Losing 52-17 last week at home against Ole Miss was bad enough. Then Vanderbilt lost again off the field after the game.
Wide receiver Kayleb Barnett was kicked off the team Monday after being charged with aggravated assault by strangulation, identity theft and use of a false identification the day after the loss to the then-No. 9 Rebels.
Without Barnett and three other players who suffered injuries in the Ole Miss game, Vanderbilt (3-3, 0-3 SEC) will try to return to the win column Saturday night when they host Arkansas (2-4, 0-3) in Nashville, Tenn.
Coach Clark Lea said that Monday was one of his worst days with the program but said the Commodores must uphold their high standards of off-field conduct.
“We want to be proud of how we represent this university and program off the field,” he said. “We have clear standards and we fight for those standards every day. Discipline isn’t just something that you bring to the game on Saturday; it’s something you live by.”
Barnett caught seven passes for 36 yards in six games this year after posting six grabs for 53 yards and a touchdown in 12 games in 2025.
While Vanderbilt tries to pick up pieces on and off the field, Arkansas hopes to keep making progress following a near-upset of then-No. 15 Tennessee last Saturday. The Razorbacks actually led the Volunteers 14-7 in the third quarter but couldn’t hang on and fell 24-17 at home.
KJ Jackson hit 15 of 27 passes for 155 yards and a score for Arkansas, which couldn’t generate enough offense to pull off the upset. It finished with just 288 total yards and converted only 2 of 11 third downs.
A lack of offense has been the biggest problem through the season’s first half. Aside from wide receiver Chris Marshall, who has 42 catches for 605 yards, the Razorbacks have no one with more than 12 catches and 103 yards. None of their running backs has reached 175 yards in a half-season.
“We found ourselves behind the sticks,” said first-year coach Ryan Silverfield of the fourth quarter against Tennessee. “We weren’t quite as successful on first and second down.”