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Key Matchup to watch when they have the ball: I thought last week’s defensive key was the play of our DEs…getting pressure, holding against those off-tackle runs, etc. I think we all know how that turned out. This week, given their mobile QB and the struggles we had last week, I think it’s imperative that we get more out of our LBs. I don’t think what we saw last week can be completely blamed on the absence of Marcus Washington, but we simply have to get better play from that unit. Ellerbe played well at times, but you just didn’t see the playmakers you need at that position.

VU Defense

Vandy sports a pretty darn good defense. They’ve yet to play a truly explosive offense (not saying ours is, just giving you a frame of reference), with the slate to date featuring 3 SEC West foes in Ole Miss, Bama and AU. They’ve been excellent against the pass so far (7th in the country) and are barely allowing 300 ypg total defense. They’ve done a good job of keeping points off the board as well, only giving up 20 ppg (25th nationally).

The Vandy DL has been pretty effective thus far. They’ve given up some rushing yardage but have done a good job getting after the QB, averaging almost 2.5 sacks per game. DE Steven Stone leads the way with 3 sacks so far. He’s a beast at 6-6, 255. They have solid DTs, especially Theo Horrocks, a Sr. with 17 career starts.

AT LB, Vandy has some serious experience. Vandy always seems to have good LBs, going back to the Jamie Winborns and Shelton Quarles of years past. This year is no different, with the best of the bunch being Sr. MLB Jonathan Goff. The 6-4, 235 pounder has 33 career starts and a bunch of preseason all-conference nods. Sr. Marcus Buggs is more of a Rennie Curranosized LB manning the SLB. WLB Patrick Benoist is listed as the starter but has yet to make a start this season and has only played in 2 games. Because they’re Vandy, there’s not a ton of info out there. I seriously have an easier time finding info on GSU than these guys.

Given Vandy’s proficiency against the pass this year, I was a bit surprised to see that they start 3 sophomores and a junior in the back 4…even more surprised to see that 3 of the 4 are retuning starters despite their youth. CB Myron Lewis is a big fella at 6-3, 195. SS Reshard Langford was named to a few pres-season magazine all-SEC teams. This is a solid secondary with good size and experience.

Bottom Line: This is a decent Vandy D, but not one we should have some success on if for no other reason than, like our defense, our offense has some serious strides to make. They gave up 35 to AU last week, an AU team that also happens to start 3 freshmen on the OL (same as us). AU ran the ball on them all day to the tune of over 250 yards rushing. The RBs ran hard last week and Stafford had a pretty solid game but there just wasn’t good enough play from the OL to sustain anything offensively. Knowing how much success AU had last week, I fully expect us to go to Moreno early and often, and when that gets stopped, I expect us to go back to him via screens, etc. I look for us to move Stafford around some as well, as he threw it well on the run Saturday and it makes sense given our protection issues.

Key matchup to watch when we have the ball: We have to get better play out of our OL to sustain some drives. We got blown up all over the place. If we can’t get a push up front in our running game, it might be a long, long night.

The VU Game Overall

We need this game in a bad way. We have to right the shape and get out of Nashville with a win. At this point, after what I saw last week, I don’t even care about style points or anything like that. While a stylish blowout win a la Ole Miss two weeks ago (my how two weeks can certainly change one’s perception of this team) would certainly make me feel better about things, at this point, I just think we all need a win. We can’t let that complete meltdown last week result in the spiral out of control we saw last year.

Luckily for us Vandy beat us last year (I can’t believe I just wrote that), so in addition to trying to bounce back from the UT debacle, we’ll be looking to take a little revenge out. Richt and staff shouldn’t have any problems at all (again…shouldn’t, not won’t) getting the boys up this week. As sad as that is, it’s true. The loss to them last year was the lowest point in a pretty abysmal season. A loss to them this year would be equally devastating.

Look, I think it’s important to remember that like it or not, this is a young team we’ve got. I know many teams around the conference are as young as us, and I think it’s important to note that youth doesn’t always mean playing poorly. More often than not if youth can see the field, it’s plenty talented enough to play well. The problem with youth is quite often developing that consistency to be able to do the right thing over and over for a full season. I think you’re seeing that played out this year with the erratic play in Athens, Auburn, heck even Gainesville (like it or not Gator lovers, UF has two losses) to a lesser extent. In time this team has as much talent as we’ve probably ever seen on a UGA team, but that talent needs time to gel. Once it does, I think we’ll be more than pleased. The problem is just getting there.

Positional Notes

How many offsides penalties did we have Saturday? There’s no excuse for that on the road when the crowd is (largely) quiet.

Richt said Rennie Curran might get the nod at SLB this week ahead of Dewberry. He played pretty well Saturday despite sustaining a concussion. He also brings a fire to the table that I think we all agree is missing at this point. Miller’s out at SLB with Dent making the start after Miller hurt his calf this week.

With Brown likely out until the season finale, it’s a darn good thing Lumpkin has made it back to the lineup. He looked good in limited carries Saturday. It’s a good situation to be in to plug a back the caliber of Lumpkin in to replace Brown.

Demiko Goodman flat made a play on the ball. I think it’s safe to say he’s earned more PT. He, Bailey and Massaquoi certainly form a nice group of guys. Harris seems to have disappeared. Durham’s banged up, as is Bryant. Henderson is a solid situational guy, but he’s out now too. We only seem to ask Wilson to run short routes.

Tripp Chandler quietly had a big game Saturday. Very solid performance from a kid who’s struggled some this year and really needed a game like that.

Vandy is a bad punting team. They’re last in the SEC and 112th nationally in net punting, barely over 30 ypp. Normally I’d say Henderson was due for a big return. He’s out, so we turn back to Thomas Flowers…you may recall he’s not bad either.

Jarius Wynn logged a ton of snaps Saturday. I couldn’t tell you how he graded out but I saw him around the ball a good bit. He’s quick for a DT.