Anchor Drop, August 3, 2018: 29 Days

Good morning.

We’re 29 days away from Vanderbilt’s season opener against Middle Tennessee. #29 on the roster is Louis Vecchio. Vecchio was an All-Ivy player at Penn in 2016 and 2017, and had 21.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks in his career with the Quakers. He’s immediately eligible as a graduate transfer and should help shore up a defensive line that suffered heavy losses to graduation.

Vanderbilt opens fall camp today, and there were two rather unexpected departures on the day prior to camp. First, freshman offensive lineman Wyatt Smock quietly left the program and transferred to Louisville; Smock wasn’t likely to play in 2018 but the loss could hurt offensive line depth going forward. Then, in a surprise, Derek Mason announced at his press conference yesterday that sophomore backup QB Deuce Wallace was suspended for the fall semester due to a “violation of university policy.” Whatever it is, Wallace is no longer listed on Vanderbilt’s official roster, though Mason said that he does expect Wallace to return to Vanderbilt in the spring.

You’ll also notice a bunch of new players on the roster, likely preferred walk-ons who are joining the team for fall camp. That includes Jack Bowen, a quarterback from Grand Rapids, Michigan, whom Mason mentioned yesterday. Mason also said that the plan is still to redshirt true freshman Allan Walters, so Mo Hasan is the backup to Kyle Shurmur.

Women’s soccer is also beginning its preseason, and the Commodores have an exhibition match against Tennessee Tech on Sunday.

Off the West End

It sounds like Ohio State’s not going to make a decision about Urban Meyer’s future for a while; they’ve hired an outside group to investigate. Something tells me this won’t end with Meyer getting fired unless there’s a smoking gun.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are going to play a round of golf in Las Vegas for $10 million on Thanksgiving weekend.

Rick Pitino apparently thought DePaul was offering Brian Bowen $200,000 to play there.

The first Coaches’ Poll of the season is out. Shockingly, Alabama is #1.