Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea isn’t tipping his hand on who the Commodores’ starting quarterback will be when they roll into Knoxville for Saturday’s instate rivalry against Tennessee.
The Commodores have played both Ken Seals and AJ Swann extensively this season but it’s uncertain who will play against Tennessee.
“That’s a great question. I’m not going to answer that in a direct way and I’m sorry for that but I think you understand,” Lea said during his Tuesday press conference. “I’d like to see us find ways to make life easier for him and to be creative through that. But as far as who that’ll be we’re going to let the week play out and determine who gives us the best chance to move the ball and so much of that is about how we shorten the game.”
Both Swann and Seals have played extended snaps for Vanderbilt this season. The sophomore Swann was Vanderbilt’s starting quarterback to open the season and started the Commodores’ first five games before he was benched for Seals.
In those five games, Swann completed 54% of his passes for 1,290 yards, 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
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Seals played sparingly early in the season but became the full time starter in Vanderbilt’s matchup against Missouri on the final week of September. The senior quarterback’s completed 58% of his passes for 1,122 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions this season.
Neither quarterback is much of a running threat with each totaling less than 50 rushing yards and one touchdown this season.
Swann started last season’s game against Tennessee where he completed 11-of-17 passes for 79 yard before Vanderbilt replaced him with Mike Wright.
It’s been a disappointing season for Vanderbilt. The Commodores won their first two games of the season but have since lost 10 straight games and are winless in SEC play.
Kickoff at Neyland Stadium for the instate rivalry is set at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon. The SEC Network is broadcasting the game.
