Flip On the Bakery Light
Vanderbilt may want to open up a bakery at the end of the season because they are getting an abundance of turnovers. Vanderbilt senior defensive back Casey Haywardand three other players lead the nation with four interceptions. One of those four INTs was a pick-6 against UCONN. Junior defensive back Trey Wilson is second in the country in interception return yards with 103. He has three INTs and of those three, two were taken back for touchdowns. One in the opening game against Elon and the other coming in the surprising 30-7 dismantling of Houston Nutt's Ole Miss Rebels. The
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Vanderbilt defense as a unit leads the nation with 14 INTs. If Vandy has a prayer of keeping this game somewhat interesting, they will have to gamble and make plays on Alabama sophomore quarterback A.J. McCarron. Those gambles can sometimes payoff and they can sometimes turn into big plays for the offense.
Not Your Father's, Grandfather's, Great-Grandfather's Vandy
Vanderbilt has been a very convenient punch line for guys in Nashville who know absolutely nothing about football other than it's a safe bet to assume
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Vandy stinks. If Johnny Nerdbomber makes the joke at any social gatherings in the Fall of 2011, he'll get a few condemning glares. Vandy is not great this season, but they are not bad. In Nashville, not bad is something to behold. Head coach James Franklin has changed the football culture at Vandy. By change, I mean people on West End realize what time Vanderbilt's game starts. Previous head coach Steve Martin Bobby Johnson was a good coach, but he never stirred the excitement like Franklin. Franklin does not like to lose and refuses to sit back and blame hard classes and mid-terms on bad football performance. That is a very welcomed site in Nashville.
Good News
Something both teams' respective fans will agree on is that the traffic in Tuscaloosa is terrible. The good news is Alabama and Vanderbilt apparently have an agreement that states Alabama will begin to win big by late third quarter. This should help game day traffic since people will leave the stadium in small waves instead of one, big 101,000 person lump of nasty.
The weather should also be nice. Some in Tuscaloosa believe Paul "Bear" Bryant still controls the weather. That is preposterous. We all know The Bear is too busy helping Alabama make magical, miraculous plays on the field.
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