Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders at Vanderbilt Commodores

When: 6:30 PM CT, Saturday, September 1, 2018

Where: Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee

TV: SEC Network+/WatchESPN

Radio: Vanderbilt IMG Sports Network

Your Vanderbilt Commodores open the 2018 season tonight against the hated Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders. This is the second year in a row that the Commodores and Blue Raiders opening the season against one another, with Vanderbilt winning last year’s meeting in Murfreesboro by a 28-6 score. The Commodores dominated the season opener last year, with MTSU’s only score of the game coming late after Vanderbilt already had the game well in hand.

MTSU went 7-6 last season and 4-4 in C-USA, capping the season with a win over Arkansas State in the Camellia Bowl. While the Blue Raiders have been to a bowl game in each of the last three seasons, they’ve lost to Vanderbilt in each of those years as well.

I hate to call the season opener a “must win,” but it’s hard to see Vanderbilt’s path to bowl eligibility without a win over MTSU. To quote Derek Mason, let’s ride.