Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason watches as players warm up before an NCAA college football game against Florida, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Vanderbilt got clobbered in its opener last season – 37-7 by Temple at home on opening night – in football coach Derek Mason’s first game at the helm.

Now the Commodores get Western Kentucky in the same situation – at home on the opening Thursday night, Sept. 3 – but Mason told reporters Monday at the SEC Fooball Media Days in Hoover, Ala., that he expects a different result.

“2014 has got nothing to do with 2015, first of all,” Mason said in a news conference streamed live on the SEC Network. “I think this football team is a different football team than we had a year ago.”

Vanderbilt labored to a 3-9 record in Mason’s debut last year, including 0-8 in SEC play, but he said the Commodores are now worrying about “real self,” as opposed to the notion of “ideal self” last year.

They’re also not overlooking anyone.

“We don’t move past anybody,” Mason said. “When it’s time to play Western Kentucky, we’ll be ready to play. This football team is primed to take one game at a time. Western Kentucky is a good football team, and we want to make sure we play well on opening day.”

Mason said Vanderbilt’s opener against WKU “matters to us in terms of making a statement.”

Mason named himself defensive coordinator in the offseason and has the tough task of slowing WKU’s potent offense, led by sixth-year senior quarterback Brandon Doughty. 

“Every day, to be honest,” said Mason of how often he prepares for the Tops. “There’s not a day that goes by. I was looking at my iPad last night. That’s what we do. We try to make sure that we can assess who they are and make sure we can find ways to minimize their strengths.

“Doughty’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and he’s got a run game to go along with that receiving corps and those tight ends.”

— Zach Greenwell