Texas Bowl: Baylor (6-6) vs. Vanderbilt (6-6) at Houston, Thursday, 9 p.m. EST (ESPN)
Line: Vanderbilt by 4.
Series Record: Baylor leads 2-0.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Baylor looks for its seventh win a year after winning just one game and the Commodores need a victory to reach seven wins for the first time since going 9-4 in 2013.
KEY MATCHUP
Vanderbilt RB Ke’Shawn Vaughn vs. Baylor’s run defense. Vaughn has a career-high 1,001 yards rushing after sitting out last year following a transfer from Illinois and Baylor is allowing 174.8 yards rushing a game which ranks 80th in the nation. Vaughn, the SEC newcomer of the year, injured his arm in Vanderbilt’s last game but coach Derek Mason said Wednesday that Vaughn had recovered and would be ready to go.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Baylor: QB Charlie Brewer. The dual-threat player has thrown for 2,635 yards and 17 touchdowns and ran for 266 yards and a team-leading six more scores.
Vanderbilt: QB Kyle Shurmur. The senior has thrown for 2,844 yards and 23 touchdowns this season to give him a school-record 63 touchdown passes in his career. He needs just 119 yards passing to move ahead of Jay Cutler (8,697) for most career passing yards in school history.
FACTS & FIGURES
The only previous meetings between these teams came in 1953-54. … The Bears are in a bowl for the 24th time and eighth time in nine seasons. … Vanderbilt is in a bowl for the ninth time and sixth in the last decade. … Baylor is 3-4 in bowl games against Southeastern Conference teams. … Vanderbilt’s last bowl win came in the 2013 BBVA Compass Bowl. … Baylor’s last bowl win came in the Cactus bowl in 2016. … The Bears have averaged 208.5 yards rushing in their six wins this season. … The Commodores have won nine of their last 10 nonconference games. … This is Baylor’s second trip to the Texas Bowl. The Bears lost to Illinois 38-14 in 2010.
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