Vanderbilt fans are hoping that their team’s Black and Gold Scrimmage is not an omen for a repeat of last year’s tie for a league-worst conference record of 1-7.
The Vanderbilt Black and Gold Scrimmage lasted nine plays before severe thunderstorms forced team officials to cancel the featured activity of Vandy’s spring practice.
“I’m disappointed because I thought our guys were ready to play,” Vandy coach Bobby Johnson said. “You also have a lot of family members who travel to campus to enjoy this day, and they also miss an opportunity to watch their sons play.”
But, coach Johnson said he was pleased with the team’s play over the spring.
“I thought our guys were getting after it pretty good. I was pleased with the intensity, energy and focus,” Johnson said. “We also limited the time for some of our veterans to get a good look at a lot of the younger guys on this team.”
The Vanderbilt Commodores brought in another crop of freshmen, without one making the top-100 list of recruits. With the 2004 Commodores again lacking star power, Johnson said he will look for his team’s strength to be in numbers, which he hopes he developed this spring.
“What we were trying to do was develop some depth at all positions,” Johnson said. “The key positions were on the offensive line and the linebackers. We hopefully did that. Our key guys had an excellent spring. Jay Cutler did the little things that will make him a better quarterback.”
Johnson is also hoping experience will help his team win some games. Johnson will have 21 returning starters and 28 Commodores who started at least three games in 2003.
The good news for Johnson is three of the 21 returning starters are captains. Quarterback Jay Cutler, junior defensive end Jovan Haye and senior offensive tackle Justin Geisinger round out the group. The lone new selection is wide receiver Chris Young.
Vanderbilt football is hoping its season will be saved this year by the arm of second year captain Jay Cutler, who continued to develop during the spring and is expected to enter the 2004 season as one of the SEC’s top signal callers. Cutler, who threw just four interceptions during spring drills, spent the session improving his throwing mechanics.
In 2002, Cutler finished the season with 103 completions in 212 attempts for 1,433 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Cutler also was team’s second-leading rusher with 393 yards and nine touchdowns on 123 carries. The fact that the quarterback of an SEC team was second in rushing spoke of the limited running attack the Commodores suffered from two years ago. That changed when feature back Kwana Doster appeared on the scene two years ago.
In 2003, Cutler broke passing marks with 187 completions, 327 attempts, 2,347 yards and 18 TDs but was still counted on to run the ball.
In 2002, Doster earned SEC freshman of the year honors, rushing for 798 yards and three touchdowns and was recognized as first-team return specialist. The Commodores may have had more success if coaches started him in more than five games.
But, a disappointing sophomore season, where he rushed for only 386 yards and three touchdowns on 90 attempts, has him battling again for the starting job.
Every position on offense is two-deep in players with game experience except for center, where red-shirt freshman Steven Brent will battle incumbent senior Tom Sorensen for the starting job.
The Vanderbilt defense will rely upon defensive end Jovan Haye, the SEC’s top sack artist, and Moses Osemwegie, the conference’s second-leading tackler at linebacker, to help make up for a less than stellar defensive secondary.
Johnson liked what he saw from his squad, especially from some of the younger Commodores, during the seven-drive scrimmage that came at the end of a two-hour, 15-minute session.
Johnson also liked what he saw from younger players, such as defensive tackle Robert Dinwiddle and red-shirt freshmen Jonathan Goff and Curtis Gatewood.
Goff and Gatewood used spring drills to move up the depth chart and make a case for playing time in the Commodores’ linebacking corps. Goff will enter the preseason with a chance to win the starting middle linebacker role while Gatewood could provide solid relief for outside linebacker Herdley Harrison.
Sophomore Ray Brown, who sat out the 2003 season, provided one of the spring’s biggest stories, playing well enough at defensive tackle to close spring drills as a probable starter in 2004. His development and effective play would give the Commodores much more depth at the tackle position. The other starting tackle at the close of spring drills was senior Robert Dinwiddie, who appears recovered from knee injuries in 2002.