Anchor Drop, August 11, 2019: 20 Days to Kickoff

Good morning.

We are now just 20 days away from Vanderbilt football’s season opener against the Georgia Bulldogs. #20 for Vanderbilt is a native of the Peach State, 6’2”, 202-pound redshirt freshman DB Tre Douglas. Douglas was rated as a four-star recruit coming out of high school and was a three-time All-Region pick and a 2017 All-State pick. He did not play in 2018.

Vanderbilt held a 105-play scrimmage in the heat yesterday, and vucommodores.com has a report. You can read the highlights over there. Derek Mason updated the QB battle after the scrimmage, which he said was still “extremely close.”

The bigger news of the day came at the Dore Jam festivities, where the Commodores unveiled their new “Battle Ready” alternate uniform (no word on when they’ll wear it.)

As somebody who will freely admit to disliking alternate uniforms in general, these are all right. I don’t love the gold jersey/black sleeve look, and I really wish that Vanderbilt would pick a consistent shade of gold for branding, but these are something I can live with. (You will probably disagree with me on all of this.)

And while football season is still 20 days away, we’ve reached the unofficial start of Vanderbilt’s 2019-20 athletic calendar. The soccer team will host Belmont in an exhibition game tonight at 7:00 PM at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex. Admission is free; I don’t think this will be streamed anywhere, though I could be wrong about this.

Off the West End

Well, Oren Burks may have a torn pectoral muscle. Burks was expected to start for the Green Bay Packers entering training camp.

From ESPN: What to expect from every first-year coach.

Another Florida player gets dismissed from the team.

Nick Saban wants to play at least 10 Power 5 games. You first, Nick.

Scoreboard

MLB: Blue Jays 5, Yankees 4 ... Angels 12, Red Sox 4 ... Giants 3, Phillies 1 ... Royals 7, Tigers 0 ... Marlins 7, Braves 6 ... Astros 23, Orioles 2 ... Twins 4, Indians 1 ... White Sox 3, A’s 2 ... Brewers 3, Rangers 2 ... Mets 4, Nationals 3 ... Reds 10, Cubs 1 ... Cardinals 3, Pirates 1 ... Padres 8, Rockies 5 ... Dodgers 4, Diamondbacks 0 ... Rays 5, Mariners 4.

NFL Preseason: Chiefs 38, Bengals 17 ... Raiders 14, Rams 3 ... 49ers 17, Cowboys 9.

PGA Tour: After three rounds at the Northern Trust, Patrick Reed holds a one-shot lead over Abraham Ancer. Brandt Snedeker is two off the lead after shooting a 63 on Saturday.