No. 8 Arkansas will be Vandy's toughest home test
Senior linebacker Chris Marve has been around Vanderbilt long enough to know what having four wins in October means for a bowl-starved program. He also understands how dangerous looking ahead can be for the Commodores.
''You have to take it week by week,'' Marve said. ''You can't overlook anyone, and you have to actually work harder each week in order to get to where you want to be.''
There's no risk the Commodores (4-3, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) will look past No. 8 Arkansas (6-1, 2-1) on Saturday. First-year coach James Franklin has Vanderbilt off to a 4-1 record at home, but the Razorbacks are the first ranked opponent to come to town.
Franklin refuses to talk about anything past the next game, and that includes the possibility of Vandy's second bowl berth since 1982 and second in four seasons. He says he'll be happy to talk bowls after the season.
''I know they're getting conversations from people in the community, people on campus, family members, uncles, cousins that think they know what they're talking about,'' Franklin said. ''I called home and talked to my sister (Sunday). My brother-in-law gets on the phone, like everyone, he wants to give me his two cents on what we're doing and how we should be doing it. And I understand the players are getting it as well.''
The Commodores are coming off a 44-21 win over Army in which they finally showed some balance as a team, posting a season-high 530 yards total offense with 344 yards rushing led by Zac Stacy's career-high 198 yards.
Jordan Rodgers made his first start at quarterback after coming off the bench in the first six games. He ran for a career-high 96 yards, the junior best known as Aaron Rodgers' little brother, said winning at home is big for this program.
''We need to win our home games, win in front of our home crowd, get people coming back,'' Rodgers said. ''Defend our home field. That's what we've been doing. It's always a big point of emphasis. ... If it's a home game, it's a little easier for us. Don't have to travel and get to defend our house in front of the home crowd and don't have to deal with the noise as much.''
Vanderbilt has never beaten the Razorbacks in Nashville, but the Commodores have two wins in this short series on the road. The Razorbacks narrowly pulled out a 21-19 win in their last visit to Nashville in 2006. Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette remembers Jay Cutler coming into Arkansas and taking home a win.
''I've always seen Vanderbilt have good teams,'' Bequette said. ''Maybe historically they don't have the best record, but they're always tough, just like any other team in this conference. ... If you don't bring your `A' game every Saturday, you have a chance to get beat by anyone. Vanderbilt's no exception.''
The Razorbacks got their own reminder last weekend, falling behind Mississippi 17-0 before pulling out a 29-24 win. Vanderbilt's lone SEC win came in a 30-7 rout of Ole Miss, but Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said showing his Razorbacks video of how Vanderbilt plays gets their attention.
''They play good defense, they know exactly what their package is, they're physical and do a good job of it,'' Petrino said. ''Then offensively, the way they can execute and move the ball ... We have to go play a good football game and play hard, play fast, do things right to win the game. There's no doubt about that. It's going to be another hard-fought contest.''
The big test in this game will be Vanderbilt's defense against Arkansas's high-powered offense, which leads the SEC with 462.1 yards per game. Tyler Wilson is the league's top passer averaging 287.8 yards per game, and he has thrown 133 straight passes without an interception using receivers like Jarius Wright and Joe Adams.
Vanderbilt leads the SEC and is tied for first nationally with 15 interceptions. The Commodores also rank 23rd nationally giving up 323.9 yards per game. Marve said they are eager to play Wilson.
''He makes his reads well, and he gets the ball to the open man,'' Marve said. ''We're going to have to minimize the number of guys that are open so we can try to make him nervous, get his feet moving and do what we have to do in order to be successful.''
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AP Sports Writer Kurt Voigt in Fayetteville, Ark., contributed to this report.
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