I'm hosting my brother's bachelor party this weekend, so I'm not going to be doing any hardcore cooking for the Vandy game. Therefore, I'll keep this one short and just offer a few random culinary musings.
One thing that I'm planning on making one weekend this fall is a seven-layer taco dip. This is a great football dish particularly if you're tailgating. It appeals to most tastes, and for tailgating food, it's a relatively nutritious dish (lots of fresh tomato and green pepper) that will give you the energy you need to make it through a long day out in the sun. It's also a dish that won't weigh you down too much during the game if you enjoy it with a couple too many beers.
For beer, instead of giving you a pairing suggestion for the dip, I'd like to give a shout out to an excellent beer I tried Friday night: the Yeti Imperial Stout. This is a heavy, high-ABV brew, so it might be more ideal for a post-game victory toast than for something to have with your meal during the game. I'd definitely recommend being wary of trying to have several of these during a hot September tailgate. That said, this is an excellent beer in a style that's not usually on my go-to list. It's hoppy for a stout at 75 IBUs, and the floral hop bitterness balances nicely with the typical roasted coffee bitterness. The beer is also easy-drinking for an imperial stout, despite my aforementioned warning. I've had a few of these that that tasted like coffee with a shot of vodka in it, but this one was much smoother. This is a beer you have to try.
Lastly, I wanted to give a shout-out to our friends over at Arrowhead Pride. GenericBrand is a Gamecocks fan out in KC who was inspired by What's Cooking at GABA to put up this excellent article on how to fry a turkey. If you've not had fried turkey, you don't know what you're missing. This is not only a brilliant idea for something to cook Saturday afternoon before the game, but something that you should add to your Thanksgiving spread, too.