No. 24 Tennessee looking for 3rd straight win over Vandy

Posted November 23, 2016 6:00 am

By The Associated Press

No. 24 Tennessee (8-3, 4-3 SEC, No. 17 CFP) at Vanderbilt (5-6, 2-5), 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network)

Line: Tennessee by 14.

Series record: Tennessee leads 75-30-5

WHAT'S AT STAKE

Tennessee, with a little help around the SEC, could earn a trip to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl with a victory. That would help ease the disappointment at not winning the Eastern Division. Vanderbilt could beat Tennessee for the third time in five seasons, which would make the Commodores bowl eligible in a most satisfying way.

KEY MATCHUP

Tennessee QB Joshua Dobbs vs. Vanderbilt linebacker Zach Cunningham: Dobbs has thrown three touchdown passes and has run for two more scores in each of his last two games. Dobbs will spend much of the night trying to avoid Butkus Award finalist Zach Cunningham, who has an SEC-leading 109 tackles.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Tennessee: DE Derek Barnett: He's the first player in SEC history to post at least 10 sacks in three separate seasons. Barnett has 11 sacks and 17 tackles for loss this season to lead the SEC in both categories. Barnett, who comes from Nashville, has 31 career sacks and is one shy of Reggie White's school record as he returns to his hometown.

Vanderbilt: RB Ralph Webb. The junior is 27 yards shy of the Vanderbilt career rushing record owned by Zac Stacy. Webb has run for 1,058 yards this season, and he's coming off a 123-yard, three-touchdown performance in a 38-17 victory over Mississippi.

FACTS & FIGURES

Tennessee has scored 40-plus points in three straight games, the first time that's happened since 1995. ... Tennessee has won 31 of the last 34 meetings in this series, though Vanderbilt won back-to-back in 2012-13. ... Dobbs leads SEC with 24 TD passes passing. ... Tennessee ran for a season-high 386 yards last week with five TDs. ... Vanderbilt scored its most points against an SEC opponent under coach Derek Mason in its 38-17 win over Mississippi. ... Vanderbilt QB Kyle Shurmur has thrown for 746 yards in November with three straight games of 200 yards or more passing for the first time in his career. ... Vanderbilt is averaging 433.5 yards offense over the last four games.

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More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25.

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