Vanderbilt Notes
• Head coach Clark Lea will begin his second season at the helm of his alma mater with Vanderbilt’s contest at Hawai’i. It marks the first
meeting between the programs, as well as the furthest west the Commodores have ever played a football game.
• Vanderbilt chose eight team captains for the 2022 campaign: Ethan Barr, Ben Bresnahan, Daevion Davis, Jaylen Mahoney, Elijah McAllister, Anfernee Orji, Gavin Schoenwald and Mike Wright. The captains were chosen by a vote of players and staff. Davis and McAllister will serve as captains for the second consecutive year.
• The Commodores return 15 of 22 starters from a season ago, including seven on offense and eight on defense.
• Offensively, the returners include junior quarterback Mike Wright, who was named to the Maxwell Award Watch List. Wright appeared in 10 games last season, while making five starts under center.
• The Commodores’ top four tacklers from 2022 all return to the mix, led by Anfernee Orji. The senior linebacker led the team in tackles with 92 a season ago.
• Vanderbilt boasted one of its highest recruiting classes with the 2022 signing class. The class, Lea’s first full signing class, was the highest-rated Vanderbilt class per 247 sports (No. 23) and the second-highest rated Vanderbilt class ever per 247Sports (No. 23). Per Rivals, it was the second-highest rated class in Vanderbilt history (No. 33) and the third-best by average star ranking (2.96).
• Lea welcomes five new assistants to his coaching staff.
• Nick Howell takes over as defensive coordinator and is joined by fellow newcomers Dan Jackson (defensive backs), Nick Lezynski (linebackers) and Larry Black (defensive line) who join Jovan Haye (defensive ends) on the defensive side of the ball.
• Alex Bailey (wide receivers) is the new face on the offensive staff under the direction of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joey Lynch. Norval McKenzie (run game coordinator and running backs), AJ Blazek (offensive line) and Justin Lustig (associate head coach, special teams coordinator and tight ends) all return for a second season on Lea’s staff.
• Vanderbilt’s coaching staff includes three alums — head coach Clark Lea, defensive ends coach Jovan Haye and run game coordinator and running backs coach Norval McKenzie.
• Vandy enters the season as one of three Power 5 schools with its head football coach and athletic director as alums, joining Michigan and Oklahoma State.
Commodore Countdown
1 Ethan Barr led all SEC linebackers with three interceptions a season ago.
3 Vanderbilt is the only team in FBS with three straight games against teams who reached their conference championship game last season. The Commodores face Wake Forest (ACC), Northern Illinois (MAC) and Alabama (SEC) in consecutive weeks in September.
5 Clark Lea welcomes five new assistants to his coaching staff for his second season.
5 Vanderbilt will be playing west of the Central timezone for just the fifth time in school history. Last season’s win at Colorado State was the first game west of Central time since 1979. The Commodores played at Air Force in 1977 and ‘79, while the only game in the Pacific time zone was a 1961 contest at UCLA.
5 Five Vanderbilt players are currently on track to earn double majors. The list includes quarterbacks Mike Wright and Ken Seals who have combined to start the last 20 games for the Commodores.
7 Members of the 2022 freshman class who enrolled early at Vanderbilt and participated in practice this spring.
13 The Vanderbilt football roster includes 13 players who are currently pursuing graduate work.
23 National rank of Vanderbilt’s 2022 freshman class by 247Sports, the highest ranking in school history.
100 Vanderbilt celebrates the 100th anniversary of Vanderbilt Stadium this fall. The facility opened as Dudley Field on Oct. 14, 1922, with a 0-0 tie against Michigan. The South’s first dedicated college football stadium, the stadium grew sporadically until a full renovation in 1981 established the current footprint. Following the season, the stadium will undergo two years of major renovations as part of the Vandy United campaign.
Series History vs. Hawai’i (First Meeting)
• Saturday marks the first meeting in football between Vanderbilt and Hawai’i.
• It will be the furthest west Vanderbilt has played football, besting a visit to UCLA in 1961.
• The Commodores are 4-4 all-time against the current members of the Mountain West Conference.
• Air Force has been the most common MWC opponent, with the Falcons holding a 2-3 edge in that series. Vanderbilt has also defeated Nevada
and Colorado State in lone meetings, while UNLV won its only contest against the Commodores.
• The football game marks the third visit to Hawai’i for Vanderbilt athletics in last nine months.
• The men’s basketball team went 2-0 at the Diamond Classic in Dec. 2021. The Dores defeated Hawai’i, 68-64, and BYU, 69-67, before the championship game against Stanford was canceled due to Covid-19 concerns for the Cardinal.
• The baseball program visited Hawai’i in March 2022, sweeping a four-game set from the Rainbow Warriors.
TEAM NOTES
• Vanderbilt has won 15 of its last 17 nonconference games against non-Power 5 opponents.
Football in August
• Vanderbilt is just one of six Power 5 programs that will open its season during Week 0.
