Anchor Drop, August 30, 2019: 1 Day to Kickoff

Good morning.

And we are now 1 day away from Vanderbilt football’s season opener. There is no #1 on the roster. #1 has never officially been retired (that we know of), but it mostly hasn’t been issued since the untimely death of Kwane Doster in December 2004. The lone exception was during James Franklin’s three-year tenure, when Kenny Ladler (who was, poetically, the recipient of the Kwane Doster Memorial Scholarship) wore the number, but Derek Mason has returned to not issuing the number.

While football is still a day away, some of the other sports teams are in action today. Soccer goes on the road for the first time this season, facing UC Irvine at 9:00 PM CT. Cross country opens its season tonight at the Belmont Opener at Percy Warner Park. And the men’s golf team starts its first tournament of the season at 9:00 AM CT at the Carmel Cup at Pebble Beach Golf Links, a course you might have heard of. (John Augenstein didn’t make the trip with the team, as he’s preparing for next week’s Walker Cup.)

The Hustler’s Henry Hunter explains why Riley Neal should be Vanderbilt’s starting QB. Also, Jared Pinkney has some unfinished business this year.

ICYMI: tomorrow night’s game will be televised on ESPN, rather than the SEC Network as originally scheduled.

Off the West End

With the NFL’s preseason coming to an end, NFL teams will have to finalize their regular season rosters this weekend.

So today, we’re watching roster cuts. We took note of every former Vanderbilt player in NFL camps earlier this month, and ESPN has a helpful list of 53-man roster projections for every NFL team. If you’re basing it off those projections, Vanderbilt would end up with ten players on NFL rosters to open the season — Trent Sherfield (Cardinals), Oren Burks (Packers), Zach Cunningham (Texans), Tre Herndon (Jaguars), Casey Hayward (Chargers), Stephen Weatherly (Vikings), Adam Butler and Joejuan Williams (Patriots), Spencer Pulley (Giants), and Jordan Matthews (49ers.)

There are a few more players of interest, mostly rookies who could end up on either side of the cut line. Khari Blasingame has had a good preseason, but the Vikings probably aren’t going to carry two fullbacks on the active roster, so it’s either him or CJ Ham (though Blasingame might just have done well enough to land somewhere else on the waiver wire.) Kyle Shurmur could end up on the Chiefs’ roster if they decide to carry three quarterbacks, but if not, he’ll probably be on somebody’s practice squad. And the 49ers need offensive line help, but they still might stash Justin Skule on the practice squad.

Scoreboard

SEC Football: Texas A&M 41, Texas State 7

MLB: Indians 2, Tigers 0 ... A’s 9, Royals 8 ... Twins 10, White Sox 5 ... Rays 9, Astros 8 ... Cubs 4, Mets 1 ... Marlins 4, Reds 3 ... Mariners 5, Rangers 3 ... Pirates 11, Rockies 8 ... Diamondbacks 11, Dodgers 5 ... Padres 5, Giants 3.

NFL Preseason: Bills 27, Vikings 23 ... Colts 13, Bengals 6 ... Jets 6, Eagles 0 ... Panthers 25, Steelers 19 ... Falcons 31, Jaguars 12 ... Browns 20, Lions 16 ... Giants 31, Patriots 29 ... Ravens 20, Redskins 7 ... Titans 19, Bears 15 ... Buccaneers 17, Cowboys 15 ... Packers 27, Chiefs 20 ... Dolphins 16, Saints 13 ... Rams 22, Texans 10 ... Broncos 20, Cardinals 7 ... Chargers 27, 49ers 24 ... Seahawks 17, Raiders 15.