It's game day! Here's an inspirational quote

OK, so we're supposed to beat the Western Carolina Catamounts or whatever they are by a ton of points. I think we will.

As you watch games on television and prepare to follow Vandy's game tonight, I wanted to leave you with this quote from John Sisk, the Commodore strength coach:

"It has always been the perception that if you get to the fourth quarter, Vanderbilt is going to quit. My whole philosophy since I've been here is that is when we are going to work to get stronger. Everybody thinks they are going to get us in the fourth quarter because we are going to fold. My mentality is that this isn't the same old Vanderbilt, and you have to get past that. To get past it you've got to mentally train them, they have to buy into it, and they have to know that we have another gear."

You can read more from Sisk on the official VU site.

Happy opening Saturday!

Moral Victory! predictions for Saturday's college football games

We'll go ahead and get it out of the way: Vanderbilt will beat Western Carolina handily. Big surprise. The defense will have some big plays, maybe even score a touchdown. Larry Smith will do just fine. Zac Stacy will do just fine, and so will Warren Norman.

As for Jared Hawkins, we've been hearing for the last eight months or so that foot injuries can be tricky, and boy, has that been the truth with Jared. Even healthy, by midseason he'd be feeling the heat from Stacy and Norman and maybe even Tate.

I think Zac Stacy starts. He and Norman are tied for second on the depth chart behind Hawkins, who likely won't play. Everybody's talking about how freshmen can't pick up blitzes, but that's one thing players like Bradley Vierling noticed right away about Zac Stacy: he can pick up the blitz.

As for Wesley Tate playing, I just don't see why Bobby would burn the redshirts off three true freshmen tailbacks when his scheme calls for only one of them to play at a time. Stacy appears to be the most ready to play, and Norman is a pass-catching threat out of the backfield and could even line up wide if needed. Kennard Reeves has been running well between the tackles and even got some work at the Wildcat or Dorecat or whatever they're calling it where the tailback takes a direct snap, and Jermaine Doster has been a load too.

I say Stacy starts, Reeves plays next, and Norman gets in the game by the second quarter. Also, I think Larry can't resist and runs out of the pocket and looks good and the coaches spend all next week explaining that he can't pull that against LSU.

OK, Vanderbilt 31-12.

Other games from around the SEC:

Kentucky vs. Miami (Ohio): The RedHawks should play the Wildcats closer than they played the Commodores in last season's SEC opener. Kentucky 24-14.

Western Kentucky at Tennessee: The Volunteers have far superior talent, and unlike Phil Fulmer in last season's opener against UCLA, young Lane is not one to play it close to the vest. He's going to try to exploit the weaker team and put this one away fast. Tennessee 30-7.

Georgia at Oklahoma State: A tough, tough opener for the Bulldogs. But the Dawgs are loaded with talent, as usual, and I think their defense will be vastly improved. Also, fifth-year Joe Cox is a much better quarterback than people give him credit for. This is not Mackenzi Adams, who's been backing up Chris Nickson for three years. This is Joe Cox, who's been backing up the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft for three years. Big difference. Bulldogs by a field goal, or maybe more. Georgia 20-17.

Jackson State at Miss State: Dan Mullen will probably be satisfied to overpower this week's opponent with superior talent, give his quarterbacks and receivers some simple tasks to execute, and leave the other SEC teams guessing for at least another week. MSU 21-7.

La Tech at Auburn: The Tigers will be much better than people think this season. Which means their defense will still scare the daylights out of people and their offense will actually score some points. Expect a big year from Mario Fannin. Auburn 28-10.

Missouri State at Arkansas: The Razorbacks have a lot of young talent. Expect it to only get better. Oh, and quarterback Ryan Mallett, another high-profile transfer from a football power, could have as big an impact on the league as Jevan Snead did last year. Arkansas 25-14.

Charleston Southern at Florida: This is a stupid and unfair matchup. Florida 45-0.

Alabama vs. Virginia Tech: This should be a good one, with lots of big hits and some outstanding individual plays on offense (can you say Julio?). Alabama 17-7.

LSU at Washington: The Huskies will play hard and will keep it close for a while. LSU 28-10.

Ole Miss at Memphis: The Rebels are loaded with Orgeron-recruited talent, and they had a great season last year, but I still think they're overrated. Ole Miss 24-14.

2009 Moral Victory! SEC Preseason Power Ratings go back to the history books

I like making predictions as much as the next person, but I don't take much stock in my own predictions or anybody else's. Instead, I prefer to sit back and watch what happens — and marvel at how little it makes sense some time.

Think about it: Last season Vandy beats South Carolina, Ole Miss, Auburn and Boston College — and loses to Miss State and Duke. Made no sense, did it?

This season, I hope our games over teams we're supposed to beat — Western Carolina, Rice, Army and probably Miss State — make lots of sense. And that our games against teams like LSU and Florida defy logic.

