Tigers travel to face rejuvenated Commodores

Reports confirmed: Vanderbilt is hosting ESPN’s College GameDay today.

Reports denied: Dogs and cats living together. Pigs flying. Snowballs in Arizona.

It’s been 24 years since Vanderbilt’s been ranked in the Top 25.

It’s been 26 years since the Commodores have gone to a bowl game.

It’s been 53 years since the program beat Auburn.

But this ain’t your daddy’s Vandy.

Right now, the Commodores are 4-0 and ranked No. 19 in the country. Oh, yeah, and the most popular pregame college football show in the universe will be on campus to broadcast live from 9-11 a.m. today as an appetizer to the nation’s No. 1 game (as picked by ABC, Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit ) between Vanderbilt and Auburn (4-1, 2-1 SEC). Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. on ESPN (Channel 28 in Lee County).

Ranked, respected, popular? Vanderbilt? Really?

What in the name of Jay Cutler is going on here?

“They’ve got a good football team,” Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville said. “We’re going into a tough environment this week against a ranked team with an open weekend. It’s an ESPN game, and there’s a lot of excitement around it. I know our guys are looking forward to it.”

Vanderbilt is looking for its first 5-0 start since 1943.

And to hear the Auburn players and coaches talk, to keep that from happening the Tigers can’t approach this team like they normally would.

“Vanderbilt’s looking pretty good,” sophomore safety Zac Etheridge said. “I never imagined GameDay would be there, but it’s just a big game for everybody, and we’re looking forward to it. They’re looking good right now, so we just have to go out with a good mindset to win.”

For Auburn, that’s been the focus every game. Because, unlike previous years, just because the Tigers are the favorite, they’ve struggled to win convincingly in conference games.
The offense has been to blame for a lot of Auburn’s struggles, as the Tigers rank in the bottom three of the SEC in a host of offensive categories. No to mention just three touchdowns in three SEC games.

And going against a Vanderbilt defense that leads the nation in turnover margin, forcing 14 turnovers (10 interceptions and four fumbles) in four games, Auburn better be focused. Those 10 INTs are tied for the NCAA lead with Boston College and Texas Tech.

“They do a lot of different things,” Auburn quarterback Chris Todd said of Vandy’s secondary. “They’re a very smart football team that is well-coached and you’ve just got to understand that. They do a lot of good things and they’re a smart football team.”

Discipline is a word that Auburn players and coaches threw around a lot this week when talking about the Commodores.

“They’re well disciplined,” wide receiver/running back Mario Fannin said. “When you watch film, they’re at the right place at the right time. They create turnovers. We just got to make sure we capitalize on everything that we do.”

Traveling to Nashville to play Vanderbilt will be just the second road game the Tigers have played this season. The first one was a 3-2 win at Mississippi State.

It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win.

According to Tuberville, it doesn’t matter what it looks like on the road, as long as it’s a win. And playing in a rowdy environment like the Tigers will face tonight at Dudley Field, it’s important to get in that mindset.

“Our guys thrive on that,” Tuberville said. “You have got to learn to play on the road and enjoy going into a stadium where you don’t have a lot of people there rooting for you. We didn’t play great at Mississippi State, but we found a way to win.

“We’ve had success on the road and always look forward to the challenge. I think this is even inspiring our guys. This is going to be a great opportunity to go in on national television, GameDay, ranked team and undefeated. They had a week off and are going to see if we can go prove something.”

mszvetitz@oanow.com | 737-2513