Duke (3-3) at Vanderbilt (5-2)  

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DATE & TIME: Saturday, October 25th, 3:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Vanderbilt Stadium (41,448) -- Nashville, Tennessee. Television: None. Home Record: Duke 3-2, Vanderbilt 3-0. Away Record: Duke 0-1, Vanderbilt 2-2. Neutral Record: Duke 0-0, Vanderbilt 0-0. Conference Record: Duke 1-2, Vanderbilt 3-2. Series Record: Vanderbilt leads, 7-3.

GAME NOTES: The Duke Blue Devils of the ACC and the Vanderbilt Commodores of the SEC will meet on Saturday in Nashville. Duke has lost its last two outings after opening the season with a 3-1 mark. The most recent setback for the Blue Devils occurred last weekend by a 49-31 final to Miami-Florida. With four of the next five games taking place on the road, including this weekend's tilt, the road to bowl eligibility does not appear kind. As for Vanderbilt, it opened the season with five straight victories for the first time since 1943, and the club was a perfect 3-0 in SEC play.

Unfortunately, the Commodores have come crashing back to Earth with back-to-back losses to Mississippi State and Georgia on the road. The 24-14 loss last weekend to Georgia keeps the team one victory shy of earning bowl eligibility, and this week's tilt appears to be the most winnable on the remaining schedule. Vanderbilt owns a 7-3 series advantage over Duke, including six straight victories over the Blue Devils.

It is hard to put too much blame on the Duke offense for last weekend's loss to Miami, as the Blue Devils scored four offensive touchdowns en route to 31 points. They only committed one turnover in the clash and managed 333 total yards, a respectable total. Duke scored on all four of its trips to the red zone and surrendered just one sack. Thaddeus Lewis threw a pair of touchdown passes without an interception, but his 12-of-28 effort was a bit disappointing.

As for the ground attack, Tony Jackson led the way with 69 yards. Heading into the game against the Hurricanes, the Blue Devils were averaging 24.6 ppg and 324.4 total ypg, solid numbers for a steadily improving squad. Lewis has thrown nine touchdowns against three interceptions this season, and he has proven capable of leading the offense. Eron Riley is the man to watch among the receivers, as he has six scoring grabs to his credit.

Miami racked up 420 yards and seven offensive touchdowns against Duke last weekend, as the Blue Devils looked completely helpless at times on defense. They permitted 5.3 yards per rushing attempt while also yielding five passing scores. Sure, Duke did come up with three interceptions in the clash, but the negatives far outweighed those positive plays. Miami only kept possession of the ball for 26 minutes, as it was able to move the ball at will and score quickly.

It is hard to believe that the Hurricanes had such an easy time against the Duke defense, as the Blue Devils were only yielding 18.4 ppg and 336.4 total ypg heading into the contest. Duke had only surrendered three passing scores through the first 20 quarters of football, so no one could have predicted Miami throwing five touchdowns in four quarters.

Vanderbilt finished with a mere 245 yards of total offense in last weekend's loss to Georgia. Mackenzi Adams got the start under center for the Commodores, and he completed only 16-of-32 passes for a mere 131 yards with two interceptions. He did throw a pair of touchdown passes, both to Jamie Graham, but those big plays weren't enough to avoid defeat. Vandy was 5-of-14 on third down conversion attempts, simply not good enough against a team like Georgia on the road.

Through eight games, the Commodores are scoring 23.0 ppg while gaining a lowly 249.4 ypg. They are one of the worst passing teams in the nation, averaging just 96.1 ypg through the air. Adams is a better passer than Chris Nickson, who was the team's starter for the first half of the season, but Nickson has more mobility. Jared Hawkins leads the Vandy ground attack with 396 yards, and his three rushing scores are second on the team to Nickson's six.

Georgia was able to post 25 first downs and 425 total yards against Vanderbilt last weekend. The Commodores permitted 5.8 yards per rushing attempt and 14.9 yards per pass completion, as they clearly struggled against both means of attack. While Vandy did come up with a pair of interceptions and limited Georgia to 1-of-8 success on third down conversion attempts, the end result was a double-digit loss. Solid defense is clearly the strength of the Vanderbilt team, as it is limiting opponents to 17.4 ppg this season.

The Commodores have come up with 13 interceptions, equaling the total number of touchdowns that they have yielded to opposing offenses through seven games. With 17 takeaways and 20 sacks, there has been no shortage of big plays made.

Vanderbilt figures to get the job done at home this weekend in what figures to be a close game from start to finish. The defense of the Commodores will be the difference, enabling them to become eligible for the postseason.

Predicted Outcome: Vanderbilt 17, Duke 9

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Web Producer- Brett Haas
Copyright 2008 WAAYTV.com. The Sports Network contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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