One fatal flaw for every remaining Vanderbilt football opponent on 2023 schedule

Vanderbilt football is still searching for an SEC win in 2023 after a plethora of struggles early in the season. With just four games remaining, time is running out to avoid a 2-10 overall record.

There are still a handful of opportunities left for the Commodores (2-6, 0-4 SEC), though. Road games against Ole Miss and Tennessee are significantly more difficult, but Auburn and South Carolina have both struggled this season and could be beatable.

In order to win, though, Vanderbilt will need to take advantage of the problems its opponents have, just as it did a year ago in wins over Kentucky and Florida, both of which came in November.

Here is the primary fatal flaw of every remaining opponent for the Commodores:

Ole Miss

Fatal flaw: Special teams

At 6-1, this issue hasn't affected Ole Miss too much yet. The Rebels can make up for a lot with their potent offense, but they rank near the bottom of the SEC in net punting, punt return defense and kick returns. They've also allowed one blocked kick and one blocked punt this season.

Combined with Lane Kiffin's affinity for going for it on fourth down − Ole Miss is fourth in the country and top in the SEC in number of fourth-down attempts − that can lead to favorable field position for opponents. Vanderbilt, which leads the country in net punting, is well equipped to win the field position game in this matchup, though a lot else would need to go right to win.

Auburn

Fatal flaw: Passing offense

By many metrics, Auburn has the worst passing offense in the SEC. The Tigers are last in the conference in total passing yardage, yards per completion, yards per attempt, passing efficiency, third-down conversion percentage and passing plays of 10 or more yards.

Worse still, Auburn doesn't seem to know what it wants to be on offense, as it's consistently rotated quarterbacks Payton Thorne and Robby Ashford, which has caused some confusion among the players.

This is an area in which Vanderbilt may well be able to take advantage. The Commodores have struggled to defend the pass, but Auburn may not be able to do much to expose that.

South Carolina

Fatal flaw: Rushing offense

South Carolina is somewhat the opposite of Auburn offensively. The Tigers can run but not throw; the Gamecocks have an excellent quarterback in Spencer Rattler to go along with one of the worst run games in the SEC. South Carolina is last in the conference in tackles for loss allowed and 13th in yards per rushing attempt, rushing yards per game and 10+ yard rushing plays.

Vanderbilt, too, lacks much semblance of a run game, but arguably, South Carolina's is even worse. Though the Commodores average fewer yards per game on the ground, that's due more to choosing to run less often; when they do run, they gain more yards on average than the Gamecocks.

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Tennessee

Fatal flaw: Penalties

Tennessee has not been nearly as explosive as a year ago, but the Vols rate out average to good in most areas − except one.

Tennessee is last in the SEC in penalties per game and 13th in penalty yardage per game. That's a lot of unforced yards the Vols are giving up. The Vols cede 67.1 yards per game in penalties while Vanderbilt yields just 42.6 penalty yards per game, second in the SEC behind Georgia.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Vanderbilt football can beat opponents left on 2023 schedule