Anchor Drop, August 21, 2023: 5 Days to Kickoff

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

We are now 5 days away from Vanderbilt football’s season opener against Hawaii. Two players wear 5 for the Commodores. Defensive lineman Yilanan Ouattara was already talked about in the 90s before the number switches became public. Quarterback AJ Swann is the other. The 6’3”, 228-pound sophomore from White, Georgia, took over as the starter in the fourth game of the season and wound up starting six games last season, pushing aside Mike Wright at the end of the season.

Vanderbilt soccer drew UMass 0-0 yesterday. I have no idea whether UMass is any good, but Vanderbilt got 26 shots to UMass’s 4. Seems bad that that ended up being a goalless draw.

Andrew Allegretta posted his final voice notes of the preseason. That’s all I really have for today as I desperately try to get the Anchor Drop up after puking five times this morning. Mailbag answers are coming later this morning.

Sports on TV

All times Central.

• 5:30 PM: MLB: Giants at Phillies or Cardinals at Pirates (MLB Network)
• 7:10 PM: MLB: Mariners at White Sox (FS1)

Scoreboard

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

SEC Soccer: Jacksonville 0-6 South Carolina ... Tennessee 3-0 Lipscomb ... Southern Miss 1-4 LSU ... Maryland 0-1 Florida ... Washington State 3-2 Texas A&M ... Troy 0-5 Auburn ... Missouri 3-1 Creighton ... Alabama 1-0 UAB ... Ole Miss 0-1 Memphis ... Mississippi State 0-0 Arizona State.