Charleston Southern @ Vanderbilt preview

Vanderbilt will get a much-needed break from SEC play when it hosts Charleston Southern in a non-conference game on Saturday. The Commodores are off to an 0-4 start in conference play, with three losses against teams ranked at the time. Charleston Southern has a glossy overall record at 5-0, but this will be a major step up in competition for the Buccaneers, who barely got by Charlotte and Citadel in their last two games.

Patton Robinette, the starting quarterback for Vanderbilt coming into the season, will miss his third straight game with a concussion, leaving Wade Freebeck to make his fourth start with Stephen Rivers serving as his backup. The top target for Vanderbilt’s signal-callers is a big one in 6-5, 250-pound tight end Steven Scheu. Charleston Southern's Austin Brown, who threw 24 touchdowns while starting 15 games for Alabama-Birmingham over the last two seasons, has thrown for 859 yards with eight TDs and one interception this year.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN3. LINE: N/A

ABOUT CHARLESTON SOUTHERN (5-0): Christian Reyes has done most of the ball-carrying for the Buccaneers, and rightfully so, considering he set the program’s single-season rushing record last year by totaling 1,254 yards en route to the school’s first 10-win season. The Oregon native isn’t on the same pace with 350 yards and four TDs so far but could be primed for a big performance. The kicking game has been a sore spot for Charleston Southern as freshmen David Kennedy and Bryan Jordan are a combined 2-for-6 on field-goal attempts with three missed extra points.

ABOUT VANDERBILT (1-5): Freshman running back Ralph Webb took advantage of a nagging knee injury that kept Jerron Seymour - last season's leading rusher - sidelined for the first two games and hasn’t given the coaches any reason to take him out. Webb has gained 499 yards through the first six games while averaging 4.7 per carry. Seymour, who ran for 716 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, has yet to reach double digits in carries in his first four games back, something he did in eight of the last nine contests in 2013.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Vanderbilt is 16-1 all-time against FCS opponents

2. The Commodores are averaging 266.3 yards per game, which is 120th in FBS.

3. The Buccaneers are ranked 23rd in the FCS coaches’ poll.

PREDICTION: Vanderbilt 27, Charleston Southern 16