The Vanderbilt Commodores have been on a rollercoaster the past month. Coaches were preparing for camp leading up to the September 4th opener against Northwestern when head coach Bobby Johnson announced he was stepping down. School administration scrambled to find a replacement finally naming Robbie Caldwell the new head man. He inherits a team that won just two games in 2009 and brings back 11 starters. Vanderbilt is a long shot at +10000 to win the SEC East division. View the full conference breakdown in our 2010 SEC football predictions article.
Vanderbilt's offense was nearly non existent at times last season, managing just 16 points/game and only 146 yards through the air per contest. Their running game was definitely the strength and sophomore RB Warren Norman is one of the more dynamic offensive players in the SEC. The speedy Norman was voted freshman player of the year in the SEC after breaking Herschel Walker's record for all purpose yards in a season with 1,941 yards. Granted, most of those yards were gained in kickoff returns as he collected 1050 yards and three touchdowns in that area. Who will be handing the ball off to Norman is uncertain. Larry Smith brings the most experience to the table, but was ineffective for the most part last year before suffering a season ending injury in the 9th game. His touchdown to interception ratio of almost 1:2 will not get it down at the Division 1 level. Redshirt Charlie Goro and junior college transfer Jordan Rodgers will press Smith for the starting position. Vanderb ilt's top three receivers return this season led by John Cole and his 36 catches. Brandon Barden is effective at tight end catching the ball over the middle. Udom Umoh should hit the two deep to round out the receiving core. The offensive line is going to have to be completely rebuilt after losing all five starters and could be noticeably weaker.
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The defense returns five starters from a group that allowed over 23 points/game and gave up a lot real estate on the ground to the opposition. Quarterback play was down in the SEC a season ago and was the main reason why Vandy held opponents to just 165 yards passing/game. LB Chris Marve is the heart and soul of the defense. His 121 tackles led the team by a considerable amount and was good enough to earn 2nd team All SEC honors. Joining Marve at linebacker is John Stokes, who has seen quite a bit of game action. The defensive line must improve in 2010 if the Commodores plan on lowering the rush yards allowed. DT Adam Smotherman tore his ACL in spring practice and is hoping to return for SEC play. TJ Greenstone joins him at tackle as a returning starter also. 2nd team all conference CB Myron Lewis was a 3rd round draft pick by the Tampa Bay Bucs. Casey Hayward will take over as the top corner and hook up with other team's top receivers. He had a team high 8.5 tackles for l oss as a sophomore. Special teams should be a strength with K Ryan Fowler returning (hit 16 of 21 fgs) and Warren Norman returning kicks once again.
Vandy opens with back-to-back home games vs. Northwestern and conference foe LSU. They will have two SEC games under their belt by the middle of September. The majority of their games will be on home turf, even if it is in a stadium that holds under 40,000. Rivalry games await in the middle of November with games against Kentucky and Tennessee. This is going to be a rebuilding year and I would be shocked if they win more than four games. I predict yet another 2-10 finish
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