Penelope 'Pippa' Ashcroft · Vanderbilt Insider · College Debut · Week 8
Meet Your Insider
That's a hit single, y'all. Hey there, I'm Penelope Ashcroft, but everyone on West End calls me Pippa. I study economics at Vanderbilt by day, and by night I write country songs on a beat-up guitar, and every single one of them is about a football game. I travel with the Commodores and I live with the Commodores, and every week I'll bring you the players, the matchups, the history and the storylines, with a little Music City wordplay and a chorus or two. Got an interception return in my heart and a third-down stop on my mind. That's my sound. When we win, I sing a big country chorus, key change and all. When we lose, I write a sad breakup ballad to the turnover that did us in. I've got a whole album of those this month.
The School in 60 Seconds
The Commodores represent Vanderbilt University in the SEC. Home is FirstBank Stadium, right on our Nashville campus, opened in 1922 and listed at 40,351 seats. Now here's a song with a happy ending: the last five seasons went 2-10, 5-7, 2-10, then 7-6 in 2024 and a 10-3 smash hit in 2025. Ten wins at Vanderbilt. Y'all, that one went platinum. This season is the follow-up album, and follow-up albums are hard.
The Coach and the Scheme
Clark Lea is the head coach; CFBD dates his hire to Dec. 14, 2020. He's the producer behind that 10-3 record. This year's offense throws it, 235.1 passing yards a game (63rd), with 23.6 points a game (98th). The run game is quiet, 119.3 a game (118th). The defense has 15 sacks, but it's allowing 146.3 rushing yards (79th) and 29.7 points (115th). AP noted the defense came in highly touted but gave up 196 rushing yards to Ole Miss and 170 to Arkansas. And our turnover margin is minus-6, 126th. Coach Lea said it plainly last week: "We're actively in pursuit of a better performance".
Players to Know
QB Jared Curtis: 101 of 161 for 1,242 yards, 6 TD, 7 INT. Against Arkansas he threw for 274 yards.
WR Junior Sherrill: 41 catches, 628 yards, 4 TD. Eight catches for 99 yards and a touchdown last week. That boy is a hit single, y'all.
RB Sedrick Alexander: 270 yards on 61 carries, 5 TD; a touchdown run against Arkansas. Makhilyn Young also ran for a score.
S CJ Heard: team-high 51 tackles. LB Nick Rinaldi: 3.5 sacks. Miles Capers: 1 interception.
The Conference Picture
Vanderbilt is 3-4 and 0-4 in the SEC. We opened 3-0 with wins over Austin Peay 28-9, Delaware 35-26 and NC State 35-31. Then the SEC tour: a 21-15 loss at Auburn, 38-14 at Georgia, 52-17 to Ole Miss and 31-21 to Arkansas. After Lexington, we have a week off, then visit Mississippi State on Nov. 7. I won't do standings math, y'all. I'll write a song about turning it around.
The breakup ballad of the week: with 3:46 left against Arkansas, Curtis drove us to their 29, and an interception ended it. Verse one, chorus, heartbreak. But the Auburn game was within one score, and that tells me the band can still play.
Season so far, as an album: track one, two and three were upbeat, three straight wins at home, including a 35-31 thriller over NC State. Then came the slow songs. That's how every great record goes, y'all. You put the ballads in the middle, and you save the anthem for the end. There are still five games of this album left to write.
This Week: Vanderbilt (3-4) at No. 12 Kentucky (6-1)
Saturday, Oct. 24 · 7:30 p.m. ET · Kroger Field, Lexington · SEC Network.
The history: CFBD shows Kentucky won seven of the 10 meetings from 2016 through 2025.
Our offense vs. their defense: Kentucky's pass defense allows 249.7 yards a game, 116th in FBS. Curtis and Sherrill can write a hit against that. Kentucky's overall defense is 95th.
Their offense vs. our defense: Kentucky QB Kenny Minchey has 13 touchdown passes and only one interception. C.J. Baxter has 484 rushing yards and 8 TD. Their run game, 166.1 a game (56th), meets our run defense, which has struggled the last two weeks.
Their big weakness: Kentucky converts just 29.1% of third downs, last in FBS. Get them to third down, and we've got a shot.
Turnovers: Kentucky is plus-11, 3rd in FBS; we're minus-6. That's the whole song right there.
Availability: no official availability report found for either team as of Oct. 18.
What decides it: (1) Protecting the football. (2) Stopping the run. (3) Winning third downs against the worst third-down offense in FBS.
To Rhett Abernathy-Coyle, Kentucky's insider: you grade bloodlines? Sugar, I grade hooks. And your team's got a catchy one this year. I'll give you that.
Why I Love This Team
I love that a school that went 2-10 twice in three years just won 10 games. I love Sherrill's hands. I love that Coach Lea talks straight. And I love writing these songs, even the sad ones. Especially the sad ones. They're the best ones on the album.
My call: Kentucky Wildcats 33, Vanderbilt Commodores 22.