Music City Bowl: What to watch for

Music City Bowl

Vanderbilt (6-6) vs. Boston College (9-4)

Today, 2:30

LP Field

What to watch for on offense: Turnovers. Vanderbilt cannot afford to give away the ball with fumbles or interceptions and must take advantage of the short field if the defense forces BC into those mistakes. Performance on first down will be critical to avoid third-and-long situations. The Commodores’ success on offense could come down to the ability of the interior linemen to handle the Eagles’ two massive senior defensive tackles, Ron Brace (6-3, 324) and B.J. Raji (6-1, 323).

What to watch for on defense: The first few series will be telling. Boston College is 5-1 in games in which it scored a first-quarter touchdown, and in its last six victories it outscored the opposition 55-31 in the first 15 minutes. The Eagles have run the ball (480 attempts) more than they have thrown it (412 attempts) so the Commodores’ front seven will have to be productive and put pressure on redshirt-freshman quarterback Dominique Davis (47 percent completion rate) to make plays with his arm.

Worth noting: Boston College has won eight straight bowl games, the longest such streak in the nation. … Vanderbilt’s all-time bowl record is 1-1-1. … VU and BC have met twice in their history, 1962 and 1963. The Commodores lost both. … No. 18 Boston College will be VU’s fifth ranked opponent of the season. The Commodores went 2-2 in the first four.

Prediction:

Boston College 20, Vanderbilt 9.