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Good morning.
We are 11 days away from Vanderbilt’s season opener against Middle Tennessee. (It’s getting close.) #11 for the Commodores is senior linebacker Charles Wright, who tied for the SEC lead with nine quarterback sacks in 2017 and now returns to anchor the Vanderbilt defense. Another #11 is Alex Stump, a redshirt junior who sat out last season as a transfer from Ohio State, where he caught one pass for eight yards in 2016.
VUCommodores.com has a preview of the offensive backfield today. In addition, there’s a preview of the women’s golf team, which opens its season on September 9.
Vanderbilt soccer will play three nationally televised games this season, and the remainder of the schedule will be streamed on the SEC Network+. I may have missed whether the games were streamed on the SEC Network+ last year, but if they weren’t, this is a solid development.
Over at the Tennessean, Adam Sparks talks about Vanderbilt’s linebacking corps (strangely, on the same day that I wrote about them...)
The basketball recruiting front has felt really quiet, but Austin Crowley, a four-star recruit from West Point, Mississippi, will be taking his official visit to Vanderbilt this weekend and will announce his decision on September 14 (after visits to Ole Miss and Minnesota.)
ESPN has five questions about SEC basketball this year. Vanderbilt gets mentioned as a team that could surprise.
Also, as a housekeeping note, you will notice that recs are now black. Celebrate this by painting all comments in this thread black.
Tweet of the Day
As a college football fan, I'd argue that this is the worst week of the season.
— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) August 20, 2018
Forget week in February, May or mid June.
95% of news that comes out about your team is bad, you are so close to football yet still so far.
We are on mile 25 of the offseason marathon.
Off the West End
Shea Patterson, who wasn’t guaranteed to be the starting QB at Ole Miss this year, will be Michigan’s starter. Makes sense.
Yeah, that’s right: The Cheez-It Bowl is now a thing.
Minnesota will have a true freshman walk-on as its starting quarterback this season. Bold move.
Reports are now coming out that Urban Meyer may get “time served,” reinstated to his job with his current suspension as the “punishment.” Look, this is what happens when you’re a national championship head coach and there’s no smoking gun.