Austin Peay @ Vanderbilt preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 7, 2013 ) Austin Peay 3, Vanderbilt 38

Before embarking on a road-heavy portion of its schedule, Vanderbilt will try to get into the win column at home Saturday against FCS foe Austin Peay. The Commodores have opened with back-to-back setbacks at Vanderbilt Stadium, including last week's 31-14 loss to a ninth-ranked Georgia team in their SEC opener.

After the Governors of the Ohio Valley Conference leave town, Vanderbilt is staring at a stretch in which it will play three straight and five of the next six on the road, including challenging visits to Ole Miss, South Carolina and Florida. With such a daunting slate on the horizon, the Commodores are focused on getting back to the basics against a winless FCS squad. "I really don't care who the opponent is, it just happens to be Austin Peay," head coach Derek Mason said in his weekly press conference. "For us, we have to make sure we clean up our fundamentals, whether we're talking about tackling, execution, special teams, offense, defense." The Governors enter the weekend tied for 107th among FCS teams in scoring after suffering a 52-6 loss at Southern Miss last week.

TV: 4 p.m. ET, SEC Network. LINE: NL

ABOUT AUSTIN PEAY (0-2): The high point of the loss to Southern Miss was a first-quarter touchdown pass of 44 yards from Trey Taylor to Rashaan Coleman, but the Governors gave up 45 unanswered points from that point on and finished with only 189 total yards. A major issue was an inability to convert on third down, as the squad went 2-for-16. Taylor is 31-for-50 for 281 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions through his first two games.

ABOUT VANDERBILT (0-2): Mason stressed the need for a better start after seeing his team produce a total of nine points in the first three quarters so far while posting zeroes in the first and third quarters. Finishing drives would help, as the Commodores are last in FBS in red zone offense, converting only two touchdowns and one field goal in nine total trips to that part of the field. Vanderbilt has yet to force a turnover but has given the ball up six times, including five on interceptions by Johnny McCrary.

EXTRA POINTS

1. The Commodores ranks eighth in FBS in time of possession (34:48).

2. Vanderbilt won the only prior meeting two years ago at home by a 38-3 margin.

3. Austin Peay has had a punt blocked in each of its first two games.

PREDICTION: Vanderbilt 34, Austin Peay 6