I know that the Vanderbilt Commodores are the Bad News Bears of the SEC. And Robbie Caldwell is by far the most lovable coach in the league, most certainly Walter Matthau to Nick Saban's Ben Gazzara ( i realize i am the only person who has ever made that comparison). Still, at some point, these guys have to win a game. More importantly, they need to win against a conference opponent, something they haven't been able to do in two years.
Last night's at home loss to LSU was a route, not a game. While Vanderbilt's defense made a commendable effort in the first half, and did manage to silence LSU's supposedly muscular offense for a time, Vanderbilt QB Larry Smith showed he still lacks the basic confidence to lead a team down the field, even with one of the more outstanding running backs in the SEC, Warren Norman, in his backfield.
Vandy fans are used to losing. They are also used to not caring. A lot of them are used to practicing law or medicine. So needless to say, being the perennial underdogs of the toughest football league in the NCAA has given birth to a lot of apathy and even some outside sympathy. But at some point, Vanderbilt has to learn how to compete with the big boys, even if it means an unorthodox approach to offense (running the wild cat etc), especially in situations where the deck is woefully stacked against them.
Yes,a 27-3 loss is the kind of inter-conference score Vanderbilt fans are more than used to at this point. But if things don't turn around this coming weekend against Ole Miss, it's going to be mighty tough to keep Vandy fans caring about what happens on the field every Saturday this season.
No comments:
Post a Comment