Kickoff: Saturday, September 5 at 6:00 PM CT
Location: FirstBank Stadium
TV: SECN+
DraftKings line (Aug. 30): VAN -30.5
Over/under: 61.5

The setup

Vanderbilt has won both meetings with Austin Peay by a combined 85-10. The Governors are trying to turn a series that has averaged 42.5-5 into an actual fourth-quarter game.

What I’m watching

The question is how long Austin Peay can keep this from becoming a depth game. Vanderbilt averaged 38.5 points per game last season and returns 5 offensive starters. Austin Peay allowed 27.3 points per game. A couple of first-half stops would matter much more than matching Vanderbilt play for play.

Personnel snapshot

• Austin Peay: Jeff Faris enters Year 3 as head coach.
• Austin Peay quarterback: Chris Parson is Austin Peay’s most experienced returning passer. Last season, he threw for 3,003 yards, 23 TD and 5 INT.
• Vanderbilt: Clark Lea enters Year 6 as head coach. 10 starters return—5 on offense and 5 on defense. Key defenders back include Glenn Seabrooks III, Miles Capers, and Bryan Longwell. That defense allowed 357.5 yards and 22.8 points per game last season.
• Vanderbilt quarterback: Vanderbilt lists Blaze Berlowitz first on its official Week 1 depth chart. Last season, he threw for 131 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He gets the fun job of replacing Vanderbilt legend Diego Pavia.

Three quick analysis points

• The opener trend: Vanderbilt’s 10 wins and six SEC wins in 2025 were both program firsts. Austin Peay is opening against a team whose new standard is literally unprecedented in school history.
• The location wrinkle: The Commodores have won seven straight at FirstBank Stadium and four straight home openers. Austin Peay’s upset route has to break two Vanderbilt streaks on the same night.
• The quarterback angle: Austin Peay already owns a 35-17 Week 0 win, with Chris Parson throwing for 308 yards and adding 31 on the ground. Vanderbilt is making its debut against a quarterback who has already produced 339 yards in a real 2026 game.

How the game is decided

There’s a reason Vanderbilt is such huge favorites, but lets see how they ease into their new offensive era with a do-it-all QB like Pavia running the show.

Prediction

I make final predictions on my TikTok/YouTube/Instagram/Facebook pages @uthinkuknowsports.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.