Get to Know the Vanderbilt Commodores Offense

After knocking on the door of bowl eligibility a year ago with a surprise five-win season, Vanderbilt has struggled to sustain that momentum this season as the Commodores are off to an uninspiring 2-5 start to the 2023 season. What began as a promising 2-0 start with wins over Hawaii and Alabama A&M has devolved into a five-game losing streak that the Commodores will carry into this week's matchup with No.1 Georgia. Vanderbilt has lost 5-straight to Georgia including the last two by final margins of 55-0 in 2022 and 62-0 in 2021. The Commodores have not scored a touchdown against Georgia since 2018, a streak of 12 consecutive quarters of play against the Bulldogs without scoring a touchdown.

OFFENSE

After finishing 13th in the SEC in both total offense and yards per play a season ago, the Vanderbilt offense has taken solid strides this season. At 367 yards per game and 5.89 yards per play, the Commodore offense is up 20 yards per game and 0.6 yards per play from where they were a year ago. However, while those numbers represent an improvement for the Vanderbilt offense, they are obviously still a far cry from the requisite numbers for competitiveness in the brutal SEC.

After flashing promising talent as a true freshman in 2022, sophomore A.J. Swann opened the season for the Commodores at quarterback. However, due to a combination of injuries and poor play, Head Coach Clark Lea made the move to veteran backup Ken Seals who had not taken a snap for Vanderbilt since the 2021 season after starting 16 games over the course of his first two seasons in Nashville. While Seals does not have the physical upside of Swann, he has brought much-needed stability to the Vanderbilt offense. After Swann threw a league-worst seven interceptions through the first five games of the season, Seals has done a much better job of protecting the football and avoiding the catastrophic mistakes that Swann was prone to.

While Vanderbilt is largely devoid of high-level SEC talent, the Commodores do possess two legitimate playmakers on offense in wide receivers Will Sheppard and Jayden McGowan. At 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, Sheppard is a long and athletic pass-catcher who is currently fifth in the SEC with 550 receiving yards and second in the league with eight receiving touchdowns. While at 5-foot-8, 180 pounds, McGowan is on the more diminutive side, he is a dynamic playmaker with the ball in his hands that Vanderbilt tries to deploy in space in a variety of ways, be it in the run or pass game.

While its pass game has taken strides this season, the Vanderbilt run game is still struggling to find its footing. The Commodores are currently 13th in the SEC in rushing offense, averaging only 92 rush yards per game. Those numbers are even worse against SEC competition as Vanderbilt is only averaging 67 rush yards per game in its three contests against league opponents. The primary culprit behind the team's struggles to run the football remains extremely poor offensive line play. The Commodores struggle to get movement up front and are typically overmatched from a size and strength standpoint, especially against conference opponents.

How to Watch Georgia vs. Vanderbilt

Gameday: Saturday, Oct. 14. 2023
Game time: 12:00 pm ET
TV: SEC Network
Location: FirstBank Stadium (Nashville, Tennessee)
Live stream on fuboTV: Start with a 7-day free trial!
Stream on ESPN - HERE
Broadcast Call: Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play) and Matt Stinchcomb (Color) will be on the call

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