Team: Vanderbilt Commodores

WHERE: Memorial Stadium, Nashville, Tenn.

WHEN: Saturday, Aug. 31.

2018 RECORD: (6-7, 3-5 in SEC East)

RETURNING STARTERS: Offense - 7 (RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn, LG Cole Clemens, RT Devin Cochran, TE Jared Pinckney, WR Kalija Lipscomb, WR Chris Pierce, C.J. Bolar); Defense - 5 (DE Dayo Odeyingbo, NG Drew Birchmeier, ILB Dimitri Moore, S Frank Coppet, Z Tae Daley; Special Teams – 2 (K Ryley Guay, P Harrison Smith)

KEY LOSSES: QB Kyle Shurmur

NOTE TO KNOW: Gerry Gdowski takes over as the offensive coordinator for the Commodores.

It wasn’t a bad year by Vanderbilt standards, as the Commodore finished the regular season 6-6 before falling to Baylor in the Texas Bowl, 45-38.

Defense was once again an issue for the Commodores who gave up 31 or more points, but offensively Vandy was scarier as well, posting victories of 45-31 at Arkansas and 38-13 over Tennessee.

None of that mattered in their game against Georgia, which rolled to a 41-13 victory in Athens—Vandy’s largest margin of defeat for the year.

Despite the loss of Shurmur, Vanderbilt brings back some pretty doggone good offensive talent.

Running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn is a 1,000-yard rusher waiting to happen.

He’s not the only one. Jared Pinkney is one of the league’s better tight ends, while wide receiver Kalija Lipscomb earned first-team All-SEC honors.

Vanderbilt figures to be more athletic at quarterback, with Deuce Wallace and Ball State transfer Riley Neal expected to battle it out for the starting job.

Defensively, well . . . there are still issues.

The Commodores allowed 6.1 yards per play last year, and don’t return any players one would consider difference-makers.

It’s the season-opener for both teams, and you can bet Bulldog head coach Kirby Smart will plant plenty of warning flags to keep his team focused.

That shouldn’t be a problem. Georgia will go in favored by 20 or so points, and barring any unforeseen issues, should be able to win this one going away.

What’s the story at quarterback after the graduation of Kyle Shurmur?

Lee: “It's a two-man race between redshirt junior backup Deuce Wallace and transfer Riley Neal, who started for the better part of three years at Ball State.

“We only got to see about three hours of action this spring, total. But what I saw were two quarterbacks who threw well, and my sources have told me that Wallace ended the spring ahead.

Wallace has had the trust of the coaching staff for at least two years. He's a smart kid with an accurate arm, and while it's probably not as strong as Shurmur's, it's good enough. I've been impressed with his command of the offense and the ability to put the ball where he wants. His mobility also opens the playbook for possibilities that didn't exist under Shurmur, who had a fine career but didn't scare anyone when he scrambled.

“As for Neal, I'm really impressed with a couple of full BSU games of him that are available on YouTube. He was limited by his surrounding cast. His receivers didn't get much separation, so Neal learned to throw accurately in small windows. Because of that, he didn't throw much beyond 15 yards downfield. There has been talk of Neal being an NFL prospect, and though the sample was small, I was quite impressed with the arm strength I saw this spring, now that he can cut loose with a receiving corps miles better than he had. He also has surprising mobility for being 6-foot-7.

Most outsiders expect Neal to win the job due to his starting experience. I think it'll probably be the opposite. The staff has more familiarity with Wallace, and I think that matters.

Either way, i think VU will have a capable guy behind center.”

UGASports: What will the biggest strengths and weaknesses be for the Commodores this fall?

Lee: “Let's start with weaknesses.

The defense is a total unknown; VU says it believes in its defense, but it could be coach-speak. VU is undoubtedly better along the defensive line and probably at inside linebacker, too, and there's a lot of depth at defensive back. But the Commodores also lost corner JoeJuan Williams, far and away their best player on that side, from a unit that wasn't good. So I'll need to see it to believe it.

“On offense, as good as Wallace and Neal looked, they're still unknowns. But the bigger concern is the offensive line; VU lost three starters (two of them really good) and moves its best lineman, Devin Cochran, to left tackle. There are some bodies with experience, but there will be three new starters. Reports along the right side were not encouraging, so August is important.

“That said, boy, if the Commodores get answers there, things should get really interesting.

Running back Ke'Shawn Vaughn and tight end Jared Pinkney have made some preseason second- and third-team All-American squads. You have to be pretty fantastic to do that at Vandy. Preseason first-team All-SEC wideout Kalija Lipscomb could finish top-10 all-time in the SEC in catches, yards, and TDs. C.J. Bolar and Cam Johnson (before he got hurt) did some nice things last year. Chris Pierce took big steps in the spring, and big, fast sophomore Amir Abdur-Rahman has more raw talent than any receiver on the roster. FCS All-American transfer Justice Shelton-Mosley, presumably fits, likely at slot, but I'm not sure who loses time there. I love speedy all-purpose man Ja'Veon Marlow, too.

“The skill talent is completely unprecedented at Vanderbilt. The other concerns could undo a lot of it, but if not, Vanderbilt could be loads of fun to watch on offense.”

UGASports: Is there any sense that the program is making strides under Mason?

Lee: “It's a situation unlike any other in Power Five football, and both sides deserve a hearing.

"VU has won six, five, and six games the last three years. It seems like a ceiling. Five years in, he's not had a winning season.

“At most places, that's a coaching change. And at times, it was easy to point fingers at Mason for in-game decisions—especially clock management—that probably cost them a seventh win in several cases.

“But at Vanderbilt, it got him an undisclosed extension. Barring disaster, he's there at least through 2020 and probably beyond.

It makes no sense if you follow VU from afar, but all the sense in the world if you've followed VU athletics the last 10 months.

“Through a series of articles in The Tennessean last August, Vanderbilt's lack of commitment to football got exposed in a way that embarrassed the university. It resulted in the 'resignation' of AD David Williams about six weeks later.

Mason had gotten next to nothing for years. That made it public. And it actually worked to Mason's favor in getting the benefit of the doubt.

“The climate under new AD Malcolm Turner could hardly be different. There's talk of massive amounts of money being thrown at football in coming years, which may include a new stadium. Undergrad admissions standards seem to have loosened, and, probably not coincidentally, VU is recruiting better along the defensive line now than it has in 20 years. That one thing alone is important, because Mason has primarily been a 3-4 guy, and VU just never had the bodies to run that scheme.

“It's no wonder that Mason looks far more relaxed than at any time in his previous five years at VU. It's going to take time because VU is light years behind, but things should be easier for Mason than any VU coach in decades. Certainly, if he can win six with one arm tied behind his back and the other being held back by institutional incompetence, it's not hard to see how he can improve.”