1948 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

The 1948 Vanderbilt Commodores football team was an American football team that represented Vanderbilt University as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1948 college football season. In their sixth year under head coach Red Sanders, the Commodores complied an overall record of 8–2–1, with a conference record of 4–2–1, and finished ninth in the SEC.^[1]

1948 Vanderbilt Commodores football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 12
Record	8–2–1 (4–2–1 SEC)
Head coach	Red Sanders (6th season)
Offensive scheme	Single-wing
Captain	John Clark
Home stadium	Dudley Field
Seasons ← 1947 1949 →

1948 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 8 Georgia $	6	–	0	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Ole Miss	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	1	–	0
No. 13 Tulane	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
No. 12 Vanderbilt	4	–	2	–	1			8	–	2	–	1
Georgia Tech	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Alabama	4	–	4	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
Mississippi State	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	4	–	1
Tennessee	2	–	3	–	1			4	–	4	–	2
Kentucky	1	–	3	–	1			5	–	3	–	2
Florida	1	–	5	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
LSU	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Auburn	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

This was Red Sanders's last season as the Commodores' head coach. Vanderbilt lost their first game of the season to Georgia Tech, tied their second with Alabama, and then lost the next to Mississippi, who finished the season 8–1. Vanderbilt won the last eight games of the season, which ties as the school's second longest and remained the longest win streak for the program until a seven-game streak to end the 2012 season. The 1948 Vanderbilt team outscored their opponents 328 to 73 and posted four shutouts. The Commodores played only four home games at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee. Lee Nalley broke the record for punt return yardage.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 25	Georgia Tech		Dudley Field Nashville, TN (rivalry)	L 0–13	22,000	[2]
October 2	at Alabama		Ladd Stadium Mobile, AL	T 14–14	36,000	[3]
October 9	at No. 13 Ole Miss		Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (rivalry)	L 7–20	22,500	[4]
October 16	at Kentucky		McLean Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)	W 26–7	25,000	[5]
October 23	at Yale*		Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	W 35–0	30,000	[6]
October 29	at Auburn		Cramton Bowl Montgomery, AL	W 47–0	18,000	[7]
November 6	LSU		Dudley Field Nashville, TN	W 48–7	21,000	[8]
November 13	Marshall*		Dudley Field Nashville, TN	W 56–0	16,000	[9]
November 20	at Maryland*		Griffith Stadium Washington, DC	W 34–0	21,000	[10]
November 27	Tennessee	No. 15	Dudley Field Nashville, TN (rivalry)	W 28–6	24,074	[11]
December 3	at Miami (FL)*	No. 12	Burdine Stadium Miami, FL	W 33–6	28,952	[12]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

See also: 1948 college football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	15	12 (2)