Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Vanderbilt Hotline: Con Law Cancelled, Edition

Since I don't have class until 11, I figured I'd feed the VSL beast with some articles from around Commodore Nation.

Kevin Stallings was on 104.5 The Zone yesterday talking about the team's start and where they are going from here. Coach Stallings said they would focus this week on limiting turnovers and rebounding the ball more effectively, two areas that have been a concern early in the SEC campaign.

When talking about my girlfriend's favorite player, CKS said he felt Ross had been "casual" with the ball before the LSU game, and that he "played the way [in the LSU game] we need him to." Looking ahead to the Florida game, Coach Stallings stressed the importance of the the inside match-up between Florida's Mareesse Speights and Crocodile OG, as well as Ross Neltner and Dan Werner in Sunday's match-up. VSL will have a preview up for that game later this week.

Speaking of Crocodile OG, AJ Ogilvy was on the mind of both Vanderbilt beat reports. In today's Tennessean, Maurice Patton penned a story on AJ's slow start in SEC Play. The Man We Love to Hait takes a slightly different tact in today's Nashville City Paper discussing how AJ's gotten off to a slow-start in games now that conference play has arrived. I think they are both correct, although I think Vanderbilt needs to make a more concerted effort to run the offense through him early. AJ's gotten points in conference play when the team has made a concerted effort to get him the ball (he's also forced shots and had some pretty egerigous turnovers).

Finally, here's an article I ran across from Pro Football Weekly on Vanderbilt Left Tackle Chris Williams. Nolan Nowrocki thinks that Chris has got a lot of upside, but that his run-blocking leaves much to be desired.

I hope you all were able to catch last night's UK/UT game. Kentucky appears to have turned a corner, and despite being just 8-9, the fact that 2 of their wins came against Top 20 teams would seem to indicate the boys in blue shouldn't be written off just yet. Auburn beating Ole Miss led many to believe the SEC was even more down than previously thought. But UK beating UT at home tells me that there is something else all together at play. These wins taken together, show just how difficult it is to win on the road in the SEC. Looking at last night's game specifically, UK won because they got to (and converted at) the free throw line (22-26 compared to Vanderbilt's paltry 16-25 at Rupp), and pounded the Vols on the boards (35-24). The fact they were able to break UT's press and establish a slower pace of play that limited UT's athleticism, also helped.

That's all I got.

Bobby, OUT.

8 comments:

Seamus O'Toole said...

Also speaking of AJ, he's featured in this article on SI.com about talented Aussies making their mark on college teams. Interesting point about how foreign players can be equalizers for smaller-name college teams because they're less concerned with what the name on the jersey is and more concerned with finding a good fit given that they're about to spend four years on the other side of the globe.

Aaron said...

All,

Ross needs a nickname here on the blog. While i dont think he has earned it with his play in big games, it is only fitting that he have a nickname.

Examples would include:
The Nurse (Since his initials are RN)
Tiki (Since he turns the ball over alot)

Please help name give Ross a nickname

Anonymous said...

i really hope the team is taking advantage of this long week and really getting ready for these next two games. wins @ either would be great but @ both would be awesome. i still have the boys in blue written off. i want to see them win a big road game before i believe in them. rupp is a hard place to play. i think the south carolina game could be a big let down for them.

Anonymous said...

I like the nickname, "Nurse RN"

Douglas James said...

I mean if we are gonna go the Meet the Parents route:

1) Greg R.N.
2) Panama Red
3) Gaylord
4) Whatever the cats name is

Anonymous said...

Neltrino.

Unknown said...

Mr. Jinx is the cat's name i think. i do like the double entendre of that, but The Nurse also works.

Anonymous said...

The Neltron Bomb.