Victory..

Folks, that was the Vanderbilt Football team that I have been waiting three weeks to see. Our offense looked like the unit that it was billed all summer to be, and our defense really stepped up. First of all, let me say that my 28-18 prediction was pretty close, but the Commodores had to out do me. A couple of notes and observations:

-Offense- Looked incredible. Like a totally different unit than the one who played abysmally against Alabama last week. Nickson was making good throws, CJG was running the ball well (much to the Burglars chagrin.) The Commodores, for the first time since the victory over the Rebs in 2005, had a 100 yd Rusher (Jackson-Garrison), and 100 yd Receiver (Bennett), and a 200 yd Passer (Nickson). In 2005, it was the trio of Jennings, E. Davis, and J. Cutler that accomplished the feat. If our ground game can take control of the tempo like that every week, we WILL be in every game. Also, Nickson was throwing the ball much better. He still made some throws that made me cringe, but all in all he had a great game. I also liked how we utilized short passes more than we did last week. If you're moving the chains every two plays, you don't need to take shots at the end zone every third down.

-Defense- Looked great. Held a great running back, who ran for 230 yds against a good Mizzou team, to less than 70 yds. We finally heard from Jon Goff this weekend (I Told you he was hungry), and our secondary played relatively well. However, the one thing I noticed is that if there is a quarterback who can throw the long ball in, we are screwed. We get beat on deep balls 7 out of 10 times, and that is something we will need to improve with teams like UGA, AU, and UF (who looked incredible against UcheaT this weekend) on the way. DJ Moore looked great in the backfield.

-Special Teams- Atrocious. I will say this, I have absolutely NO confidence in Vanderbilt's kicking ability. Whether that be punting, or place-kicking, no confidence. I do not understand how Vanderbilt could be so bad at this aspect of the game. I personally saw kids on the rec fields that could kick better than what I have seen this year. Obviously, CBJ doesn't have much confidence, because instead of kicking a 48 yarder from the 31, he went for it on fourth (great decision BTW). Anyways, why can't we throw some cocky, preppy soccer player from MBA or Brentwood in there, and problem solved.

Anyways, all in all, it was a fantastic game to watch, especially with a bunch of kids from Ole Miss. Sossy, I hope the lunch that you won tasted delicious.

I like the fact that the Dores have two weeks for some R&R, a solid warm-up against E Michigan, and then a trip to Jordan-Hare Stadium to face a vulnerable Auburn team, which after this weeks loss to MSU in Auburn, will be looking for blood against the Commodores.