Vanderbilt Preparing for Tough Auburn Run Game

Vanderbilt Head Coach Derek Mason (Photo: Vanderbilt Athletics)

Vanderbilt Head Football Coach Derek Mason held his weekly press conference on Tuesday to talk about his team’s bye week, as well as the next opponent, Auburn. Mason discussed Auburn in his opening statement, saying that they began preparing for the Tigers last week during their bye week. To further prepare, Mason said that he and a majority of his players watched the Auburn/Ole Miss game. Mason said that he picked up many things about the team, saying that they are well coached, and are physical. “They don’t beat themselves.” Mason said of Auburn, “Their defense has played well all year, their offense has found rhythm. In the last five weeks, they have run the ball extremely well.” The first Auburn player that Mason mentioned, was quarterback Sean White. “He is impressive, he makes good decisions. He takes care of the football” Mason also says that Auburn’s offense has the ability to make you take your eyes off of your work and to throw the football down the field. As many coaches and media members have, Mason also talked about Auburn’s running game, specifically, Kamryn Pettway. “When I see their run game, it is effective. When you see #36 (Pettway) rolling downhill… he is a monster.” Mason said of Pettway. As far as preparing for him, Mason says that they have used running backs Khari Blasingame and Jamauri Wakefield, as decoys for Pettway. However, it has been tough to emulate his style of play. “That dude (Pettway), when I watch him run downfield, he is different. He has great feet, great balance, he runs through arm tackles, and he has done a good enough job to break off some explosive runs. Again, we have our work cut out for us.” Mason says that as a team, Auburn is very confident in their running game. Auburn hosts Vanderbilt on Saturday at 11:00 A.M. inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.