Vanderbilt ranks No. 60 in FPI on ESPN, which isn't the worst in the SEC − Mississippi State is 64th. That metric, which takes into account how a team played much more than wins and losses, is higher on the Commodores now than it has been in the past few years.

LEA ON NIL Clark Lea explains how Vanderbilt football fell behind on NIL, what's needed to catch up. Missouri is very healthy for Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia arrived from New Mexico State as a graduate transfer along with his coach, Jerry Kill, and offensive coordinator, Tim Beck. They've provided a big boost to the Commodores’ offense. Pavia mostly relied on his legs in their first two games, but he threw for a season-high 270 yards and two touchdowns last week.