I'm not saying Vanderbilt has a terrible defense but they have yet to be tested against the likes of Middle Tennessee State and Nevada. To put this in some perspective, Vanderbilt's defense last year gave up over 40 pts per game once they entered into SEC play. They may be improved on D, but don't let the #19 ranking fool you. On a side note, however, Mason comes from the David Shaw coaching tree. David Shaw has owned Brian Kelly the past 8 seasons. I have zero doubt that Mason and Shaw have spoken to each other at some point regarding this game. Mason knows what Kelly likes to do. There will be no mystery since he coached with Shaw at Stanford.