Thursday, August 2, 2007

Vanderbilt Hotline: A Hearty Goff-aw


Jonathan Goff expects to win every game on Vanderbilt's schedule this year. So says Alabama's Crimson White in its SEC East preview, at any rate. Unfortunately the Decatur Daily didn't get the memo that the Commies are going to be sick this year, and in turn predicted us to finish in a tie for last place in the East, one win shy of a bowl. That's bush-league reporting if you ask me.

Side note: It occurs to me that Jonathan Goff might actually separate an opposing player's head from his body at some point in this season. As my high school coach would say, he's "hostile, agile, mobile, and full of stink."

So that's Chris Williams and Jonathan Goff who've now voiced their high expectations for this season. But something went under the radar at SEC Media Days, and that something was Earl Bennett. Scout.com picked up the story, which includes the following quotes from Bennett (brace yourself for some exciting copy):

"Playing at home is always an advantage to us. We feel like we can win each game that we play. The BCS is on our mind right now, going to a BCS bowl game. We've been working hard during the offseason staying positive and humble, and just getting ready for the season to start...

"This team this year has already been talking about going to a BCS game. That's very important to us, that we feel like we can go to a BCS game this year...

"The excitement and the expectations are up. And I feel like we have great athletes this year where we can go to a BCS game, stay focused and win the game, and get over that hump...

"It would be nice to break all the [individual receiving] records. But I'm more concerned with going to a BCS game. That would be a lot better than breaking any records."


Wow. Never in my days have I heard such confidence in what Vanderbilt is capable of. I'll say this much: If the guys believe they can do it, then we as fans owe them the same. There's no excuse not to be completely fired up about the potential for this season. Evidently a lot of fans are getting that message - as Brett Hait notes in today's City Paper, season ticket sales have already topped 12,000 and are at their highest level since 1998. Good show, Commie Nation.

In other, less interesting news, The Myrtle Beach Sun News proved why it's not winning any Pulitzer Prizes these days by ranking Chris Nickson (Coaches' Preseason third-team All-SEC) the ninth best quarterback in the SEC. What a joke.

Around the horn:

-->Texas A&M is pushing hard to get big man Steve Tchiengang. Stanimal and I really want him in a Commie jersey. Is Stallings making the big push? He should be...

-->Clemson wide receiver Andrew Diamonde transferred to Vandy and will have one year of eligibility remaining in 2008.

-->Mo Patton gives a rundown on Chris Nickson in the Tennessean.

-->Commie-freshman-golfer-to-be Adam Hoffman won the Pennsylvania Amateur Championship. Atta kid.

Bobby's in Nash Vegas today and may have something of interest to share with us upon his return.

Stay classy, Commies.

(Photo courtesy of Scout.com)

4 comments:

Douglas James said...

Reading the Scout.com article really got me pumped up. I think His Name Is could have an ALL-TIME type of year if he can avoid double teams and Nickson improves on his performance from last year. What I got really excited about was the talk about promoting Earl for the end of the year awards. I know WR's don't win the Heisman but it would be awesome just to see Earl get some mainstream press in national "Heisman Watch's" if he is able to improve on his #'s from last year.

Seamus O'Toole said...

I agree. A mention of Earl on the "Heisman Watch" would do wonders for recruiting and would certainly turn some heads, sparking even more fan interest.

With that said, we'll be publishing our full preview soon, but Bobby O'Shea and I wouldn't be surprised to see Earl's numbers take a slight dip as Ted Cain's options open up (e.g., in the running game). That wouldn't necessarily be bad for Vandy though. Most important is for Earl's touchdown numbers to go up -- only 6 TDs in 2006 (with as many catches and yards as he had) just ain't enough in our view.

Aaron said...

I dont care what numbers EB gets this year as long as Vandy kicks ass. I love the confidence in this team. Lets just hope CBJ can get this team to the right place this year.

Anonymous said...

predictions:

1) VU will make it to a bowl game.

2) american idol will still suck