SEC Football 2008: Vanderbilt University Preview

2008 Schedule

Date         Opponent

Aug. 28     @ Miami (Ohio)

Sep. 4       South Carolina

Sep. 13     Rice

Sep. 20     @ Ole Miss 

Oct. 4       Auburn

Oct. 11     @ Mississippi State

Oct. 18     @ Georgia

Oct. 25     Duke

Nov. 8       Florida

Nov. 15     @ Kentucky

Nov. 22     Tennessee

Nov. 29     @ Wake Forest

Overview

The Vanderbilt Commodores will once again enter the season as an afterthought in the SEC East divisional race.  

The Commodores lost All-SEC wide receiver Earl Bennett to the NFL, and Vanderbilt doesn’t have many high-caliber players to draw any hype in 2008.  

However, the Commodores will likely only start two sophomores in 2008.  The rest of the starting roles will be filled by juniors or seniors.  This could certainly play a big factor in Vanderbilt’s success in 2008.

The Commodores have been very close to pulling some major upsets the past few years, nearly shocking 2006 National Champion Florida and losing nail-biters to both Georgia and Tennessee last year.  Vanderbilt will look to build on that in 2008 and upset one of the favorites.

Chris Nickson and Mackenzi Adams will battle for the starting spot at quarterback, and Justin Wheeler should be their main target in the 2008 campaign.

Defensively, D.J. Moore will return to lead an underrated secondary for the Commodores.  

Don’t expect much from Vanderbilt in 2008, but keep an eye on possible upsets in the South Carolina and Tennessee games.