Saturday, October 16, 2010

Time to find out who really loves Vandy football

So the Dores chalk up their worst performance against Georgia since a 45-0 loss in Athens in 1976. Fortunately, I missed the second and third quarters watching my 8-year-old son's soccer game. His team lost 4-3 in something of a moral victory.

Not even I could find a moral victory in today's game.

I told you before the game that Georgia has a better team and much better talent. But 43 points better?

Don't tell me it was Larry's fault. He got killed out there. Their secondary ate up our receivers. And our two tight ends set the tone for the game in the first quarter with Brandon Barden dropping a wide open trick pass from John Cole and then Mason Johnston fumbling a reception that was returned for a touchdown before being ruled a drop.

My biggest disappointment? Not playing Charlie Goro. You're getting killed so why not try to accomplish something instead of just throwing the same old guys out there?

It didn't help losing Joey Bailey to an ankle injury in the first half. But we rolled over and quit, at least offensively, like we haven't done since losing 71-13 to Florida in 2001 in the game that cooked Woody Widenhofer's goose. In other words, none of Bobby Johnson's teams ever looked this bad against anybody.

I'll stick with what I said after the EMU blowout: Caldwell must win at least two more games to keep his job. His remaining opponents: South Carolina, at Arkansas, Florida, at Kentucky, Tennessee and Wake Forest.

Don't tell me you think we should set the bar higher. Two wins will be a tall order.

Have a good Saturday afternoon. Remember, Georgia had way more talent than we did.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow....I really did not expect the team to quit....it looked really bad and the team looked like they were not prepared which is a coaching issue. Poor planning and poor execution....poor job from the coaching staff.

Anonymous said...

Yea, if we dont win 2 more games, fire them all. Today was sorry. I'm worried our good players are going to go else where.

Anonymous said...

Time for our players to do a gut check and find out who among them really want to represent Vandy football. If not the upperclassmen, then play the younger players who can demonstrate mental toughness and have heart, pride and passion for the game. Simply embarassing today...

Anonymous said...

I really do "love Vandy football" but today’s loss is unacceptable. This Georgia team two weeks ago was 1 - 2 and lost to Colorado. COLORADO! I just wanna know what the hell happened? It is fair to give Robbie the rest of the season to figure things out and I would be VERY surprised if we didn’t win another game. But if this team doesn’t win another game this staff will be 4 - 20 over the past two seasons. If that happens I’m desperate enough for Mike Leach. Again I would be surprised if we didn’t win another game, but I'm sick at today's lost cause I thought we had a legit shot. I like Robbie and hopes he pull this train wreck together. With South Carolina losing tonight, next week’s game is going to be a HUGE gut check for both teams.

Another Loud-Mouth VU Alum said...

Although I did not expect a win/upset, I did expect a more competitive game to be played on VU's part and this UGA game was more disappointing than the UCONN game. Larry Smith is not to take total blame for the glaring loss, but his performance is a piece of the puzzle. I'm from the old school. Some of my classmates were on the Peach Bowl team coached by Steve Sloan and I can name every player from that time; and I will ask this: Is Larry Smith a serious football player? I don't want to sound like an ass but.... How the hell can Larry Smith manage an offense and hear what's going on when he has that damn hair or whatever it is coming from beneath his helmet. Can he concentrate with that mess stuck up inside his helmet?? That's bull$h*t
Dress code be damned...Yankee management told Damon he had to get his hair cut and he did. And I don't care who looks good with this long hair in the NFL. Nothing personal, but I am burned up about the spanking Vanderbilt took today.

Dimon said...

I've been thinking about Larry too. Not his hair. But I was watching the Air Force quarterback tonight — how many stars did he get? — and he was gutsy and a leader and found a way to make a big play when he needed to, even though his team ultimately lost. I was also sorry that Charlie Goro didn't get a chance. Sure, his arm's supposed to be weak, but Larry couldn't get a pass off so what does that matter?

Chuck Heston said...

