NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee States high-scoring offense will run into one of college footballs best linebackers Saturday night.Vanderbilts Zach Cunningham leads the Southeastern Conference with 81 tackles and 13 tackles for loss and ranks in the top five nationally. Now the 6-foot-4, 230-pound junior will try to disrupt a Tigers offense ranked 16th in the Football Championship Series scoring 36.3 points per game.Cunningham was named the national defensive player of the week by two organizations and the Southeastern Conference defensive player of the week honors for his career performance last week. Cunningham had a career-high 19 tackles, including a game-saving stop, in last weeks 17-16 upset at Georgia.That last tackle was Cunninghams best coming on fourth-and-1 to preserve Vanderbilt coach Derek Masons first SEC road victory in his third season. Its the kind of play Mason has come to expect out of Cunningham, especially against Georgia. Mason remembers how Cunningham tackled Todd Gurley, now with the NFLs Los Angeles Rams, three times when the linebacker was a freshman.Theres still guys in the NFL still trying to tackle Gurley, and they still cant get it done, Mason said. I knew then that he had the potential to be a special player.Vanderbilt (3-4) hasnt won consecutive games this season, but Mason hopes his Commodores pick up momentum from their win at Georgia.That was a snowflake, and were trying to turn it into a snowball, Mason said. Were trying to make sure we push this thing in the right direction. We felt going in we could win. Nobody else probably had that idea, but we did.TSU coach Rod Reed is hoping Vanderbilt will overlook the Tigers (5-1).Im just hoping theyre still partying and celebrating after that win because when you watch them on tape they are extremely stingy on defense, said Reed, whose team is ranked 25th in the FCS. Its going to be a tall task for us.---Here are some other things to watch for Saturday night when Vanderbilt hosts Tennessee State:CUNNINGHAMS FUTURE: Cunningham already is showing up on NFL draft projections as a first-round pick if he leaves Vanderbilt after his junior season. Cunningham said he really tries to tune out that speculation so he can focus on helping the Commodores. Obviously, thats something Im thinking about, but its not my main focus, Cunningham said.DANGEROUS RETURN MAN: Darrius Sims needs 44 yards to set Vanderbilts career record for kick returns. The senior was named SEC special teams player of the week after returning the opening kickoff 95 yards setting up the Commodores first touchdown against Georgia. Whoever didnt see that hole is blind, Sims said. Four of Sims former high school teammates play for TSU: wide receiver Patrick Smith, offensive linemen Thomas Burton and Igor Misigaro and defensive tackle Michael Perry III.PICKOFF ARTISTS: Vanderbilt quarterback Kyle Shurmur played a turnover-free game against Georgia but must be wary of TSU cornerback Ezra Robinson, who already has four interceptions. The senior transfer from Michigan State picked off two passes, one he returned 93 yards for a TD in last weeks 35-28 win over Eastern Kentucky. Tigers defensive back Terrell Bonds has three interceptions.MORE GAMES? Vanderbilt is less than 5 miles from TSU, but this is only the second game between the Nashville schools with Vandy winning 38-9 in 2006. Rods a good friend and I do believe it does make sense every, maybe, five or 10 years to play this ballgame, Mason said.RUSHING RECORD: Vanderbilt running back Ralph Webb is 355 rushing yards away from breaking Zac Stacys career school record. Stacy rushed for 3,143 yards and Webb has 2,789.---AP College Football: collegefootball.ap.orgMacKenzie Weegar Panthers Jersey .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition. Henrik Borgstrom Jersey . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. http://www.hockeypanthersofficialonline.com/aaron-ekblad-hockey-jersey/ . Speaking to the Chicago Tribune at baseballs Winter Meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Boras called the former home of the Expos a "tremendous environment" for baseball. Aleksander Barkov Jersey . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed. Keith Yandle Jersey . Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs.The Philadelphia 76ers entered a new phase of their years-long rebuilding process when coach Brett Brown elected for the first time to start two of the teams young big men, Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor, in Wednesday nights loss to the Toronto Raptors.The experiment is expected to continue Friday night, when the Sixers (6-19) host the Los Angeles Lakers (10-18). Nerlens Noel, a third highly drafted center-forward, is also expected to be available after missing all but one game this season due to injury. If he does in fact suit up, it would be the first time all three will be active for the same game.Okafor started at center and scored 17 points in the 123-114 loss to Toronto, but Embiid, who leads the Sixers and all NBA rookies in scoring (17.6), rebounding (7.5) and blocked shots (2.5), was limited to a season-low nine points while starting at power forward. He attempted just six shots from the floor, making three. They were both season lows as well.Afterward he said that for the first time this season he didnt trust the process, a pet phrase he likes to insert into every interview, and one a segment of the Philadelphia fan base has adopted ever since former general manager Sam Hinkie tore down the franchise in an attempt to build it back up again.Embiids larger point was that he wasnt active enough on either end of the floor. He and Okafor shared the court for approximately 17 minutes, and Okafor, for his part, thought it was a promising arrangement.Theres a lot for us to figure out, he said, but overall it was a positive thing, us playing together.Hinkiie used the third-overall pick in 2014 to take Embiid, who then missed two seasons while recovering from a pair of foot surgeries.dddddddddddd He is regarded as the frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year award, while there continues to be speculation that the Sixers will trade Noel, the sixth-overall pick in 2013, or Okafor, the third-overall choice in 2015.Noel missed the first 23 games this season following knee surgery in late October. He played 10 minutes Sunday in Detroit against the Pistons, then sprained his left ankle and sat out the Toronto Raptors game, Philadelphias seventh straight home loss.After a promising start the Lakers have dropped eight straight games, including Wednesdays 107-97 defeat at the Brooklyn Nets. Former Sixer Lou Williams scored 16 points off the bench for Los Angeles in that one, and leads the team with a career-best 19.2 average.Second-year guard DAngelo Russell, who missed 11 straight games after getting platelet-rich plasma therapy on his ailing right knee, has struggled since returning three games ago, averaging 10.3 points on 32.1-percent shooting.The Lakers will be without Jose Calderon (hamstring). It is unclear whether Tarik Black will be available. He has missed the last five games with a sprained right ankle.A sidelight to this game is that due to a prior trade the Sixers receive the Lakers first-round pick next June, should Los Angeles finish outside the top three in the draft lottery. ' ' '