Just watched South Carolina underwhelm NC State 7-3. Gamecocks have a scary fast defense, a bad offense and lots of great young athletes. Not sure how they'll do the rest of the season.

Which leads me to our SEC power ratings. I'm ranking the teams based on where they were at the end of the season. Each week, I'll update the teams based on how they're doing so far. You know, a merit-based system, as opposed to one based on potential.

So we'll start this season's first ratings with last season's final ratings. And if a team wants to improve their ranking? — well, they'll just have to earn it:

1. Florida, 13-1 (8-1): Finished strong and won the national championship.
2. Alabama, 12-2 (8-1): Lost only to the top two teams in the nation.
3. Ole Miss, 9-4 (5-3): The only team to beat Florida; looked unbeatable at the end of the season and whipped Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl.
4. Georgia, 10-3 (6-2): Didn't show up against Alabama or Florida and got taken to school by the Yellow Jackets, then drew a middling Michigan State team in its bowl.
5. LSU, 8-5 (3-5): Stumbled badly at the end of the season but whipped Georgia Tech in the Yellow Jackets' backyard.
6. Vanderbilt, 7-6 (4-4): That victory in Oxford just kept looking better and better, doesn't it? Miracle win over a tough Boston College team was a beautiful ending to a beautiful season.
7. South Carolina, 7-6 (4-4): A scrappy team that fell apart at the end of the season and decided not to show up against Iowa in the Outback Bowl. Still a big question mark after winning the season opener to NC State.
8. Kentucky, 7-6 (2-6): A weak non-conference schedule and a stout defense boosted Cats into a bowl, where they played hard and beat East Carolina.
9. Tennessee, 5-7 (3-5): Finished strong with wins over eventual bowl champions Vanderbilt and Kentucky, and now the Volunteer faithful have renewed hope, thanks to their fresh-faced coach, his Dream Team of assistants, and a bunch of highly rated freshmen.
10. Arkansas, 5-7 (2-6): The only SEC team that didn't go to a bowl that didn't fire its coach. Petrino did a nice job given the circumstances and returns a ton of starters.
11. Auburn, 5-7 (2-6): After the Vanderbilt loss, the Tigers could only muster a victory over Tennessee-Martin. Now they're starting over with the blandest head coach in the history of the world and a bunch of accomplished assistants.
12. Miss State, 4-8 (2-6): A sad season that ended with a thrashing at the hands of the Rebels and the firing of Coach Croom, and now renewed hope thanks to new coach Dan Mullen.

Larry Smith and Mackenzi Adams say Johnson never told them who was starting at quarterback for Vandy

You know how Bobby Johnson announced in a press conference Monday that Larry Smith was the starting quarterback? Apparently, it was news to both Smith and the quarterback he beat out, Mackenzi Adams.

Smith told the Tennessean's Jeff Lockridge that he found out when a cousin text-messaged him on his way to class.

"I was actually surprised because nobody else contacted me about it," Smith said. He added that he believed her and wasn't surprised, but that "it just caught me off guard that I found out through my cousin."

When told this, Johnson said: "Oh, Larry knew that."

Here's what Mackenzi told Lockridge: "I talked to the coaches in the spring and I knew they wanted to see how Larry would develop and were kind of pushing for him to be the starter. It's frustrating. Fourth time around. It's really frustrating. I wasn't really told. I kind of found out when Coach Johnson had his press conference."

So what happened? Johnson doesn't seem like the kind of guy to keep his players in the dark.

During the press conference, somebody almost reluctantly asked Johnson if he'd named a quarterback and he said Larry was the guy.

Maybe Johnson had planned to tell Larry and Mac first but then somebody asked him and he gave his answer. Or maybe he thought they'd figured it out. I mean, nobody was surprised. Larry had been getting more reps in practice. But if Mac really did find out from Johnson's press conference then that's a shame. He's earned the right to be told ahead of time.

Vanderbilt starting quarterback Larry Smith, I mean 'L-Train,' says true freshmen receivers looking good

Got a new Ask-a-Dore segment on the athletic department site and, lo and behold, it features Larry Smith, but the interview was conducted before the announcement that he would be the starting quarterback.

I'll run down the highlights for you, but must first say two things:

1) Larry had an extremely hard act to follow in Jamie Graham, who's a hilarious guy and good in front of a mike.

2) Larry apparently graduated from the Nuke LaLoosh school of interviewing. For example, he likes to answer questions with a friendly "most definitely," and he answers questions about the preseason with a friendly "we're taking it practice by practice," and questions about the season with a friendly "we're taking it game by game."

Fortunately for you, I'm a patient listener and have listened to the 8-minute interview and gleaned a few interesting facts for you:

• True freshmen receivers Brady Brown and Collin Ashley have been impressive in spring practice: When asked about the receiving corps, Larry said, "We young," and then, unprompted, he mentioned two receivers, Brown and Ashley, saying they were both "stepping up good." That's good to hear.

