Vanderbilt will get no help from Marcus Lattimore

I like Marcus Lattimore. We all know he's a spectacular running back and will be playing on Sundays in a couple of years. But he's also a good kid who works hard, plays hard, does what he's told and is more concerned with winning than looking good.

Oh, and he's taking Vanderbilt seriously.

“I saw they beat Ole Miss. It’s a new Vandy,” Lattimore told the Tennessean. “You can’t roll over them. It’s always tough when we play them.

“They’ve got a real good defense and we’ve got to step up to the challenge. I feel like they don’t care who you are. They don’t care where you’re ranked. They’re going to play hard and play hard the whole game.”

Remember after Vandy's 2007 win over the Gamecocks in Columbia, when the Gamecocks whined to reporters after the game that they were better than Vanderbilt and should never have lost to them?

Remember after Vandy's 2008 win over the Gamecocks in Nashville, when the Commodores were hanging on to a slim margin late in the game and cornerback Captain Munnerlyn lost his cool and racked up a couple of personal fouls in a row that helped seal a victory for us?

I wish Marcus Lattimore wasn't such a good kid. I wish he thought he could just show up on Saturday and whip Vandy all by himself. I wish he was laughing at Vandy right now and getting his swagger on.

I wish he was a punk like Captain Munnerlyn.

Oh well. Maybe some of the other Gamecocks can help us out.

You listening, Stephen Garcia?

Vandy's game with the Gamecocks will be uglier than we thought

Each Saturday, we like to examine our preseason prediction for that day's game and then stick with it.

Two months ago, we predicted Vandy would lose 27-20 to South Carolina.

No way.

Vandy's going to be just what the doctor ordered for the Gamecocks, just like we were just what the doctor ordered last weekend for the Georgia Bulldogs. It's very unfortunate for us that Kentucky beat SC last week.

Sure, we've beaten SC two out of the last three years. But those teams didn't have the offensive line that this team has. Don't be too glad about Lattimore missing the start today; his backup is the guy who gained 125 yards against us last season. And Alshon Jeffery should have a field day against us.

Don't forget that we'll have a true freshman starting at center against a stout defensive front, and don't forget that our starting tackles are still gimpy.

I really, really hope we score some points. The team seemed angry and embarrassed after the Georgia loss, and hopefully they don't get embarrassed today. But their odds of winning are very slim.

Call it 24-3 Gamecocks.

But don't go jump off a building if we lose. We have no business winning this game. Instead, we need to figure out something we can do offensively, get our young O-linemen some more quality minutes, and shore up our weaknesses on defense.

In fact, that's what we need to do in our next three games. OK, go ahead and say we can beat Florida. Do you know how loaded with talent the Gators are? We'll be just what the doctor ordered for them too. No, we need to focus on self-improvement and building a solid foundation for the future.

Then maybe we can have some success when we finish our season with three progressively weaker opponents: Kentucky, Tennessee and Wake Forest. Beating two of three of those teams would be a big deal for us and give us some momentum heading into 2011.

As for 2011, here's what we need to do:
• Get a whole new offensive coaching staff. It's time for a change. We recruit marginal SEC talent on both sides of the ball, but our defense is always competitive because of our defensive coaches and schemes. In fact, our defense looks so great because our offense is so unbelievably bad. I'm glad we've changed coordinators and schemes, but we need to keep changing until we find something that works. Anything else is just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
• Get Jordan Rodgers healed and give him the ball next season. We'll be much better at all positions but quarterback next season and then even better in 2012. So we need to go with a quarterback in 2011 who'll be around in 2012. Rodgers is redshirting and will be available to fit the bill. Let's redshirt Damien Fleming next season and get him ready to be a three year starter in 2013. Meanwhile, Larry's got six more games to change our minds, and I hope he does.

Vandy's your daddy, or did you forget?

Well, I was going to blog today about D.J. Moore's progress in the Bears mini-camp but, really, who cares? What does it mean if he shuts down George Smith and looks great? Nothing. We'll know more in preseason games, but we're not really gonna know jack until D.J. gets into real game situations in the real regular season.

So anyway today I offer you a video called "Vandy's Our Daddy," prepared by a pseudo Gamecock fan who is actually a Clemson Tiger celebrating Vanderbilt's two-year run of domination over Steve Spurrier and friends. Very funny, and a reminder that our next date with South Carolina is only about five and a half months away.