1940 Vanderbilt Commodores football team

The 1940 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 1940 college football season. The Commodores were led by Red Sanders, in his first season as head coach. Members of the Southeastern Conference, Vanderbilt went 3–6–1 overall and 1–5–1 in conference play.

1940 Vanderbilt Commodores football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	3–6–1 (1–5–1 SEC)
Head coach	Red Sanders (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Single-wing
Captain	John Ellis
Home stadium	Dudley Field
Seasons ← 1939 1941 →

1940 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 4 Tennessee $	5	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Mississippi State	4	–	0	–	1			10	–	0	–	1
Ole Miss	3	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Alabama	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Auburn	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
LSU	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Georgia	2	–	3	–	1			5	–	4	–	1
Florida	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Kentucky	1	–	2	–	2			5	–	3	–	2
Tulane	1	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Vanderbilt	1	–	5	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Georgia Tech	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Sewanee	0	–	1	–	0			3	–	5	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Vanderbilt was ranked at No. 63 (out of 697 college football teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score system for 1940.^[1]

The Commodores played their seven home games at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 28		Washington & Lee*	Dudley Field Nashville, TN	W 19–0	9,000	[2]
October 5		at Princeton*	Palmer Stadium Princeton, NJ	L 6–7	16,000	[3]
October 12		Kentucky	Dudley Field Nashville, TN (rivalry)	T 7–7	15,000	[4]
October 19		at Georgia Tech	Grant Field Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	L 0–19	20,000	[5]
October 26		at LSU	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	L 0–7	20,000	[6]
November 2		Ole Miss	Dudley Field Nashville, TN (rivalry)	L 7–13	13,000	[7]
November 9		Sewanee	Dudley Field Nashville, TN (rivalry)	W 20–0	6,500	[8]
November 16	2:00 p.m.	Tennessee Tech*	Dudley Field Nashville, TN	W 21–0	4,000	[9][10][11]
November 23		No. 17 Alabama	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	L 21–25	14,000	[12]
November 30		No. 6 Tennessee	Dudley Field Nashville, TN (rivalry)	L 0–20	25,000	[13]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[14]