Sunday, October 26, 2008

It Doesn't Hurt Any Less...

You'd think that with a night to sleep it off yesterday's loss wouldn't look quite so bad. Wrong. If it's possible, it actually hurts worse. The shock and beer buzz have worn off and Vanderbilt fans are left with the feeling that yes, this is really happening. This summer we brought you a funny post comparing SEC Schools to Middle Eastern countries. In this poll Vanderbilt was Israel, but I actually think we should have been the Palestinians (never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity). Is Duke a bad team? No, they're not. Give credit where credit is due. David Cutcliff has done a fantastic job and has his team in a position to go to a bowl game. But that does not excuse yesterday's performance, especially for the offensive and special teams units.

PhilipVU's post on Save the Shield perfectly articulates the frustration of Vanderbilt fans, and is definitely worth a read. Also check out Mo Patton's recap in today's Tennessean, yesterday's Report Card, as well as Joe Biddle's column "Vandy's Bowl Hopes Take a Major Hit."

So where are we? With 4 games left and a bye week ahead, Vanderbilt has a chance to regroup, get that sixth win, end the losing streak, and turn the page. But after what we've seen the past three games (not to mention the last 25 years), Commodore fans are skeptical for good reason. As I said yesterday in Seamus' post-game rant post, this team doesn't appear to be getting any better, in fact, just the opposite is true. But if CBJ's squad was over-confident, yesterday's embarrassing loss on homecoming should cure that. Bobby said it, "We have to stop talking about doing things and start doing things." With 4 games left, 3 of which are very winnable, it's time to see what kind of Coach Bobby Johnson is.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link, Bobby.

Every time I try to walk away from the program, they go out and make me look silly by getting a big win. I figure all it takes is one more time of them making me look silly and we can start talking bowl. :)

Anonymous said...

Vanderbilt's RealTime RPI rating -- even after the loss to Duke -- is higher than 3 of the 4 teams we've yet to play.

Anonymous said...

I would be fine with Bobby Johnson being fired tomorrow. An interim coach could get us to a bowl game.

But the last sentence of this post is extremely accurate. He's blown 2 games. We have had the superior team in both games, yet got outcoached. Reread that last sentence. We got outcoached. By Sylvestor Croom.

I'll be happy to see him go to Clemson.

Stanimal said...

He won't be going to Clemson, not after that loss. I think losing to Duke unless he pulls off some sort of tremendous run in the last 4 games will end his shot there. Clemson doesn't want a rebuilding project, they want to win now.

As for CBJ being a bad coach, I don't think it's really his fault since he primarily runs the defense. I do think he needs to man up and recognize that Ted Cain needs to go. We're 115th in Total Offense, the lowest of any BCS Conference Team. That simply does not cut it. The hope was that Adams would demonstrate some of the efficiency he had shown in some previous games, but now Adams is demonstrating that he's not an every down QB either.

This might be a real bold statement, but I'm almost thinking it might be time to hand the reigns over to Larry Smith or Jared Funk. The fact is that nothing can be worse than where we are now. Jared Hawkins has played great, he needs more touches, and I think we need new blood at the QB position as well.

Maybe it's not feasible to make these kind of changes with only 4 games left, but this offense needs a spark and it needs it bad.

Aaron said...

Lets not panic. We can still will 3 games left on our schedule and end up with 8 wins and a bowl bid. That being said, we need to fire Ted Cain, at the end of the season. Adams has an arm, he just makes the dumbest decisions i have ever seen.
Putting the ball in Larry Smith's hand would not give us a chance to win at all.

Black Smoke said...

I'd rather be kicked in the balls by a bucking mule than watch my team lose a football game to Duke. Both of these things have happened to me before -- and trust me, losing to Duke is way worse. Your balls feel fine when the swelling goes down. The loss to Duke goes down in the books - and thus, the damage is permanent.

Dr. MZ

UNC Class of 2004
11.22.2003
Chapel Hill, NC
Duke 30 -- UNC 22