Vanderbilt Football Named Team of the Week: The Anchor

Vanderbilt football got another new weekly award this season.

The Commodores were named the Pop-Tarts Crazy Good Team of the Week for their win at No. 19 Tennessee on the road Saturday. The award was announced by the Football Writers Association of America and Florida Citrus Sports.

Vanderbilt was honored for its dominant 45-24 win over the Volunteers in Neyland Stadium. The two teams met for the 120th time in the history of the rivalry, where Vanderbilt had not won since 2018. It was a close game in the first half as the game was tied at 21 going into halftime. The play that turned the tide of the game was Vanderbilt drawing a roughing the passer penalty on the Tennessee defense on a failed third down attempt.

The Commodores were granted a first down and scored a touchdown to tie the game with 12 before half. Then, in the second half, it was all Vanderbilt as it outscored Tennessee 24-3 in the second half. Vanderbilt made defensive adjustments and continued to roll offensively. Vanderbilt ran for 314 yards and gained 582 yards of offense in the game. It was the second consecutive conference game in which Vanderbilt won by at least 21 points.

The win also marked a program record 10th win to move to 10-2 on the season. The win gives Vanderbilt its final case to the College Football Playoff committee before the penultimate rankings are released Tuesday night at 6 p.m. CT.

Vanderbilt entered this past week No. 14 in the playoff rankings, behind Utah, Miami and BYU. No. 10 Alabama was the cut line heading into the week. The issue for Vanderbilt is that all the teams ahead of it won, the question is how many style points the Commodores earned in terms of jumping teams ahead of them.

If Vanderbilt does not make the playoffs, it will find out which bowl game it is in when the bowl game matchups are announced Sunday afternoon.

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Did You Notice?

Two Vanderbilt football players were honored for their performances in the win at Tennessee. Vanderbilt running back Sedrick Alexander was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week. Alexander ran for a career-high 115 yards and three touchdowns. Perhaps his most important play, however, was his fumble recovery in the first quarter that kept a Commodore touchdown drive alive.

Vanderbilt offensive lineman Jordan White won SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week as well. White had the highest performance grade on Pro Football Focus of all Vanderbilt players in the win. It was White and the rest of the Vanderbilt offensive line that helped the Commodores put on a stellar offensive performance.

Countdown to Vanderbilt’s 2026 Baseball Season Opener

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Commodores Quote of The Day

"I sit in the middle [of the bench] so I can see everybody down both sides. I don't want to forget them. And I learned a long time ago that if I get excited and upset, I'll miss out on making some adjustments on the floor."
Roy Skinner