Vanderbilt Not Taking Chances Despite Being Big Favorites: The Anchor

Vanderbilt football is just two days away from kicking off the 2025 season at FirstBank Stadium. As it prepares for Charleston Southern, the Commodores come into the game as big favorites. 

While Saturday’s opener is a game Vanderbilt should win, the players and coaching staff are not taking any chances. Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea has made sure his players take Charleston Southern seriously and give it the respect it deserves.

“Coach Lea talks about how every opponent we play, you got to respect them,” Vanderbilt defensive lineman Khordae Sydnor said. “It’s a new team from last year just like how Vandy is a new team from 2023 and 2024. You have to take each opponent and attack them like you’re playing a SEC game.”

Charleston Southern comes in with a brand new offensive coordinator in Seth Strickland after it ranked toward the bottom of the FCS in offense. With a new offense and coordinator brings a lot of unknowns. From Vanderbilt’s perspective, it makes preparation a bit difficult, but that is nothing that Sydnor and his teammates cannot handle.

“He’s [Strickland] going to have things we’ve never seen, so we just have to attack it, play our technique and focus on us and we’ll be fine,” Sydnor said. 

Vanderbilt comes in a 36.5-point favorites over Charleston Southern. The two teams have met just once all-time, when the Commodores escaped the Buccaneers 21-20 in 2014.

Saturday’s game is expected to be the first step in Vanderbilt’s quest to improve on last season’s 7-6 record. Vanderbilt has plenty of returning production and vibes around the program are totally different compared to the past few seasons. With the core of the offense and defense both returning, the time for the Commodores to take the next step is now.

Today’s Commodores Schedule

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Yesterday’s Commodores Results Today

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Did You Notice?

Vanderbilt is looking for its fourth consecutive season-opener victory. The Commodores are on the longest streak of season-opening wins since winning six straight season-openers from 1970-1975. Last season, Vanderbilt opened the season with a 34-27 overtime upset victory against Virginia Tech.

Vanderbilt’s longest streak of season-opening wins is 35 straight from 1904-1938. It holds a record of 83-48-4 all-time in Week 1 games.

Vanderbilt’s 136th season kicks off as it will take on Charleston Southern at 6 p.m. CT Saturday on ESPN+ or SECN+. Kevin Fitzgerald and Charles Arbuckle will be calling the game.

Countdown to Vanderbilt’s 2025 Football Season Opener

2 days

Commodores Quote of The Day

[When asked if Vanderbilt had considered retiring Jay Cutler’s No. 6] “We think Darlron (Spead) is a pretty good player, but we will have to see how he plays this year.”Bobby Johnson

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