Newsflash: Vanderbilt's defense is better than its offense

So Vandy's only TD in the spring game was a pass from walk-on Matt Casas to junior Tray Herndon. And now Vandy fans are whining about the offense and predicting a 2-10 record. What, have you been asleep the past two seasons? Our offense stunk when we won the Music City Bowl and our offense stunk when we won two games last season.

I prefer to remain optimistic. Consider this:

• Our top offensive threats, running backs Zac Stacy and Warren Norman, deferred on Saturday to Kennard Reeves and Reece Lovell. What do they have to prove? Reece Lovell will not be playing in September.

• Starting tackles Jamie Williams and Ryan Seymour missed the game and hopefully will be ready this fall.

• Not counting Williams and Seymour, six of our top eight offensive linemen are freshmen or sophomores. Those guys are still learning. Remember the progress Jamie Williams made in preseason practice late last summer?

• The quarterbacks — Smith, Goro, Funk and Rodgers — were running for their lives and none of them looked particularly sharp, though many fans really want to believe Jordan Rodgers is another Aaron Rodgers. That's because the line hasn't gelled and the receivers were getting locked down by our DBs.

• Four receivers didn't play in the game: Jonathan Krause, Chris Boyd, Jordan Matthews and Trent Pruitt are still in high school. Let's hope those guys are an improvement over what we've got.

If the line can gel and at least one of the freshmen WRs can step up, then the offense could be vastly improved.