How vital is the vandy game to our season?

jrebel87 · Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:57 pm

I wanted to get everyone's opinion on how important it is for us to beat Vanderbilt. I think we have to in order to get over 6 wins this season . Our first 6 games are extraordinarily difficult and if we lose to vandy there's a chance we could have 4-5 losses going into our long stretch of home games.

lewindha · Mon Jul 01, 2013 3:31 pm

jrebel87 wrote:I wanted to get everyone's opinion on how important it is for us to beat Vanderbilt. I think we have to in order to get over 6 wins this season . Our first 6 games are extraordinarily difficult and if we lose to vandy there's a chance we could have 4-5 losses going into our long stretch of home games.

I thinks it's important to hit that 8 or 9 wins people are hopeful for.

GtownRebel · Mon Jul 01, 2013 4:00 pm

I think it is important to hit 6 or 7 wins.

academy reb · Mon Jul 01, 2013 9:33 pm

I think it's important.

POPSREB · Tue Jul 02, 2013 5:35 am

I believe it will set the pace for the season.

POPSREB · Tue Jul 02, 2013 5:58 am

Just read article that 4 players were suspended and dismissed from Vandy football team. Not sure if they were starters.

lewindha · Tue Jul 02, 2013 6:08 am

Apparently it was 3 red-shirt freshmen and a juco transfer. None of them had played that much yet. The Juco guy hadn't even been there long enough to play in a game. Could hurt their depth, but I don't think any were set to start. I got this from Rivals.

bbqit · Tue Jul 02, 2013 6:37 am

nobody likes a game to slip thru their fingers. last year that is what happened with the vandy game. those young men have to set things right as they come out the gate this year. with the way our schedule is laid out we can't wait till mid season to be in mid season form.

Titles 'R Us · Tue Jul 02, 2013 12:20 pm

First of all, our season would be a huge disappointment if we only won 6 games. Our sites should be set higher than that. Saying that if we don't win the Vandy game, we can't get to 6 wins is very pessimistic. I see our coaching staff and players wanting to close out some of those games this year that we lost last year.

We will have an advantage at QB. Their guy has never played in an SEC game and must open on national TV on ESPN with no other viewing competition. The NCAA has granted a waiver for Werner to work with Bo, which is a tremendous help during his rehab. In his second year at QB I expect to see Bo at his best.

The sex-crime scandal at Vandy will still have an effect on the team, no matter who was dismissed or whether or not they were starters. It's a distraction that the media will be talking about, and, trust me, that same media will be asking questions about it in Hoover in a few more weeks.

If we should lose this game (and with a proper spot on fourth down we would have won last year's game), it won't mean we can't win eight or nine games. It will be harder to do so, but it's still doable.

If we win this game, we'll get a W where a toss-up was forecast by everybody and will move on to a 2-0 start against SEMO. This coaching staff is not the last two years of collecting paychecks under Nutt. We'll be in every game. I see at least eight wins as realistic regardless of how the Vandy game goes.

But the bottom line is that this coaching staff will not let a loss to Vandy ruin the season. Not going to happen. That said, I think we will beat Vandy that night.

wbrebel · Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:15 pm

It is the most important game to win. Just because it is the next game on the schedule.

Titles 'R Us · Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:56 pm

And look at it this way. We'll have all summer to prepare for a game, to execute a game plan, to focus on fundamentals and football, itself. At least part of Vandy's summer will be dealing with the fallout of a dormitory sex crime. Not pretty, especially not for a school like Vandy that prides itself on its academic reputation and hasn't had some of the big state school scandals before.

A10Rebel · Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:10 pm

Historically we've played awful for opening games, on national television. If ever we are to attempt to buck this typical trend associated with Ole Miss we need to go there and beat them and beat them well.

It'll be interesting to see how we come out for this game.

Titles 'R Us · Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:24 pm

Do you happen to know our record in televised openers, A10? Just curious.

A10Rebel · Wed Jul 03, 2013 12:53 pm

Titles 'R Us wrote:Do you happen to know our record in televised openers, A10? Just curious.

That data would be useful, wouldn't it? I could be completely off base but it would seem our past history for opening weekends televised or not are miserable. I've just come to expect either a complete implosion or a another nail biter from us.

I'm being honest, I don't know where we are. Bo didn't practice in the spring, I don't know how well the shoulder has healed or what kind of results to expect and I don't have any confidence at back up QB because of the Spring. I mean, if Bo goes down what kind of season do we have?

The defense certainly will be great but they can't play the whole game.

We have a tough schedule, the West is loaded and I don't expect Auburn or Arkansas to be t'd up for us like last season either. Nor do we carry the element of surprise for this season.

Again I'll submit, it'll be interesting to see how they come out for this first game.

jrebel87 · Wed Jul 03, 2013 8:22 pm

I certainly hope Bo is ready by the opener because I don't think we can beat Vandy without him. That being said, if he does play I highly doubt he will run much so we will have to rely on his passing and our rbs to gain the yards.