No. 7 Tennessee looking for final chance to polish resume vs. rival Vanderbilt

No. 7 Tennessee (9-2, 5-2 Southeastern Conference, No. 8 CFP) at Vanderbilt (6-5, 3-4), Saturday, 12 p.m. EST (ABC)

BetMGM College Football Odds: Tennessee by 11 1/2.

Series record: Tennessee leads 80-32-5.

What’s at stake?

No. 7 Tennessee needs a nice, big win to polish the Volunteers’ resume for the College Football Playoff field and possibly earn an on-campus game in December. The Vols also can keep asserting their dominance over an in-state rival that had the edge in this series much of the past decade. Vanderbilt already is bowl eligible for the first time in coach Clark Lea’s fourth season at his alma mater. A victory over Tennessee would be his first as a coach or player while also notching the Commodores’ first winning season since 2013.

Key matchup

Tennessee’s stingy and hard-hitting defense against a Vanderbilt offense led by quarterback Diego Pavia. The 2023 Conference USA offensive player of the year at New Mexico State already has led the Commodores to an upset of then-No. 1 Alabama, and he ranks seventh in the SEC with 16 touchdown passes. The Vols rank fourth nationally allowing just 13.1 points per game and is the only SEC team to hold 10 of 11 opponents below 20 points this season. They also rank sixth in rushing defense allowing a mere 98.8 yards per game and are holding opponents to just 28.8% conversions on third down.

Players to watch

Tennessee: RB Dylan Sampson. The junior already has set a school record with 22 rushing touchdowns to lead the SEC. He has rushed for at least 100 yards in nine of 11 games this season, missing out by eight yards against Oklahoma and he ran only 11 times for 77 yards in the Vols’ 56-0 rout of UTEP last week.

Vanderbilt: TE Eli Stowers. He leads the SEC and is sixth among Power Four conferences and 10th among all FBS tight ends with 568 yards receiving. He’s Vandy’s first tight end since at least 1996 with multiple games with at least 100 yards receiving in the same season.

Facts & figures

Tennessee has won five straight on the field in this series with two vacated under NCAA punishment for the Jeremy Pruitt era. … These teams have played every year since 1945 in a series that started in 1895. … Tennessee can post its second 10-win season in two years and 16th in the regular season. Coach Josh Heupel is trying to become only the third Tennessee coach in program history with multiple 10-win seasons. … This is Tennessee’s first road game during the daytime all season. … Vanderbilt comes in having lost two straight. … This will be Vanderbilt’s eighth game against a team either ranked or receiving votes in the Top 25.

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