There's no doubt that Vanderbilt could, on a consistent basis, win at least 6 games, even in the SEC East. First, schedule teams from mid-majors for your non-conf. games. Second, get a high profile, or up and coming coach who has head coaching experience in a major conf. Finally, with UT in a down phase, recruit like heck in the Mid-South. If you have a high profile coach, you'll be surprised at the talent you can attract.

Unknown said...

I wholeheartedly agree with almost all of the earlier comments. However, I am not as down on Larry as others seem to be. I am not saying he is the answer, but he is not the only deficiency. Hair is not the issue. See troy Polamalu. For some reason Vandy did not show up - at all. Coaching? I am not sure yet, but that is what this inconsistency seems to point to. Perhaps we should play Funk and Goro some more, see what they can do. Get the team prepared for what looks like our bowl game - Tennessee. And hopefully we will then have the best receivers and quarterback on the field, regardless of class or prior number of games played.

Anonymous said...

After watching that game it was difficult to not want the entire staff fired. If we are going to be fair, lets see if the defense can be fixed. This was the 1st time that I saw the defense play this bad. Out of position, missed tackles, and mental errors were hard to watch. They can likely be corrected. But the offense (going on 2 years now) againsr SEC teams looked like a deer in headlights all afternoon. While I have blamed Larry Smith often, it is foolish and perhaps even racist to blame his "hair". Lets keep the conversation (blog) mature and intelligent. The entire offensive game plan seemed a step slow. I dont think Coach Kiser (OC) or Fischer (WR) should be retained. The offense has sputtered for a minimum of 2 years now. We likely have not recruited well if Larry Smith is our best chance at QB. I believe the freshman WR core should be given much more an oppty to play. I can understand if a freshman drops a pass in a tough environment. But these upper classmen WR's have not been good for 2 years now. Krause, Mathews, Boyd, and even Brady Brown must be integrated into the offense. The running game was inept because the defense does not have to respect the passing game. I hope that Caldwell starts to Coach like his job depends on it. I cant believe that David Williams wants a program that does not at least compete. Time for a national search for a quality head coach. I was really embarrassed...where is the upper-classmen leadership on this team.

Anonymous said...

Chuck is absolutely right about the scheduling point.

Also, I don't think merely winning 4 games is enough at this point. If the team lucks out two wins, but gets embarrassed by 30+ three more times, I can't view that as progress in good conscience. Two solid wins and a decent effort in losses, then sure.

Anonymous said...

Just to clarify "lucking out," think the 11-10 win over South Carolina.

This year's Ole Miss win was a solid performance.

A win in the next 3 by any means would be a solid performance. I don't care if Stephen Garcia has to fall prey to spontaneous combustion.

Will said...

I found my moral victory! It was an awesome pre-game breakfast at the Mayflower...the Dawg Walk was very cool...met some great UGA fans at a tailgate...and was awed by my first time in Sanford Stadium. My victory....We broke one of our principles and left early for the drive home and I found out Sunday that the we held them scoreless in the fourth quarter....now, that's a victory!
My opinion, I was in awe of the Georgia Nation, and I am sure that our 18 and 19 year olds were as well! Interesting when your livelyhood depends on how 18-19 year olds react on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Georgia!!
Go Dores....

Dimon said...

You're right, Will, Athens is a great place to spend a Saturday, especially if you're a psychologically prepared for a loss and you don't take it too seriously. I lived there for two years and when Vandy came to town I was psychologically prepared to lose but we actually killed them on their homecoming. By the way, why do they always play us on homecoming?

Will said...

Yep.....I also wonder why we play 8 Homecoming games this year....just lucky, I guess!!

Anonymous said...

I am sick of the play calling from our OC. I say promote Herb Hand to OC. If he can turn Tulsa into the #1 offense in the nation imagine what he could do with SEC talent. Caldwell needs to go back to being the O-Line Coach and we need to offer a blank check to David Cutcliff to leave Duke, come teach our QBs how to be leaders out there and get back to beating up SEC defenses.

DIMON KENDRICK-HOLMES said...

Cutcliffe as head coach? You mean the same guy who's getting his butt handed to him in the ACC? Duke's worse than we are.

Whether Caldwell stays or not, I guarantee Vandy's going to make some significant changes in its offensive coaching staff at the end of the season.