• Larry was an Air Force brat: Larry's dad was stationed in California, then North Carolina, then Alabama. "We're kind of fortunate because we only lived in three places," he said.

• Why Larry wears the number 10: Because as a boy he was a fan of Kordell Stewart and Chipper Jones.

• High school nickname: L-Train, but people haven't called him that in Nashville...yet. The above picture shows Larry in full L-Train mode at Prattville High School.

• His roommate since he got to Vanderbilt: Jermaine Doster. "We're real neat," he says. Now receiver Justin Green has joined them. Justin may refuse to make up his bed until Larry starts throwing him the ball.

• Something we may not know about Broderick Stewart: His nickname is High Definition.

• On the importance of swag: "You got to have swag on the field. Without swag you have low confidence." And does Alex Washington really have the most swag on the team? "Alex thinks he has the most swag, but I give it to him."

Fewer quarterback draws, and other things Vandy fans can feel good about

With three games until the season opener with Western Carolina, here are some things Vandy can feel good about:

1. The team plans to run the quarterback less:

In Monday's press conference in which he announced Larry Smith was starting, Coach Bobby Johnson said this: "We’re probably going to run the quarterback less this year than we ever have." Good.

He continued: "We’re gonna try to run the running backs more and throw the ball a little bit. When you depend on the quarterback running more you increase the chance of getting him hurt and having to run them back and forth. That probably was a big thing with our situation last year." Isn't that what we wanted to hear? A little bit of self-awareness that Johnson likes to run the quarterback but realizes it may have led to some of our problems.

2. Larry Smith is the starter, and he'll only be replaced if he gets injured or melts down:

On Monday, Johnson was trying to be gracious and praise Mackenzi Adams and Jared Funk after he named Smith the starter, and one reporter misunderstood him and asked Johnson to confirm that he was saying he could play any quarterback at any time on any given Saturday. To which Johnson, thankfully, said: "No, I didn’t say that. Larry’s the starter. He’s going to play." The next day, Johnson told a radio station of Smith: "He knows he's gonna be the guy."

3. Larry Smith is not going to melt down:

The team was wowed by his coolness under pressure in the Music City Bowl. Remember that he threw a huge third-down pass to George Smith to set up the winning field goal. "You walk out there and make that call and you’ve got 10 other sets of eyes looking at you," Johnson said. "There are lots of guys out there with great arms and big and strong and can run, (but) quarterback is making good decisions, taking advantage of things you see, and we feel like larry can do that for us."

4. The secondary is in good shape, and Casey Hayward is a rising star:

Hayward's been a star at cornerback in spring and preseason practice. Johnson says: "I think Casey Hayward’s gonna be as good as myron and D.J." He's also impressed with Jamie Graham at nickleback, and he says, "We've got a couple of freshmen we feel really good about." Three true freshmen are on the depth chart in the secondary: Trey Wilson and Eddie Foster at corner and Eric Samuels at nickel.

5. The offensive line is no longer a liability:

Johnson said the O-line should be vastly improved. The reason? He says the "younger guys" are "coming up and pushing" the returning starters. Already, redshirt sophomore James Williams has beaten out redshirt junior Reilly Lauer at right tackle, so Lauer moved to guard and nearly took redshirt senior Eric Hensley's job at right guard. But everybody's looking over his shoulder at redshirt freshman lineman Ryan Seymour.

6. The team believes they can win:

Bradley Vierling's been saying that this will be the best team in Vanderbilt history. When told about that, Ryan Hamilton said, "Yeah, I’ll hop on board with that one."

OK, we will too.

Vandy offense has question marks going into season

I've listened to a couple of interviews with Bobby Johnson in the past day or so, and he's been talking about question marks — or potential trouble spots, if you will — for the Commodores. Here's what he's mentioned:

QUESTION MARK #1: RECEIVERS

In his press conference yesterday, Johnson mentioned the three starters — John Cole, Udom Umoh and Alex Washington — as well as hulking former tight end Justin Green and the two true freshmen from Texas, Brady Brown and Collin Ashley. He called Brown and Ashley "accomplished receivers," saying they "caught a lot of balls in high school." Still, he called the wide receiver position "a question mark.

QUESTION MARK #2: TAILBACKS

Sure, the true freshmen are talented, and one of them might even be the man by season's end. But Johnson clearly wants to start the season with Jared Hawkins, who's still struggling to recover from a foot injury last year. "If Jared Hawkins can get healthy, I think he’s a very underrated runner in this conference and the country," Johnson said yesterday. And if J-Hawk is grounded? "Get the freshman loose and let them show what they can do," Johnson said. Right now, Zac Stacy and Warren Norman are listed as Hawkins' backups, but today on 104.5 The Zone, he was mentioning junior Kennard Reeves in the same breath as the freshmen. So if Hawkins can't go, what criteria will be choose to pick his replacement? "Mainly it’s gonna be mental — who knows what to do," he said.