Hawaii vs. Vanderbilt: Get To Know The Commodores
Warriors make a big trip out to Nashville
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What can be expected from Vanderbilt?
Hawaii opens on the road to take on an SEC team in Vanderbilt and the hope for the Warriors that the game is much more competitive than the 63-10 drubbing from last year.
To get to know the Commodores we reached to an expert with Tom Stephenson at Anchor of Gold to answer some questions about this Vanderbilt team.
1. What was the biggest take away from fall camp?
Vanderbilt’s a lot deeper than it’s been in a while, particularly in the trenches. Having a starting defensive end out for the season opener (Darren Agu) would have been a massive hit in the recent past and instead it’s barely a blip, because the underrated thing about having Barton Simmons running your recruiting operation is that he’s been able to find a lot of guys who will be functional depth in a way that Vanderbilt hasn’t had. There are still question marks with the top-end talent, but it’s no longer a situation where the second string is going to be a massive downgrade.
Hawaii vs. Vanderbilt: Game Preview, How To Watch, Stream, Odds
2. What are the lingering concerns heading into the opener?
Vanderbilt needs some playmakers to step up on offense. Will Sheppard is a good start at wide receiver, but 1000-yard rusher Ray Davis transferred to Kentucky and Vanderbilt doesn’t have a clear-cut replacement for him.
Quarterback AJ Swann has good arm talent but after a strong debut against Northern Illinois, his performance wasn’t anything special as a true freshman and Vanderbilt’s two SEC wins both came with backup Mike Wright (who’s now at Mississippi State) playing. Cole Spence was expected to be a playmaking tight end, but instead he’s out for the season with a torn ACL.
3. Hawaii uses the run-n-shoot offense and will pass quite a bit, what is an assessment of Vanderbilt’s secondary?
Whew, buddy. Vanderbilt’s pass defense last season was… not good, and that was with Jeremy Lucien, who’s probably going to make an NFL roster. Incumbent cornerbacks BJ Anderson and Tyson Russell struggled at times, and the hope is that true freshman Martel Hight and redshirt freshman Trudell Berry will make an impact because they both have a ton of talent. Starting safety Jaylen Mahoney has been a consistent presence for four years but doesn’t have a ton of upside.
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4. Who are a few players that Hawaii should be aware of?
Will Sheppard is easily Vanderbilt’s most proven player on offense after having a breakout year as a junior last season. On the other side of the ball, CJ Taylor, who plays the “Anchor” position (basically a hybrid safety/linebacker), is good for blowing up one or two plays per game.
5. How do you see this game playing out?
Well, I don’t expect Vanderbilt to win 63-10 again. This year’s Hawaii team isn’t coming off the Todd Graham experience, so they’ll probably be more competitive — but I think Vanderbilt has superior talent and depth and will win something like 45-21.
