Vanderbilt's defense set in stone, Vanderbilt's offense changes with the tides

Everybody knows that defense was the Commodores' strength this season, and offense was their weakness (and what a weakness it was).

Anyway, today I was looking at the number of games each player started and/or played and noticed some interesting things that might explain our defensive prowess and our offensive strength:

NUMBER OF PLAYERS WHO'VE STARTED EVERY GAME THIS SEASON
• Offense: 3 (WR Walker, C Vierling and OT Welch)
• Defense: 8 (DE Stone, DT Billinger, LBs Marve and Benoist, DBs Langford, Hamilton, Lewis and Moore)

NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PLAYERS WHO'VE STARTED THIS SEASON
• Offense: 19
• Defense: 16

NUMBER OF TOTAL PLAYERS WHO'VE PLAYED IN EVERY GAME THIS SEASON
• Offense: 12
• Defense: 20

CONCLUSIONS:
• The defense had 11 firm starters who claimed their positions before the season and held on to them.
• The offense couldn't settle on starters at quarterback or offensive line and the running back, tight end and wide receiver positions were constantly being shuffled around because of injuries.
• The defense had talented backups who played a big role in every game and will be ready to step in as starters when their time comes. Junior Brent Trice, sophomores T.J. Greenstone, Nate Campbell, Austin Newton and Alan Strong and true freshmen Casey Hayward and Sean Richardson have played in every game this season. (Seniors Chris Johnson, Josh Allen and Jared Fagan have also played in all 12 games.)
• The only time a defensive starter missed a start was because of injury or a change in formation. Broderick Stewart and Adam Smotherman have missed starts because of injury. The nickel back — Dalron Spead, and Allen and Fagan when he was injured — has gotten the nod over linebacker John Stokes in three games.
• Offensive starters have frequently been benched in hopes that somebody else could do a better job. This has been most apparent at quarterback, where Chris Nickson and Mackenzi Adams have shared playing time and starting duties and may give way to Larry Smith in the bowl game, and offensive line, where 11 different players have vied for playing time and 8 different players have started.
• Think about all those redshirt freshman we'll have next season. The ones on offense will be looked upon as saviors and thrown into battle as soon as the upperclassmen falter. The ones on defense will have a chance to be understudies to accomplished starters and will be ready when their time comes. Speaking of which, expect true freshman Sean Richardson, a superb athlete who's played in every game this season, to star next season as Reshard Langford's replacement.