You’ve got to admire what James Franklin did in turning around a program like Vanderbilt, albeit for a short period. He took the toughest job in the toughest conference in America, and he far exceeded expectations. His defenses were legit. His offenses were all right. His team was smart, fast, and disciplined (on the field, at least).
And now he’s gone. And in a way, I miss him.
In most other ways, I’m so glad he’s out of here.
The Rebs’ permanent interdivisional opponent can once again be tentatively circled as a W on our giant yellow posters. Ole Miss can once again look down on the ‘Dores, and that gives me warm football fuzzies.
Assuming that we already know how their game vs. Austin Peay will go this Saturday (not a safe assumption, I realize), we’re left with their two home losses against Georgia and Western Kentucky to give us some clue of what to expect when they roll into Vaught-Hemingway next week.
And when you look at it, there are actually plenty of positives for Vandy to take away from these performances. But they’re offset by plenty more offensive ineptitude.
Western Kentucky’s a decent football program, but you cannot expect to lose to them at home and be viewed as an SEC contender. They were able to keep Brandon Doughty (last year’s leading passer in all of college football) and his offense in check for a mere 14 points, let’s give them that. But multiple red-zone turnovers and generally incompetent quarterback play throughout doomed Vandy to a last-gasp attempt at a game-tying 2-point conversion that fell a yard short.
Georgia, the favorite to win the SEC East at this point, was only able to gain 22 more yards than Vanderbilt from scrimmage.
The distressing thing for Vandy was the manner in which Georgia amassed their offense, opting to pound the ball on the ground for 281 yards while their passing game stagnated. Georgia starting QB Grayson Lambert didn’t complete a single pass in the first half (let’s do credit Vandy’s secondary here), but with Heisman contender Nick Chubb hanging out in the backfield, he really didn’t have to. 
Both Vanderbilt’s and Ole Miss’s defenses will match up well against the opposing offense, but unless something changes in a hurry, the ‘Dores’ crippling quarterback play will leave them with few options other than running straight at one of the deepest and quickest defensive fronts Ole Miss has ever had. And while the Rebs don’t have a Nick Chubb-type playmaker at running back, Chad Kelly will be the best quarterback that Vandy’s secondary (the strength of their team, I think) has seen to this point. So on paper and in my gut, I don’t like Vandy’s chances at pulling off the upset in Oxford.
And look, Vanderbilt, that’s okay. We’ve been there. We went through Houston Nutt. We understand that these things are cyclical.
Sometimes your upstart, world-beater coach can lead a dormant program to newfound heights seemingly overnight. Sometimes your upstart, world-beater coach can leave to coach Penn State. It happens. The winds of fortune are most fickle and cruel on the wide ocean of college football.
I just don’t see those winds filling the Commodores’ sails anytime soon.
