Gotta ride this train til it derails....best two weeks of college football since I started following Vandy as a freshman in 1989. http://www.postherald.com/sp091305.shtml 2-0 start for Vandy has fans dreaming Easy Writer By SCOTT ADAMSON BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD PASADENA, CALIF. — Jay Cutler scrambled around in his own end zone until the clock hit double zeroes. No problem. Cutting inside at the Commodore 35, Marlon White reeled in the aerial, broke away from the Southern California defense and raced untouched — and into history — as Vanderbilt stunned the defending national champions 33-28 before more than 100,00 fans in the Rose Bowl. Not only did it cap off a 13-0 campaign for a team that had previously never even claimed a league crown, but it wrapped up what many are already calling the most unlikely national championship in college football history. OK, that's not going to happen. But when was the last time it was great to be a Vanderbilt Commodore two games into a football season? I'll tell you when. It was 1988, which was the last time the Black and Gold played their first two football games and walked away with the most points in both. A fellow by the name of Watson Brown was head coach back then. Unfortunately, the ÃDores would be victorious just once more that year, marking the sixth consecutive season Vandy had a losing record. That streak now stands at 23. But there's hope in Nashville. There's optimism about football. Not for the beloved Tennessee Titans, a rebuilding franchise that will be lucky to win five games this year, but for the Commodores. The unbeaten Commodores. The Commodores who are now tied for first place in the SEC Eastern Division. How long will it last? Oh, to dream a little dream. I'm not suggesting Wake Forest or Arkansas are world-beaters, because likely they aren't. But Vandy did win both games, and both came on the road. That's impressive. And with five consecutive home games on tap — the next three coming against, in order, Ole Miss, Richmond and Middle Tennessee — there is a decent chance the 'Dores could improve to 5-0. When was Vandy last 5-0? That would be 1943, the war-shortened season in which Coach Doby Bartling guided Vanderbilt to victories over Tennessee Tech, Camp Campbell, Milligan, Carson-Newman and Tennessee Tech. I think worse case scenario — unless it's discovered that quarterback Jay Cutler is, in fact, a supehero from Planet Krypton and is forced to rejoin his brother in the Fortress of Solitude before next Saturday — the ÃDores are 4-1 through five. That means they would be just two wins removed from a bowl. And when was the last time VU went bowling? That would be 1982, when the Nashville cats came here to Legion Field and lost 36-28 to Air Force in the late, great Hall of Fame Bowl. The remaining schedule consists of LSU (home), Georgia (home), South Carolina (away), Florida (away), Kentucky (home) and Tennessee (away) That's when things get tough. Realistically, Kentucky is probably the only remaining opponent that Vandy would be given a good shot at beating. That makes a 5-0 start even more imperative. Don't get me wrong — I'd love to see Bobby Johnson's crew run the table. It'd be the Second Greatest Story Ever Told. But unless the end times are at hand, that won't happen. But I'd gladly settle for a winning regular season, and I imagine most folks who have pulled for Vandy all these years feel the same way. At 6-5, it wouldn't matter if the smart guys spent the holidays in Shreveport or Remlap, they'd have proved that winning football was possible at the Harvard of the South. Just barely possible, but possible nonetheless.
3-0 With a nice tribute to our running back who was murdered Christmas night.. These players are playing for their murdered teammate... RIP K Doster
Great freaking game, too. Nailbiter. Now I am going to Europe for 2 weeks and hopefully...when I come back...we'll be 5-0
mateo.. yep it was a great game... I'm so glad we are actually winning some games my senior year... my first 3 yrs here we won 2 games each year... crowd was probably best since I've been here today... hopefully we win the next 2 as we should to go 5-0...
WOOOOOOOOOOO - Vandy is 3-0 baby! Got to give it up to my mother's alma mater! I was watching on Jefferson Pilot and when the Dores got up 21-3, I figured the game was over and then I heard they let Ole Miss back in it. Fortunately, unlike the Vandy teams of old, this one stayed strong and didn't fold. No question they beat Richmond and hopefully they beat my alma mater, Middle Tennessee which has been a major problem for them the last 2 years (newsflash to my alma mater - we should have stayed in I-AA where we were dominant). Kentucky could be a problem but I have a feeling not much of one. Hell, I think that Vandy may even pull an upset on South Carolina (who are getting absolutely waxed today by Alabama) or Georgia.
manny.. I'm thinking we should beat Richmond next week and MTSU and should be favored against Kentucky... we lost to MTSU last time we played but Cutler didn't play in that game.. 6-5 I assume would get us a bowl bid.. Now I'd love to knock off at least one of the bigger guys.. even if we can't though.. even 6-5 would help recruiting quite a bit.. being able to refer to at least one winning season since the guys have been alive! Cutler is the real deal. a shame that most of the country doesn't know who he is quite possibly top 5 qb in nation
mateo.. yeah they still dress up big time.. and a huge number of people even wear shorts with their ties and dress shirts... the hustler had a whole page feature on Friday about which designer dresses to wear to the game... as for today, it was especially bad because the ole miss fans seem to dress up as well.. but their dressing up isn't quite to our level. they wear like red pants etc.. we don't wear gold pants and jackets
oh and mateo.. this isn't football related but we are in the running for one of the top players in the nation for basketball.. his final four are vandy, kentucky, duke, unc, and louisville.. our advantage being that he is from nashville.. this is the type guy who is so good that the age limit is what kept him out of nba straight from high school..
his final five.. i forgot it was five and didn't change the four when I added louisville to that list
Glad I didn't go to Vandy or Ole Miss then. (I've seen the Ole Miss people.) I never understood why you would dress up to go to a ball game... seems uncomfortable for walking in from the parking lot, sitting on bleachers in the prevailing weather conditions, and jumping up and cheering for your team... not to mention that I always thought you were supposed to wear your team T-shirt. Just depends on what tradition you're used to. (And, for schools where you have to have a date to the game, I never understood that. I would think that this would be one of those comfortable situations where you could hang out and not have to abide by the rules of formal dating... or (at certain schools) have to kiss your date when the team scores, whether you feel like it or not.)
madmax.. I guess we'll give Baylor some credit too.. I still think it would make the games more exciting if you let the live bears you keep on campus roam the stadium during games
