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Vanderbilt and Ole Miss have quietly generated one of the better rivalries in the SEC. Now, they'll get to put that rivalry on display on an NFL field.
The Tennessean is reporting that September 6th's Ole Miss at Vandy game will be moved from Vanderbilt Stadium to LP Field. School officials are expected to announce the official change sometime on Thursday.
That would take the Commodores' SEC opener away from Dudley Field in favor of a larger venue. Vanderbilt Stadium only seats 40,550 fans. LP Field can house nearly 69,000. After last year's sellout, a move to a higher capacity setting could be a boost for both teams. However, that move will also give Ole Miss fans more opportunities to find seats, stripping away some of the home field advantage that the 'Dores would have had on their own campus.
The move could be a nod to Mississippi officials after the SEC scheduled back-to-back cross-league rivalry games in Nashville for 2013 and 2014. The Rebels beat Vandy at Dudley Field in last year's season opener 39-35. That matchup turned out to be one of the best games of the 2013 college football season. Unfortunately for the Commodores, Jordan Matthews won't be back in 2014 to break in the LP Field turf with a shiny layer of used Gatorade and Mississippi cornerbacks' souls.
Vanderbilt will be breaking in a new coach, quarterback, wide receiving corps, and defensive secondary when Mississippi comes to town. The 'Dores are coming off of back-to-back nine win seasons, but 2014 will be their first year under head coach Derek Mason. They'll have the opportunity to warm up with a home game against Temple in their season opener a week before, but jumping into a firefight with a rising Ole Miss team will be a stiff test for Vandy.