• The Commodores have played seven games during the month of August, dating to 2001. Vandy owns a record of 1-5 in those matchups, with the most recent game coming on Aug. 31 against Georgia in the 2019 season opener.
• Vandy’s season opener at Hawaii will mark the earliest on-record start for the program:
Nonconference Season Opener
• Vanderbilt is set to open the campaign with a nonconference opponent for the second consecutive season. The Commodores have only opened the season with a nonconference opponent in four of the last 10 seasons, dating to 2012.
• Saturday’s matchup with Hawaii will mark the sixth time that Vandy has opened the season on the road against a nonconference opponent since 2002:
Vandy vs. The Mountain West
• Vanderbilt has a recent history with the Mountain West Conference, as the Commodores have faced an opponent from the league in three of the last four seasons.
• Vandy made the trip to Colorado State last season, marking the first win of the Clark Lea era. The Commodores hosted UNLV in 2019 and Nevada during the 2018 campaign.
• The Dores hold a 4-4 record against current members of the Mountain West Conference.
Nonconference Road Tilts
• Vandy is set for the first of its two road nonconference matchups this season.
• The Commodores have just faced six nonconference foes on the road since the 2013 season, with four of those being non-Power 5 opponents. Vandy holds a 4-1 record across those five matchups:
Hawaii Notes
GAME STORYLINES
Hawai‘i and Vanderbilt will be meeting for the first time on the football field.
This season marks the sixth time UH will play in Week 0 and second time it is hosting a Week 0 game. UH has a 3-2 mark in Week 0 which includes a home win over Arizona (45-38) in 2019.
UH is playing an SEC team for the first time since losing at Florida in the 2008 season opener. UH also closed out the 2007 season with a loss to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
The last time UH hosted and defeated an SEC team was against Alabama in 2003 (37-29) at Aloha Stadium.
UH is 3-9-1 all-time against current SEC teams, including a 3-5-1 record at home.
Hawai’i is 63-37-5 (.624) all-time in season openers, with wins in four of the last five since 2017 and five of seven since 2015.
UH has won seven straight home openers with the last loss coming against No. 25 Washington (17-16) in 2014.
Hawai’i has won its last three home games against Power 5 opponents, beating Arizona and Oregon State in 2019 and Colorado in 2015. The last loss came against Oregon State in 2014.
Record-setting quarterback Timmy Chang was named the 25th head coach in program history on Jan. 22, 2022, returning to his alma mater where he set the NCAA’s all-time passing (17,072) and total offense (16,910) records from 2000-04.
Chang is looking to become the 11th head coach to win in his UH debut and the fifth to do so since the program began playing an all-collegiate schedule in 1966.
Entering the second season playing in a retrofitted Clarence T.C. Ching Complex, the Rainbow Warriors will play a home opener in front of fans for the first time since the 2019 season. Last year marked UH’s first season playing on campus in the program’s 106-year history.
UH’s offensive line unit is among the most experienced in the country, ranking third nationally in number of starts returning with 109, trailing only Pitt (130) and UTSA (118).
Hawai’i enters the season with 51 newcomers on the roster, including 28 transfers, 16 of which came from Power 5 schools.
UH’s all-time record in the month of August is 7-8 (Division I era).
UH has won its last seven non-conference home games with its last loss to Louisiana Tech in the 2018 Hawai‘i Bowl.
HAWAI‘I VS. THE POWER 5
Since 2003, UH has 12 wins versus teams from the Power 5 conferences—ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC—in 41 opportunities.
UH’s last eight wins against Power 5 conferences have come against Pac-12 opponents.
The last time UH beat two Power 5 teams in the same season was 2019 (def. Arizona, 45-38 and Oregon State, 31-28).
In addition, UH will play at Michigan in Ann Arbor for the second time since 2016.
SEASON OPENERS
UH is 63-37-5 (.624) all-time in season openers, with wins in four of the last five since 2017 and five of seven since 2015.
Last season, UH dropped its first season opener since 2016. It had previously won four straight season openers and five in the last six years.
UH has won seven straight home openers with the last loss coming against No. 25 Washington (17-16) in 2014.
This season marks the sixth time UH will play in Week 0 and second time it is hosting a Week 0 game. UH has a 3-2 mark in Week 0 which includes a home win over Arizona (45-38) in 2019
SCHEDULE NOTES
Seven of UH’s opponents this season played in bowl games in 2021—Western Kentucky (Boca Raton), Michigan (Orange), San Diego State (Frisco), Nevada (Quick Lane), Wyoming (Famous Idaho Potato), Fresno State (New Mexico), and Utah State (Los Angeles).
UH will play two first-time opponents—Vanderbilt and Western Kentucky—in the first two weeks of the season.
UH will host an FCS opponent (Duquesne) for the 14th time in the last 16 years. UH has a 17-game win streak against FCS opponents dating
back to 2001.
UH will end the regular season on the road (at San José State) for the second straight year and third time since 2018.
