be running the attack. Eli Stowers went from Texas A&M to NMSU tight end, and now he should be a factor.

The transfer portal appears to have brought in a slew of those chip-on-shoulder types, the schedule is built for at least three wins, push for five with a few breaks, and believe that maybe, the right breaks will come.

Vanderbilt Football Preview 2024: Offense

- The worst offense in the SEC is about to be … plucky. Vanderbilt averaged just 319 yards and 23 points per game, but even that’s misleading - almost all the production came against Hawaii, Alabama A&M, and UNLV.

In comes Tim Beck from New Mexico State as the new offensive coordinator, and he’s bringing his playmaker of a quarterback with him. Diego Pavia is a - and this word might be used several times in this - baller. He knows how to keep things moving, and adding another option is Utah transfer Nate Johnson. The quarterback situation will be fun.

- The wide receivers, though, are gone. More on this in the transfer section, but the Commodores lost Will Sheppard to Colorado, London Humphreys to Georgia, and Jayden McGowan to Boston College.

They were the top three targets, but Junior Sherrill and Quincy Skinner are still around, Texas Tech transfer Loic Fouonji will step into a starting role, and coming in from NMSU is promising TE Eli Stowers.

- The offensive line is going big in the transfer portal, too. The left side will be fine with veterans, but the front five needs to get big production right away from Mississippi State transfer Steven Losoya at center and UTEP’s Steven Hubbard at guard.

Pavia will add plenty to the running game, but leading rusher Sedrick Alexander will handle a bulk of the work. He only ran 96 times for 371 yards and four scores, but he’s dangerous enough to do far more.

Vanderbilt Football Preview 2024: Defense

- Head coach Clark Lea is the defensive coordinator, and he needs more out of his bunch. Vanderbilt didn’t create enough pressure into the backfield, was close to last in the nation in total defense, and allowed 36 points per game.

It starts with getting more out of the defensive front. Devin Lee and Yilann Outtara are big bodies inside, but they have to hold up better and allow the outside guys to work. Purdue transfer Khordae Sydnor has the pressure to be the pass rusher the team was missing last year.

- The linebacking corps should be a relative strength. Leading tackler Langston Patterson is back in the middle after making 74 stops, and Prince Kollie should be a bit of an edge rusher from his spot on the outside. They’ll fill up the stat sheet, as will …

- The safeties will make plenty of plays. CJ Taylor and De’Rickey Wright can get all over the field - they tied for the team lead with two picks each - but it’s TCU transfer Randon Fontenette and Eastern Washington corner Marlon Jones who need to bring a bit more pop.

Key To The Vanderbilt Football Season

THIRD … DOWN … STOPS
Third down conversions matter, too, but the Commodores have to start making things easier on themselves by simply getting the defense off the field.

Last year they allowed teams to convert 47% of their chances, and came up with the two wins on two of the best days of the season by the D on the money downs. Going back to 2018, ten of the last 11 wins came when keeping the other side to under 32% conversions.

Vanderbilt Key Player

Diego Pavia, QB Sr.
The guy was able to ball out enough to win at New Mexico State. Nate Johnson might get a long look, too, but Pavia is the type of us-against-the-world quarterback who could be perfect for the Commodores. If nothing else, he’ll make every defense work.

Vanderbilt Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Eli Stowers, TE Jr.
A former top recruit for Texas A&M, Stowers - part quarterback, part tight end - didn’t do anything in his two years before going to New Mexico State as a pass catcher. He caught 35 passes for 366 yards and two scores, and there’s a world of upside.

Top Transfer Out: Will Sheppard, WR, Sr. & London Humphreys, WR Soph.
The Commodores not only lost top target Will Sheppard to Colorado, but the most dangerous deep threat is gone, too. Humphreys averaged almost 20 yards per grab on his 22 catches with four scores, and now he’ll be taking off deep for Georgia.

Vanderbilt Key Game

Virginia Tech, Aug. 31
The Commodores likely won’t be favored in any SEC game, but there’s a shot to go 4-0 in non-conference action Alcorn State, at Georgia State, Ball State - if they can somehow come up with something big against Virginia Tech. It won’t be easy, but outside of South Carolina, the Hokies are more beatable than anyone who’s on the the SEC slate.

10 Best Vanderbilt Football Players

1. CJ Taylor, S Sr.
2. Langston Patterson, LB Jr.
3. Diego Pavia, QB Sr.
4. Sedrick Alexander, RB Soph.
5. Eli Stowers, TE Jr.
6. Gunnar Hansen, OT Jr.
7. De’Rickey Wright, S Sr.
8. Jesse Mirco, P Sr.
9. Marlon Jones, CB Sr.
10. Nate Johnson, QB Soph.

Vanderbilt 2023 Fun Stats

- 2 Point Conversions: Vanderbilt 3-for-6, Opponents 0-for-3

- 2nd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 136, Vanderbilt 55

- Field Goals: Opponents 20-for-23, Vanderbilt 7-for-10

Vanderbilt Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

As always, it’ll take something special and a few bad days by the other side for Vanderbilt to pull off anything close to a winning season, but it should be a more interesting campaign.

There’s a shot to get close to the five wins of 2022 rather than gear down and get rocked like the team did last year in the 2-10 run with way too many no-hope games.

Beat Alcorn State, Georgia State, and Ball State, and there’s a base of three wins. Hope for a right-day-right-performance at home against either Virginia Tech or South Carolina, and - like 2022 - maybe there’s a shocker against a Kentucky.

On the plus side, there’s no Georgia, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, or Texas A&M, and missing Florida isn’t bad. Not getting Arkansas or Mississippi State is a bit of bad luck, but this Vandy team might just be good enough to make its own breaks.

Set The Vanderbilt Win Total At … 3.5

Likely Wins: Alcorn State, Ball State, at Georgia State

50/50 Games: at Auburn, Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia Tech

Likely Losses: Alabama, at LSU, at Missouri, Tennessee, Texas

2024 Vanderbilt Football Schedule

Aug 31 Virginia Tech
Sept 7 Alcorn State
Sept 14 at Georgia State
Sept 21 at Missouri
Sept 28 OPEN DATE
Oct 5 Alabama
Oct 12 at Kentucky
Oct 19 Ball State
Oct 26 Texas
Nov 2 at Auburn
Nov 9 South Carolina
Nov 16 OPEN DATE
Nov 23 at LSU
Nov 30 Tennessee

Missing: Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Texas A&M