Live Blog: No. 14 Vanderbilt Football at No. 19 Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – This is it. A lot is in the balance in Neyland Stadium today.

Vanderbilt rolls into rivalry week with one last chance to leave an impression on the College Football Playoff committee as the Commodores take on No. 19 Tennessee looking to snap a six-game losing streak.

Vanderbilt is coming off a dominating win over Kentucky on Senior Day, where it looked impressive offensively and defensively but did not move up any spots in the playoff rankings earlier this week. In fact, Utah only fell below Miami but not Vanderbilt. Which makes Vanderbilt fans wonder if a win today would even matter if chaos does not ensue around the country.

Vanderbilt is four spots below the cut line. A win in Tennessee would make one think it would be enough to jump Utah, but teams such as Alabama, Miami and BYU stand in the way. Not to mention, the playoff picture got more complex Friday night with No. 16 Texas taking down No. 3 Texas A&M to move to 9-3. How much does the committee value that?

Regardless, Vanderbilt has to win this game or else it is totally eliminated from any conversation having to do with the playoffs. And it will not be easy. Tennessee comes in with a high-powered, fast-pace offense yet again. The Volunteers are among the best passing offenses in college football and go at a rapid pace.

But Vanderbilt has a very efficient offense in its own right, led by quarterback Diego Pavia, who is in the Heisman Trophy conversation. Tennessee has allowed over 30 points in every conference game except for one this season.

Look no further, this game could easily come down to which defense forces a quarterback into a critical mistake first. Expect points and expect intensity and passion.

Follow the live blog here for live updates from tonight’s Vanderbilt-Tennessee game.

Live Blog

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4th Quarter

FINAL: Vanderbilt gets a huge 45-24 win over Tennessee.

Diego Pavia runs it in for a Vanderbilt touchdown as the Commodores take the lead 38-24 with 8:55 to go. What a drive for Vanderbilt my goodness. One more defensive stop you would think almost seals this game for Vanderbilt.

Tennessee gets a field goal to make it 31-24 Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt had a missed sack on a third and 10 early in the drive and Tennessee steals three because of it. Vanderbilt gets the stand in the red zone though and remains up a touchdown.

3rd Quarter

Pavia runs around the Tennessee defense to get into field goal range and Brock Taylor knocks it in from 35 yards out. 31-21 Vanderbilt with 2:12 left in the third. Vanderbilt has control right now.

Vanderbilt forces a three-and-out for Tennessee in its first possession of the quarter. Vanderbilt has a chance to go up two scores here. Huge drive in the game coming up.

What a drive from Vanderbilt offense that was capped off by Sedrick Alexander in the end zone. 28-21 Vanderbilt. This feels like it will take 42 points at minimum to win this game.

2nd Quarter

After a roughing the passer on Tennessee to negate a field goal attempt, Pavia finds Tre Richardson in the end zone for a Vanderbilt touchdown. 21-21 with 12 seconds before half. What an answer going into the locker room.

Nick Rinaldi with a nice third down sack forces a Tennessee punt that sets Vanderbilt near midfield. It feels like it is a lot worse than a one score game given the turnovers. Vanderbilt is well-within this game.

I think Tennessee got away with an unsportsmanlike after Pavia threw the ball away on third down. The refs are letting these teams play.

The game changes fast and that is exactly what has happened. Tennessee goes right down the field in 2:35 and scores another touchdown. 21-14 Tennessee.

Pavia throws another interception down the sideline. Just not a great game for Pavia on a day where Pavia could have made a Heisman case.

Kolbey Taylor just got burned by Chris Brazzell of Tennessee for a touchdown. Here come the points we were all expecting. 14-14 with 10:34 remaining in the second quarter. Taylor got caught looking at the sideline at the wrong time and Brazzell ran right past him.

Pavia hits Stowers on a fake quarterback run and MK Young takes care of the rest two plays later for a Vanderbilt touchdown. 14-7 Vanderbilt.

Bryan Longwell comes up with a huge third down sack for Vanderbilt's defense and forces a Tennessee punt.

1st Quarter

What a drive for Alexander by the way. He recovers a Vanderbilt fumble then scores a touchdown a couple plays later.

Vanderbilt ties the game thanks to a touchdown run from Sedrick Alexander. A great response from the Vanderbilt offense. 7-7.

Tennessee runs it in from four yards out for a touchdown. 7-0 Tennessee. That Pavia interception comes back to bite Vanderbilt in the butt.

Tennessee's offensive speed on display already. Tennessee is moving down the field to the Vanderbilt 32 in a little over a minute.

Ouch that was a bad throw from Diego Pavia, throwing an interception on a third and 17 on the Tennessee 21. Takes away possible Vanderbilt points and gives Tennessee the ball.

Vanderbilt gets a three-and-out stop to start the game. Just what Vanderbilt wanted. Vanderbilt gets the ball on its own 28-yard line.

Pregame

Score updates: Ohio State beat Michigan 27-9; Miami beat Pittsburgh 38-7; BYU up 38-21 on UCF. Miami is a tough obstacle to jump in Vanderbilt's case.

Vanderbilt won the toss and deferred. Vanderbilt defense on the field first.

Score updates: Ohio State is up 24-9 on Michigan, BYU takes a 17-14 lead over UCF going into half and Miami goes up 31-7.

Miami goes up 24-7 on Pittsburgh. Not good at all for Vanderbilt. Miami is the biggest obstacle Vanderbilt has to jump in my opinion, and I am not sure how Vanderbilt jumps Miami unless the Hurricanes made it to the ACC title and wins it so Miami would get the ACC autobid. If Miami lost the ACC title, it would have a bad loss to a lower rated ACC team and likely knock them out. If Miami wins the ACC title, Miami gets the ACC autobid, which frees up an at-large spot.

BYU ties the game against UCF with a touchdown five minutes before halftime.

Ohio State goes up 17-9 on Michigan right before halftime, but BYU gets on the board against UCF and makes it 14-7 Knights early second quarter.

Ohio State currently leads Michigan 10-9 with two minutes to go before half. Miami is up 17-7 over Pittsburgh at halftime while BYU is down 14-0 to UCF with two minutes left in the first quarter. Vanderbilt needs Michigan, Miami and BYU to lose.

We are on scoreboard watch as well before Vanderbilt kicks off. The two games that are most critical to Vanderbilt fans in the early slate are the Ohio State-Michigan game and the Miami-Pittsburgh game.

Weather Report

It is a chilly, but sunny late November day here in Knoxville. Walking out to the car earlier to drive to the stadium was certainly cold. Temperature is forecast to be 47 degrees at kickoff and dip back down into the low 40s by the end of the night as the sun goes down. It is expected to get cloudy by kickoff, there is no rain in the forecast as of now.