Spring practices are in the books and fall camps will be here before you know it so that means getting an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season. Knowing the teams now will save you time in August and Matt Fargo is here to help you get a grasp of what to expect this upcoming year. We go from worst to first in this 2006 College Football Preview. #81 Vanderbilt Commodores 5-6 SU; 6-4 ATS Fargos Take After starting last year 4-0, the first winning season at Vanderbilt since 1982 was looking very good. However, the Commodores lost their next six games to fall out of bowl contention and keep the run of losing campaigns alive. It was unfortunate because four of those losses were by a touchdown or less including a heartbreaking loss to Kentucky in the home finale. Vanderbilt did put an exclamation point on the season, winning against Tennessee for the first time in 22 years. Now the Commodores must try to get it done without SEC Player of the Year Jay Cutler, a four-year starter at quarterback. He was the leader of this team and his departure will certainly hurt but Vanderbilt does have a good amount of playmakers to try and make up for it. The running game will be solid and if a quarterback can emerge, the Commodores could surprise once again. Returning Starters on Offense 6 Cutler will be impossible to replace but taking over is sophomore Chris Nickson who is a known as a great runner but he can throw the ball as well. He has one of the best young receivers to throw the ball to in sophomore Earl Bennett and will have one of the best offensive lines in front of him in the SEC. The running game will go forward with Cassen Jackson-Garrison, who finished last season with a team leading 539 yards and eight touchdowns. Just because Cutler is gone, Vanderbilt has no plans to change the offense from a passing style to a running attack. The Commodores finished second in the SEC in passing offense last season and there are enough weapons around to keep the potent attack going. Returning Starters on Defense 6 The problem last year during that six-game skid was the defense as the Commodores allowed at least 34 points in five of those games and gave up an average of 36.2 ppg over that span. Overall, Vanderbilt finished 72nd in total defense and 82nd in scoring defense and those rankings need to improve dramatically. One key element brought in was a new defensive line coach. Ricky Logo, who came over from a very successful stint at Troy, will try and energize the line that had troubles stopping the run and getting pressure on the quarterback. The secondary could be the problem this season as four starters will be either freshmen or sophomores and that young unit is going to get tested often against some very talented wideouts in the conference. Dont expect much of an improvement from the Vanderbilt stop unit. Schedule It will be impossible for the Commodores to replicate their 4-0 start from last season seeing that the schedule to start 2006 is brutal. Trips to Michigan and Alabama start the year followed by their home opener against a much improved Arkansas team. Back-to-back games against Tennessee St. and Temple should begin a winning streak before heading to Mississippi. The remainder of the SEC schedule is difficult because of it being the SEC but it isnt as bad as some teams. The game at Georgia is the toughest of the bunch with the other road game being at Kentucky. South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee come visit Nashville while a non-conference game at Duke is sandwiched in there. Missing Auburn for the third straight year and LSU certainly help things. You can bet on Vanderbilt is likely going to have to wait another year to snap its 23-year streak of losing seasons. That isnt necessarily a bad thing as this is a very young squad and is a couple years away from being a legitimate team to reach .500. The loss of Cutler would be huge for any team but more so for the Commodores since their talent level is not the same as the other teams in the SEC. Vanderbilt went 1-2 against the number as a home favorite last season which dropped its ATS mark to 3-10 over the last seven years in that role. There wont be many chances for the Commodores to be home favorites this season but the game against Temple is a definite and that is a game that should be watched since Vanderbilt will be laying a good amount of points. |
